Your Home Office – Work Smarter, Not Harder!

Working the cube farm has been a disaster for worker productivity for years and you are finally fed up. Your company has offered you an opportunity to work from home. So finally, the home office is born. The choice of the location of your home office is crucial to your success.
Too close to the activities going on and you get distracted. Too far away, and you become stranded on an island. Another concern is the “7-Eleven” effect, in other words, you are always open for business and in a very short time you find yourself exhausted. But there are ways to manage these issues in order to make your home office experience a success.

Now the home office is more of a focus in the design process, make this space worth living. Make it comfortable, but not too comfortable. Make it warm and inviting, but not a play room for the kids. Make it a place to work, but also a place to live. Confused? Don’t be because this is your space to with as you wish. Just keep in mind your particular situation and plan accordingly.

Maybe converting your attic for use as a home office is a wonderful idea. Maybe working in the corner of a bedroom works. Whatever your space allocation is having a true home office is a great way to keep your overhead low since you are already paying for the space and the real hidden value of a home office is that it doesn’t have to look like a corporate office with a huge oak desk and wall-to-wall filing cabinets. And even though your children will disagree, your home office is not somewhere they should be playing. Finding space for a home office is a major concern these days.

Once you have found your space, you should hopefully find that working from a home office is interesting, varied and provides an opportunity to deliver results that will make a real difference to your life. It won’t be difficult to work if you have a well-organized, fully equipped home office and you have organized well and are comfortable.

But the key to a well run home office and a satisfied worker is this: create a work schedule just like you would if you went into the office every day. Don’t wake up tomorrow and ask yourself what you are going to do that day, have a plan. Also set working hours, you go into the office from 8-5 or 9-6 and that’s it, you leave for the day, turn off the light behind you and shut the door just as if your commute were miles away from home instead of inches from the couch.

Another suggestion is turn the audible notification off for new email on your computer. Every ding, or dong, or beep and you will be running for the computer like Pavlov’s dogs. Remember: Work Smarter, not harder!