How to optimize the productivity of your home office

Working from the comfort of your own home certainly has its perks. You can wear your slippers all day, enjoy your own kitchen, and rid yourself of the morning commute. But whether you enjoy a day here and there or a full-time telecommuting arrangement, it’s important to have a comfortable yet efficient home office space. If your home office is too casual, or you don’t have a full separation between your home environment and your office environment, you might not be as productive as you would like.

Finding that happy medium between comfort and efficiency can be difficult. Your home is full of distractions and all-too-easy traps to fall into. A quick nap on the couch may sound like it’s just what you need, but all of a sudden, two hours have passed. You may think working with the new big screen on in the background will help you focus, but before you know it, you’ve watched four episodes of your favorite crime drama, and you’re moving onto a fifth. It’s easy to get distracted, but treating your home office like a professional workspace should keep your work ethic professional too.

We’ve compiled some other tips and suggestions to keep in mind when you’re designing a home office. Everyone’s preferences are different, but every home office should be designed with the goal of granting you the perfect space for productivity.

Know what the space is for

This sounds simple, but you should consider how you will be using your home office. Will you host clients? What about colleagues? Do you need a lot of space to visualize work, or are you happy with just a computer and a desk? How much storage is necessary? Can you make do with a few file cabinets? Address these questions before you start to design your home office. Remember: an efficient space makes for efficient work!

Keep your space organized

In the same vein as the earlier tip, keeping your space organized can only help your productivity. Follow the old rule, “a place for everything, and everything in its place.” Having a cup for pens and pencils or a neatly organized drawer for office supplies eliminates the stress that comes with disorganization. Keep the five things that you use most often within reach, and store the rest on shelves or in drawers where you can easily find them when you need them.

Ensure that your space is functional yet inspiring

Whether you’re penning the next great American novel, or the next great TPS report, your home office needs to motivate you to do good work. Hang pictures of family and friends or tack up inspirational quotes to give your home office a character of its own. Whether or not your work leans to the creative side, influential authors and industry leaders could be all the company you need.

Make the space yours

Your home office should be designed specifically for you. Everything from color choices to desk and chair styles should come directly from your preferences. When your office reflects your personality, it becomes a place where you want to spend your time, and should afford focus and productivity. Your office should be customized just for you, since, after all, you’re the one using it.

Your home office should feel just as comfortably yours as the rest of your home. But we can’t stress enough how important it is to have a divide between your workspace and your living space. When you treat your home office like a professional space just for you, it becomes a haven of productivity. Keep your home office efficiently organized and enjoy a comfortable and efficient workday.

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