Home offices, also known as remote work, have captured the public’s interest. With rising fuel prices, the average remote worker can save up to $4,000 annually by cutting out commuting costs.
It has incentivized many people who have started to show interest in working from home. If you happen to be one of them, you’ll need your own home office. But some aspects of a home office can make or break its effectiveness.
That is why we’re here to help list some common mistakes you should always look to avoid.
Before we jump into the do's and don’ts of home offices, why are home offices so popular? Remote work isn’t necessarily from home, it could be from internet cafes or parks.
Plus, working at home can lead to so many distractions and can sometimes seem mundane.
One of the major reasons people prefer home offices is because it helps focus when you’re working from home.
The private space and independence allow workers to concentrate on their tasks and avoid idle talk. Home offices are also highly customizable. You can order your desks and chairs without needing permission. The individuality of a home office can be a driving factor in worker motivation.
But how do you make sure all these things come true? You’ll need an ideal home office concept according to your needs.
Here are some things you should avoid under all circumstances.
If you’re using your home office as a substitute for the office space at your regular job, chances are you’ll be there for a large part of your day. That is why having proper ventilation is essential.
Many people tend to make home offices in closed-off rooms to avoid distractions (we’ll talk about this ahead). Although this can increase your focus, it will lead to suffocation and a sense of stuffiness inside the room. This will decrease your efficiency overall and make it harder to concentrate.
To avoid this, always delegate a room with windows for your home office. If your house has central vents in place, make sure at least 1 or more open into the room. This will continuously change the carbon dioxide-rich air with fresh oxygen-rich air.
Regular offices have hundreds of lockers and drawers dedicated to different categories of files. If you want to replicate the productivity you had in the office over to your home office, you will need tons of storage space.
A home office doesn’t mean you can place files anywhere in your house randomly. Rooms/ home offices with large storage spaces never face the difficulty of having to roam around and find a particular file. Large storage spaces also help avoid breaks in tempo as anything you need is near you and categorized.
Make sure to allocate storage space for file drawers and cabinets before working on your home office. The amount of storage space you’ll need to allocate will depend on your occupation.
Furniture that doesn’t suit you can be one of the worst decisions a person can make.
The home office is designed around your comfort and ease. If you cannot comfortably work in it for hours or are not productive in that environment, the purpose of a home office is defeated.
Whenever building your home office, remember to purchase furniture that is suited to your needs like a proper desk chair. Rarely will someone else be using your home office so it is ineffective to buy something standard?
When planning out a home office, the first mistake a lot of people do is not to allocate a proper room for a home office. This is especially damaging in cases they already plan to work remotely in the future. Often, they will designate a sub-par room or transform an existing room into a home office.
Transforming an existing room into a home office is not a well-informed decision because, more often than not, the room is still used by other family members as it previously was. A room that encompasses various activities at once will not allow you to concentrate effectively and slow down your progress.
Always make sure to book a room for your home office right at the start so you do not have to move things around to make space in the future.
Lighting is a key factor when it comes to choosing a room. Although it is nice to have every room flooded with sunlight, that is not possible. While choosing/ creating your home office, be aware of the amount of light you let in.
Dim lighting or a lack of natural light can damage your eyes in many cases. It also reduces motivation and may lead you to feel tired or drowsy. A good amount of natural light can help boost moods and increase productivity.
We’ve told you about the various factors you should always try to avoid when creating your home office. You might be wondering why that’s important.
Home offices are substitutes for on-site offices meaning you need to get the same work done. A poorly-built or congested home office can dissuade you from finishing your tasks and make you slack off or procrastinate.
They bring in a whole different set of distractions but as it is your own house, the environment can be controlled more easily.
Home offices can become great additions to your work life, especially when you’re having trouble balancing both work and domestic tasks.
You can require home offices for other reasons as well such as not being able to commute to work or if you need to have a meeting at your house.
Whenever you think about home offices, always make sure to avoid these 5 beginner mistakes and you’ll be good to go.
Check out our website for more ideas on how to play around with your home office decor!
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