In this situation, we are forced to spend all our time at home, including working. Even if you work from home only in quarantine, and this is temporary, that is not a reason to torture your back in an uncomfortable chair, worsen your eyesight in a semi-dark room and tear the charger out of a ball of wires with irritation. We will show you how to equip a home office and what to consider so that working from home remains productive and enjoyable.
Two components when organizing a workplace at home
1. Psychological
The workplace is not just a table and chair. It is necessary to equip it so that consciousness can quickly switch to work.
People often complain that their productivity is dropping dramatically when they started working from home. They give out a tenth of what they expect of themselves. If you suddenly start working from home, you can face the same thing: you can’t get yourself together, you walk around the apartment with a laptop and a cup of coffee in search of a more comfortable place. Or you just can’t bring yourself to sit down to work.
Of course, work can be postponed for various reasons, but some of them lie in the field of ergonomics:
Firstly, being at home, you don’t understand: I have already come to my work or not yet. You woke up, had breakfast, performed morning rituals, and now it’s time to get involved in your project, and there is no switch from “home” to “work” mode since the scenery around has not changed.
Secondly, if you do not have a clearly fixed place to work, then probably all your papers and work materials are constantly wandering around the house. And you can waste a lot of time cleaning them up or moving them to a new place each time. Agree that sometimes you want to leave a notebook or file open in the right place, materials for work laid out in a certain order so that tomorrow you can come and start from the point where you finished yesterday.
2. Technical
You need to choose furniture that will be comfortable and safe to work with. And correctly arrange this furniture, organizing a workplace at home. Your workplace should be comfortable and motivating.
Separating work and rest
Working from home has not only advantages but also disadvantages. And one of the main ones is too many temptations. At home, everything beckons to distract us from work, be it the sounds of the TV from the kitchen, or a soft bed inviting itself. All of these reduce our productivity. Therefore, in no case should you work out of bed, or at the dinner table – these are all places to rest, and we need a place to work. It is very important to separate the workplace from the rest areas.
In addition, you need to work out a specific schedule for yourself, it will also help you not to be distracted. For example, after one hour of work, we take a fifteen-minute break, in which you can drink tea, or do a little chore around the house. The main thing is not to rest at the workplace, this can erase the boundaries between work and rest.
Choosing a location
If the area of the apartment does not allow converting one of the rooms into an office, then you will have to allocate part of the room for a working area. The most ideal location would be a window seal, as natural light has a positive effect on productivity.
Putting your desk directly in front of the window is a very good option. Better yet, change the sill and make it much wider so that it can also act as a desktop.
However, if for some reason this cannot be done, then place the table against an adjacent wall. It is important to consider which hand you write with. If you are right-handed, then place the table against the right wall of the window, and if you are left-handed, then at the left. So, if you write something by hand, then it will not block the sunlight.
If you have a large family, it is better to place the work area in the bedroom, so children and other family members will distract you less. But here the atmosphere itself can distract from the working mood, so if during working hours your household is out of the house, then feel free to place the working area in the living room – this is the best option.
Zoning the space
When working, it is very important to separate your office from the rest of the apartment. For this, there are many options for zoning the room. For example, you can try to separate the work area with walk-through shelving.
In addition, try putting large indoor plants to separate the work area. But here it is important to know when to stop and not to overdo it, so as not to turn the apartment into a jungle. Curtains or tulle are also suitable for zoning.
You can try to hide the workplace in a closet, then its open doors will separate the working space from the rest of the apartment and create a sense of privacy. But this option is already more expensive, most likely such furniture will have to be custom-made.
Playing with materials and color
The use of various materials in furniture can not only make the working area beautiful and fit it into the overall interior of the apartment but also help functionally.
If you have very little space to organize your workspace, then try using “light” materials. For example, a white or glass desktop complete with a transparent plastic chair will not burden a small room, but, on the contrary, will visually lighten it.
Well, if there is still enough space, then you can experiment with natural materials, which are very relevant today. For example, you can make a tabletop from natural textured wood, or even stone.
The work chair can be made of leather or velour. All this will not only give a more serious look to your workplace but also give you a lot of pleasant tactile sensations from touching natural materials.
But these solutions are already more expensive and will suit those who are ready to invest a large enough budget in the organization of the working area.
Proper lighting
A lot depends on the lighting of your home workspace: normal work and health of the organs of vision, working capacity, and even the psycho-emotional state. The importance of workplace lighting is often underestimated, but you can compare how you will feel while working without normal light and with properly organized backlighting.
First of all, it is worth using the natural light that enters the room to the maximum. It is better to place the desktop by the window, and so that the light from it falls from left to right (for right-handed people) or from right to left (for left-handed people). It is also convenient to put a computer desk in the partition between the windows or in front of the window itself, but only so that you sit facing the window, that is, natural light falls on you. But, don’t forget about blinds. If your table is near a window on the sunny side, it can be uncomfortable at lunchtime. The light may be too bright. Make sure to get good quality roman blinds or a nice curtain.
As for artificial light, you must have a main light that meets the lighting standards (can be measured with a lux meter), and local lighting. Local lighting of the workplace is always in addition to the general one and cannot be used independently.
Decorate and remove all unnecessary
If you are a creative person, then make your workplace creative. Decorate it with stickers and travel cards, and put a small houseplant on the table. But only if these things will give you the inspiration to work on your projects and will not be a distraction.
Above the table, you can hang a slate board and write the assigned tasks on it, it will not only be a beautiful decor, but also a useful functional thing. But you shouldn’t go overboard with the decor either, it shouldn’t be distracting.
Also, all unnecessary and distracting should be removed from the table. Interesting book? Let it be on the bookshelf and wait for the evening reading hour. Couldn’t resist and had lunch at the computer. Take the plate back to the kitchen. A pile of documents and papers has accumulated? Disassemble them and throw away the unnecessary, and sort the important into folders and shelves.
If this is not done, then all this can distract you from work, which in turn will lead to a decrease in productivity.
Conclusion
Of course, everyone has their own criteria for a perfect workplace, but this article is a reminder to you that remote work has come to us, and for a long time, and the workplace at home should provide you with comfort and ergonomics. Even trivial things like a curtain and a lamp can greatly improve the quality of your performance (or greatly degrade). Think about it.