As the number of people working from home increases, there are more and more bedrooms, garden sheds and lofts being converted to provide right conditions for work. Although your options might be limited by the type of space you can sacrifice, you need to bear in mind that your home office needs the same discipline and organization as the “real” one, which would allow you to focus on your work.
Keep it clean
Since you’re most likely working in a small office, presence of any unnecessary equipment or stationery could create a real mess. Make sure you regularly dispose of junk mail and other papers you don’t need. For example, select a day in the week when you’ll get rid of your clutter. Investing in a shredder might be a wise move.
Ideally, you should aim to have a paperless office, since it doesn’t create a mess and you are much more mobile. With many cloud services available today, it really shouldn’t be a problem to keep your home office clean.
Use the space smartly
Although your office may be rather small in terms of floor space, it doesn’t mean you can’t fit in everything you need. An obvious answer to your problem is to use walls, i.e. shelves. They can be used to hold boxes or bins containing office supplies you rarely use.
The more space you use, the less cluttered your desk will be, which would allow you to work without distractions. Generally speaking, multitasking furniture should be used as much as possible, as well as the items that can be moved around easily.
Planning is the key
You should carefully plan how to design and organise your home office. Make sure you measure the whole place correctly and have a plan of your office before you start designing it. Next, make a list of all the things you need and how much space they require. What people often forget to take into account are cables and cords that get tangled and create a mess. If you can’t go wireless and cordless, make sure you position that equipment as close as possible to power outlets.
On the other hand, if things seem impossible or you simply can’t find a solution that would satisfy you in terms of functionality or aesthetics, you can turn to experts in office fitouts, who should be able to come up with some ideas that might help.
Maintenance is the key
The fact that your home office is and looks organised well on day one is not enough. It should give the same impression on any other day, which is achieved by dedicating just a fraction of your time to cleaning and maintaining the office every day. Not only will this routine help your office remain clean, appealing and efficient, but it will also help you become even more organised and disciplined. After all, nobody likes to enter a dirty office in the morning, regardless of whether it happens after a long commute, or a short stroll across the hallway.
Personal touch
It’s your office at your home, so there are no restrictions in terms of what you want to display. Naturally, the space is the most limiting factor, but you shouldn’t have any large, distracting elements in the office anyway.
However, personal touches in a shape of a framed family photo or diplomas on the wall are usually a good idea, since they show what kind of person works in that office. A plant as a symbol of life and nature is always a welcome addition, but it also requires special care and conditions to grow, so make sure you know which one you’re buying.
As you can see, organising a home office can be difficult, since there are many restrictions, but it is also, more often than not, quite an interesting challenge for those who will enjoy the time spent there.
