Making the Most of Your Home Office

As the cost and time spent commuting rises all across the nation, more and more professional workers are choosing to work from home offices. The home office is convenient. It allows parents to be home when their children return from school. It allows children to assist their aging parents during the daytime. It allows greater flexibility in working hours. But none of these aspects appear when your home office is not comfortable, organized, or styled towards productivity.

First, consider how comfortable you are. If you are working every day from a laptop on your dining room table, you aren't going to be comfortable. Dining room chairs just aren't designed for long periods of sitting and support for a computer user. If you find yourself squinting at your screen because of the glare of the lights, you also aren't doing yourself any favors. An office is an office, no matter where it is. Invest in furniture which meets the needs of an office environment. Consider a good office chair, a desk which is at the height and angle for your computer, and proper lighting for your space.

Second consider your ability to function in the home office space. If you can't print, connect to the internet at a good speed, or teleconference where you are doing your work, you are not going to be productive at any job. You may need to install a second phone line, or purchase upgraded internet speed. You will need to maintain your printer and other equipment, such as a backup hard disk drive without help from the IT staff down the hall in the corporate offices. You also need to keep your work papers and your personal life papers separate. This means having a space which is for work only. If you sit down to pay your bills at the same desk you work from, fine, but don't leave your personal files intermixed with your work files. As a rule of thumb, if it isn't appropriate in the corporate office, don't do it in your home office.

Finally, make sure your space is conducive to the feeling of being at work. Ideally, home offices are completely separate spaces within a home. This separation allows the home worker to differentiate between work and home in their connected space. Make sure your space is quiet enough to hold professional phone calls uninterrupted. If this means closing the door, do it. If it means not running the dishwasher, or the laundry while you hold calls, do that too. If you must have your work space in a common room, stylistically differentiate that space with a rug, pictures, or furniture.

Working from home is a luxury not everyone is afforded. Make the most of it, but don't let poor planning of your space in a home office lead others to question your productivity, sincerity, or professionalism. Also don't allow yourself to get caught in the trap of working all the time you are home. If your hours are 9-5, work 9-5, not 9-whenever you finally turn off your computer and go to bed. An organized, clearly defined, and comfortable home office will help keep you on track.