During these uncertain times, many of us are working from home. Many businesses that have the capability are encouraging their employees to work from home, if not outright mandating it. For the good of the country and to prevent the spread of COVID-19, people are choosing to stay home and work. If you are one of the people that is working from home for the foreseeable future, you should consider setting up an office. Create a place to work, answer calls, and be comfortable instead of sitting at the kitchen table or balancing the laptop on your lap. Here are some tips for setting up a home office to help get you through this tough time.
Dedicate the Space
Be it a separate room or a corner of the living room, dedicate a specific space to work. That space is for working and only working. Don’t let anything else invade that space. Set up your laptop, phone charger, tablet, pens, paper, and whatever else you need to do your job. Make it like your office and desk at work so there is no drop off in production. This could carry on for a while, so make it into the space you want and need.
Keep Things Separate
When working at home, it can be difficult to keep the personal separate from the professional. Keep them from spilling over into one another. If you have personal and business information on the same computer, create different files for everything so they don’t get jumbled up. Don’t take personal calls during your work time, and don’t take business calls after normal business hours are done. Work-life balance is important even when working out of the house.
Use What You Have for Now
Use the furniture and electronics that you have available to set up your office. You don’t have to rush out and buy new stuff. Set up a desk and chair in your space, then fill in with the office supplies you need. If you find that your set isn’t doing it for you, then search online for a better office chair with the qualities you need; perhaps choose something more ergonomic.
Get Plenty of Natural Light
Set up your office in a place that has plenty of natural light. Just like in the office, bathing in fluorescent lighting all day or in the blue glow of a monitor isn’t good for you. It strains the eyes and affects your mood. Put your office near a window so you can get some vitamin D going while you are working and daydream a bit when you need to refocus.
