You finally got your dream scenario; you have a job that you love, and you can now work from home! Working from home does have a lot of perks including no long commute across the city, you have a higher work-life balance, coffee whenever you want, and you can wear pajamas while you work (as long as you won’t be doing any video conferences)!

 

Setting up your personal home office space is also a big perk because you can design it however you want and you aren’t limited to a small cubicle. Sometimes, people design their home offices with things they like, but they aren’t aware that they will be a big distraction later on.  If you've purchased a home, or are looking to have a home evaluation to build you perfect office - here are six tips to keep in mind!

Design with Comfort in Mind

 

The two crucial parts of your home office that you need to be comfortable is your chair and desk. Having a fancy upholstered dining room chair may look awesome, but sitting on it for eight hours a day will be a pain. These chairs don’t give you proper back support and will make you feel very uncomfortable after a few days, which will affect your work output. The other part of your home office you should make comfortable is your desk. Make sure you find a desk that has a lot of space (including drawers) to keep your papers and work supplies in order.

 

If you will be painting your home office, try to avoid super bright colours. Staring at a bright colour after looking at your computer screen for a long time could get annoying and cause headaches throughout the day.

Lighting is key

 

When people design their home offices, they usually overlook how they will light their room and will end up relying on their overhead lights. Try to set up your home office where the sun is your main source of light. Open your blinds and let the sun shine in! On gloomy or dark days, use a desk lamp to create a nice glow for your work area.

Personalize your space

 

You have a whole room to decorate with whatever you want! Put up some posters of your favourite show/movie/sports team, put pictures of family and friends on your desk, print out comics that you find amusing and put them on the wall, and buy some plants to place around your office. Looking after the plants will give you something to do while you are on a break or if there is a lull in work.

Have fun with storage

 

Avoid the typical filing cabinet with a printer on top of it. They aren’t fun to use or look at. Get creative with how you store your papers and office supplies. Put your printer in a closet so you don’t have to look at it until you use it. It will also prompt you to get up and walk around to keep your blood flowing. To avoid filing cabinets, get some open concept shelves and colour coordinated binders to put your papers in.

Create a “break area”

 

Having a comfortable break area is almost as important as having a comfortable office space. Having a comfortable break area will help you recharge faster to tackle your work in the final hours of the day. If you can’t designate a separate room in your home as your break room, dedicate a space in your home office to have one. Get a mini fridge filled with snacks and drinks, add a bean bag chair to sit on, then just sit back and relax while you are on your break!

 

Have more office supplies than you need

 

When you work at a traditional office, there always seems to be an unlimited amount of pens, paper, and staples that you can use at any time. When you work from home you start to see that these office supplies run out over time and it becomes time consuming always running to the store to pick up what you need. When you are at the store, buy an overstock of everything you use to ensure you have the item(s) you need. For all of your home puchasing needs, contact our team here!