So many people are realizing the benefits of home working, whether it be for the flexible hours or for the chance to be around family more. Sometimes it can be through an employer that allows you to work from home, or it can be because you are growing your own business. Whatever the reason, though, you will want to make sure that you are creating a home working space that helps you to be productive, as well as helps you to work around kids or other commitments. Space, for many of us, is going to be at a premium. But there are numerous benefits to making sure that you’re able to create a great working space. You want to be able to separate your working life and your home life a little, in order to be as productive as possible.
So with that in mind, here are some great tips to help you to manage your home working space, and to create one that will help you to be as productive as you can be, and allow you to grow your business in the best possible way.
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Business Phone
If you have a business where people will need to call you to book things or customers will need to call you for other reasons, then having a separate phone for just business use is a really good idea. It could be a phone line to the house, but that is trickier, especially if you are going to set yourself specific business hours to work. A cell phone for only work related things means that it can be switched off when you’re not ‘open for business,’ and it can help you to be as productive as possible when you are working. You won’t need your personal phone nearby, so won’t get distracted by personal texts, emails, or social media notifications.
Keep It Comfy
Comfort is going to be one of the key things when you’re working from home. You will want to be able to get your work done productivity and that can be done when your working space is a comfortable place to be. It can start with your table or desk and then move to your chair; are they both comfortable enough for you? Does your back ache when you start to do work or your legs hurt, for instance? If that is the case, then no doubt you need to give yourself some more regular breaks, but you also need to make sure that you have the right equipment that is going to be comfortable and going to support you enough.
Clean and Organized
If it takes you a long time to find someone’s order or their details, simply because your workspace is not organized enough, then it is not doing good things for your productivity. So starting off with a workspace that is organized is number one. It could be that you just need to take some time to arrange a filing cabinet or storage, or just create better files on your computer so you know where things are. When you have a tidy and neat space, it does wonders for your mindset and does help you to work better.
Having a space that is clean as well as tidy is a must too. It can help you to be more productive, and you’re less likely to keep thinking about the chores that you have to do, but it also makes it a healthier and more hygienic place to be. And when you are around fewer germs, it means less sick days or time when you won’t be able to work. Along similar lines it is a good idea to check on pest control as soon as you can too. They are called pests for a reason, and if they are infesting your home, then it can mean time out of working, as well as things getting destroyed which is not going to be a good thing for your home based business, at all.
Set Office Hours
When you work from home it is so important to make sure that you can create a good work and life balance. When you have home life around you, it can be tricky to put down the laptop or work phone and vice versa, so you need to make sure that you set yourself office hours for when you do and don’t work. The flexibility of working from home is great, but you need to make sure that you decide how long you will spend working and when that will be, otherwise it can take over and then you don’t have a good work life balance. When you have working hours your children might know to not interrupt you at that time, for example, and it can help you to plan your time better when you know what you will be doing each day and when.
Daily Routine
On a similar note, having a routine each day is really important to help you to stay on task and get things done all that you want to. When you avoid getting sidetracked as you have a routine and focus, you will focus on things and get things done on the day and when it needs to be done. It is important to check a schedule for yourself and make sure that you are able to stick to it. Some days will change as to what needs to be done each day, but having a list of things that needs to be done is really important.
Use Space Wisely
If your office is limited on space then it is important to make the most of any vertical space that is available to you. When you use the available space well, it will help you to keep the space organized and help you to be as productive as possible. Floating shelves, for example, are a great way to keep things organized without having to use up any more floor space, such as what a bulk bookcase would do.