The idea of working from home is still a huge question in the air with the question of if it is better to work from or at the office. While this is something that goes back and forth, Harvard Business Review dove into explaining how there were some high results with working from home.
Although it can go back and forth on if working from home is better, it is important to understand some great ways to increase your productivity if you are already working from home. Here are five ways to arrange your home office to maximize your productivity.
1. Set your home office area away from distractions
If you are able to find an extra room in your home, it is so important to use it for your office instead of setting up in a common area. Removing yourself from distraction in a separate area is crucial to your productivity.
Most of the time if you find yourself working next to a place where it attracts a lot of gathering you will find yourself distracted a lot more. Using the extra in your home to work will give you the ability to separate your work area from your common area.
Do you live alone?
Living at home alone can grant you the ability to have fewer distractions than someone living at home with four kids. While this is true, there are still things that can distract while at home. So it is so imperative that you select a spot in your home that is away from all distractions.
2. Get necessary supplies to maximize productivity
You may be in the quietest place in your home, away from everything, but if you have a small monitor with a creaky chair and mouse that doesn’t fit your hand you are never going to get work done. I
t is very difficult to be your most productive self with an office setup that doesn’t allow you the opportunity to maximize productivity.
3. How much are you willing to invest in your office space?
If you are lacking the means to invest in a more advanced office set up, that’s okay. There is the saying, work smarter not harder. This could not be more true in finding the perfect setup on a budget. You want to find a few things that will increase your work productivity, here is a list of items that you should find that fits for you:
An ergonomic mouse and keyboard can create less back and neck strain.
A monitor is a good distance from you.
A chair that gives you the correct amount of distance from the ground and great back support.
A desk that fits your items well and doesn’t leave you a cluttered workspace.
While it may seem that finding the “perfect” mouse can be time-consuming, you will find that you are able to save yourself so much time when working with the most efficient and productive office setup.
4. Be purposeful on the setup
Now that you have found the perfect supplies to create a great work setup, you now need to figure out how to make the setup purposeful. Meaning that if someone asked you why you put your clock on your right you would be able to explain to them the answer to that. While this may come off at over the top it is very important to create the most productive setting with your supplies.
This could mean a lot of different things but let’s take desk location for instance. If you are looking at a room with a window that shines directly towards one wall. You are not going to want to be set up against the wall where the light is shining because you will find that you may have trouble seeing your monitor. One example of a spot that has a purpose would be under the window where your monitor’s back will be to the window so that there is no glare. As well as, you will be receiving some sunlight, which moves to my next point.
5. Try to get sunlight
When it comes to working in an office it can be very hard to get the amount of sunlight of someone that works outside. Since it is proven that sunlight benefits our health, it is important that we work in a place where we can receive sunlight.
Sometimes working on the same thing all day can be stressful so doing whatever you can to decrease that is beneficial to your workday.
Conclusion
Choosing between working from home or working from an office can be a difficult decision for some people. But, if you are at the point that working from home is the best option, use these five ways to increase your productivity at your home office.
Ben Tejes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Ascend Finance, a platform to help people achieve self-improvement in the area of personal finance. He helped create Ascend’s debt settlement calculator and enjoys working with this online financial planner. He writes on topics such as Filing Bankruptcy in Connecticut, Filing Chapter 13 Bankruptcy Colorado, and Chapter 13 and 7 Bankruptcy Nebraska to help people get out of debt and experience financial freedom.