The Scope Weekly is entirely staffed by nomadic workers, operating from the East to the West coast and based on two continents. Must of us have chosen to work from home and with this decision comes many challenges directly linked to work/home environment. Following are tips and solutions that have worked well for us.
Working from home is challenging enough, but if your home office isn’t organized properly, you could be affecting your productivity levels. Here are some quick tips for organizing your home office to maximize productivity.
Set Aside Your Space: Allocate a specific area in your home that will be dedicated to just work. It doesn’t matter whether it’s a spare bedroom or a nook in the den or space in the attic or basement. Claim your space.
Work Areas: Your primary working area is where you earn your profits, so it makes sense to set it up to allow you to work effectively. Think about your layout carefully and plan it according to your daily needs and tasks. Set up your work area so you have plenty of space for your computer, printer, fax, files, stationery, or whatever else you need to work effectively.
Establish Work Zones: Make a decision about the type of activity that happens in each area of your office. In most cases, you’ll have a primary workspace that will likely be your desk. You may also need a reference area that should include an inbox and outbox for bills and other correspondence, a filing cabinet, and maybe some binders. Your supply area can be shelves, cabinets, drawers, or a nearby closet.
Connectivity: No matter where you’ve chosen to set up your home office space, ensure that you have all the connections you need to work efficiently. You’ll need access to an electrical outlet with a power board to ensure your computer, printer, fax, and any other electrical equipment can function. You’ll also need access to an internet connection so you can stay online while you work.
Shelving: It’s often possible to increase the amount of space you have available in a smaller area if you store some of your working material on shelves. Installing shelves on the walls above your workspace provides easy access to things you need You’ll improve your productivity if you keep all of your work confined to your allocated home office area and not spread out across several rooms in the house.
Allocate a home for everything: If you spend time ensuring that everything within your home office has its own space, you’ll find it much easier to locate the items you need when you want them. Allocate a home for everything you need to operate your home office so you’ll always know where everything is when you need it.
Storage: Be sure you have enough storage space to stow invoices, files, receipts, stationery, and other office supplies. If you have inventory stored at your home office, think about effective ways to store it outside of your immediate office space, but close enough to know that your inventory can be tracked, packed and shipped, if needed.
Comfort: Your home office area should be comfortable if you intend to spend any length of time working there. Ensure your chair is comfortable and your desk is at the correct height to avoid back or neck strain while you work. It’s also a good idea to check that heating and cooling are working effectively in your workspace.
The key to organizing your home office will depend on the type of work you do. Take a step back and look at your office space objectively. Then work on ways to organize your space to suit your needs. You’ll find your home office space becomes more productive as a result.
Do you have any tips that you would like to share with us? We love to hear back from our readers.
We welcome your ideas and recommendations.