How To Set Up A Productive Home Office

A home office doesn’t necessarily have to be a whole room. It can be a desk or couch-table situation tucked away in a corner of your house or living room. It could also be your dining table. There is no specific home area, other than areas where you feel comfortable enough to be alone and quiet.

1. Declutter Your Chosen Space

A disorganized environment implies that your mind is cluttered. An organized environment is not only aesthetically pleasing but also signifies to the muse that she can come in. Whether you choose a corner of the living room, a folding table, a desk and chair situation or an entire room; declutter and set it up for success.

When choosing a working area, consider the lighting of the room, noise, and accessibility especially if you have kids. Where kids are involved, you don’t want to be too accessible as the little ones will eat into your working time.

When it comes to lighting choose an area which has natural light but can be made to be a bit darker if need be. As a writer, I tend to switch between too much lighting and darker lighting, depending on the activity or task. Observe your preferences and let them inform you about where to set your office space.

2. Add Your Most Used Stationery and Must-Have Items

Must-have items are things like Laptops, notebooks, marker pens, chargers, sticky notes, pens, erasers etc. These will save you time in that you don’t have to look for them or misplace them. You can also add your vision board and some pieces of art for some inspiration.

3. Keep an Inspiration Swipe File

These might be compliments you’ve received from people about your work, awards you’ve won or a list of industry resources. A swipe file inspires you to keep going even when activities get too mundane, or when work doesn’t make sense.

Swipe files remind you why you started the work you do or inspire you to start a task. What is in your swipe file?

4. Protect Prime Real Estate

If this is your first time creating a home office, then family members might not take it seriously. They mean no harm. They’re not being disrespectful. However, you have to remind them that they can’t eat on your desk or store items on your drawers.

They also can’t speak within earshot of your space especially if your house has plenty of space, rooms and a play area. It’s important to establish these boundaries as what you allow in the beginning might set the tone of how your home- work-experience will be.

In addition, you can invest in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones to improve your working experience.

Working from home is an amazing experience. You get to cook while supper or lunch is boiling at the stove, you don’t have to commute to work and you spend less time on tasks while compared to the office. To get these benefits, you have to put in some discipline, define work areas, identify activities that make you productive and run with them.

What’s your home office like and how do you keep it organized? If you have always worked remotely, how has social distancing affected that? Let us know in the comments.

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