Working from home has become the new normal for many over the last 12 months.
The recent pandemic has seen our way of life change, possibly forever, with our working patterns right at the front of that change.
Few people had a home office at the start of 2020, and even fewer big companies felt comfortable having a remote workforce.
It was often seen as inefficient, unmanageable, and unproductive, certainly by some industries.
The world has woken up to the possibilities now with enforced restrictions meaning people and companies have had to adapt.
Work forces have become agile, flexible, and resilient. Proving that when the office doors are locked and everyone has to go home, the world does not stop turning.
KTVU reports that as many as 40% of Americans are working from home during the pandemic, a trend showing a sharp upward curve.
Indeed, in 2017 just 5.2% worked from home, although CNBC suggests more would if given the chance. 2020 gave them that chance.
How can you work successfully from home?
The first thing you need – the fundamental building block of becoming a successful remote worker – is the perfect work from home space.
Our article Build a Podcast Studio for $83 touched upon providing facilities at home you can use for monetary gain, but now we are going one further and giving you advice on setting up a fully functioning office that boosts productivity and your own well being.
Location
The location of your home office is vitally important.
Make sure you can, if possible, shut the workspace off when you need to relax.
Having a clear boundary between workspace and home space will help you focus not only on yourself but also on work when you need to.
Your workspace should be separate if possible. This will help create the feeling of “going to work” that will help with the proper mindset needed to focus.
Choose an area that has some natural light and adequate working space.
If you are converting a loft or another unused room, make sure your Wi-Fi signal reaches the room you wish to work in.
There is nothing more frustrating than a weak signal that prevents the work from flowing.
Try to make it free from distractions too, so you can focus solely on work and not have a television or pet disrupting you while you work.
This could be difficult depending on your living situation, but this is why having a separate space that can be closed off from home space is so important.
Essentials
Make sure you gather the essential items for your work so you are not struggling to conduct basic tasks.
A desk is mandatory, or a table will suffice, as long as you have a flat workspace.
Try to make sure you have a comfortable chair too. It is tempting to use your dining chairs, but is it going to be comfortable for eight hours of work?
Also, make sure you have ample power supply in the area you choose, as you may need to charge laptops, phones or other gadgets.
Focus on your individual needs too – your work may necessitate some adjustments others would not.
For instance, you may need to have more desk area for plans and documents, or you need to consider acoustics for video calls and presentations.
Everyone’s essentials will be different. I know I like to have a white board close by for writing out my thoughts and for teaching moments on coaching calls.
Take time to consider all the possible essentials that you will want to have close by when creating your perfect at home work space.
Gadgets
Your usual office environment doubtless has plenty of gadgets to help you through your days, such as air conditioning, smart printers and the like.
You can make your home working life easier by tapping into some of the latest smart gadgets on the market, designed to improve functionality, output, and comfort.
To integrate smart technology, HomeServe stresses that you will need a reliable internet connection and some smart devices. The first is a prerequisite of working from home anyway, but the second is the exciting part – choosing what to bring into the office.
Some beneficial items include a smart thermostat, which can control the temperature as you work so you do not have to worry.
A TimeFlip2 Interactive Time Tracking device might be useful too.
It’s a pretty cool tool that can help with time management and organization- something which may seem a little more challenging when in your own working environment.
You could also think about specific working from home challenges which need to be overcome, such as remote video calls infringing on your working space.
A Lenovo ThinkSmart View Microsoft Teams Display is a dedicated viewer for video calling which keeps your main computer screen uncluttered.
Conclusion
The key to successful working from home is comfort, concentration, and connectivity.
Make sure you can work comfortably, but also get away from the space as you could an office.
Make sure you can concentrate and give your work your full attention.
And finally make sure you can connect with everything and everyone you need to carry out your duties.
There are pros and cons to working from home. But with the world changing around us, we all need to put our best foot forward to adapt.
Are you working from home? What does your perfect space look like?
Is there an essential or gadget that you need to add to your space to make life easier?
Let me know in the comments below! I love to hear from you!
And don’t forget to share this with a friend or colleague who also works from home.
See you next week!
