How to Make Your Home Office a Productive Workspace

With the rise of advanced technology and the internet, people have increasingly become professional digital nomads. Work can be done remotely, anytime, anywhere.

Home working is the new norm, and most of us have embraced it. People don’t need to rush to drive to work just to arrive on time; no time-in and-out; no worries of being stuck on the road due to vehicular traffic; no danger from commuting; no need to buy meals; etc. Indeed, many advantages working from home-office offers. It may sound promising, but the reality knocks that home is not always a conducive workspace for some. However, there are ways to make it a lovely and comfortable place for work.

Here are some tried-and-true ways on how you can set up your home office for greater productivity.

DECLUTTER YOUR WORKSPACE THOROUGHLY.

Who wants to work in an environment full of clutter, kid’s stuff everywhere, unfixed clothes, bags, cups half full of lukewarm coffee, piles of paper, extra books, etc. This is just a real scenario you can see in a home office space.

a piano, potted plants on a windowsill

To make a comfortable, beautiful, and conducive workspace, you must first spend time decluttering and organizing things. The lesser things your eyes can see helps you clear your mind and be focused on just accomplishing the tasks and coming up with the quality output.

Remove and put in the cabinet or storage box all unnecessary stuff that takes up space and not serving any purpose. You can’t take-off with your work-from-home tasks if you are surrounded by junk that distracts your head.

SET HOME OFFICE UP FOR PRODUCTIVITY.

It’s so ideal to have a sound-proof home office space, with all the things that you need just within your reach. But it’s not always easily achievable. However, you can still design your home office with productivity in mind.

A woman working on her laptop, on a table, with a notebook, and a potted plant

Choose the quietest and with the least traffic part of your house. If possible, repaint that space with a cooling shade like green which is great for productivity. The suggested shades are color red conducive to energy, green unlocks creative thinking, and blue is calming.

A window in your workspace is also needed. You can add some little greenery to add life to your dull workspace. Besides the aesthetic value, indoor plants are also excellent air purifiers.

PLAY WITH LIGHTING

There are many Tips for Home Office Lighting you can find here. Bad lighting can cause eye strain, especially when staying longer in front of the screen. Make sure that you adjust the lighting of your computer to the natural lighting in your room. That’s is why having a window is very important when choosing a place at home to be your workspace. The place must receive plenty of natural light to lessen headaches and migraines caused by eye strain from staying long with your zoom meetings. During the night, you can use adjustable desk lamps to set the light temperature according to your need. Besides being a flexible light, it is handy and excellent for supporting different types of tasks for work.

TAKE EYE BREAKS.

When you spend a long time sitting on your desk, working on your computer, eye strain, back pains, and cramps are the most common physical problems you’ll encounter. One best way to minimize eye strain is to have quick off-screen time.

It may sound so simple, but you’d be surprised how much difference it can make! For easy recall, remember to follow the 20-20-20 rule. After every twenty minutes, quit working or refrain from looking at your screen and stare at something about 20 yards away for 20 seconds.

INVEST IN ERGONOMIC WORKING TOOLS

It will not help you develop quality outputs whenever you’re constantly straining to see your computer screen or rubbing your aching back.

Invest in quality ergonomic chairs, desks, and mouse so that you can comfortably accomplish your daily office responsibilities done at home.

AVOID DISTRACTIONS

One of the challenges of working from home is the many distractions-kids, home chores, husband, TV, etc.- that can get in the way of accomplishing your work.

When you have a workspace with a door, you can put signage or a sticky note outside it and write “I’m busy working, please do not disturb me” so that they will be reminded not to snatch your time from work.

Set rules when you are working, especially with your kids. Do not allow them to frequently ask a favor of doing something for them that distracts your momentum in doing your office work. However, it’s an emergency, or something very important, tell them that’s when they knock on your door despite your working hours.