If you run your own business from home or you work from home for another business and are feeling a little demotivated, it is likely because your office space isn’t quite up to scratch in terms of productivity and design layout. Your office design can impact your motivation and ability to focus massively which is why you should consider making some changes to it. Furthermore, it is easy to make your home office messy, especially if you struggle to stay organised in this room. So, if you are feeling a bit demotivated with your business and are looking to make a change to help reduce procrastination and power through, here are some tips to help improve your home office.
Key Elements For Productivity In Your Home Office
There are many things that you can do to ensure you are improving your productivity at home however, there are three key elements that you should perfect before you make other changes. This includes lighting, furniture, and organization. Let’s take a look at all three in further detail.
Lighting
Lighting goes a long way, especially for your home office. Before we talk about natural and artificial lighting in your home office, let’s think of offices from the early 2000s and in the 80s and 90s. They would have bright fluorescent lights installed with small windows and vertical blinds covering them which would restrict natural light. So why should you have something similar despite living in a modern world where we embrace the natural light? You shouldn’t.
A good way to ensure your home office keeps you productive is to ensure that you have plenty of natural light. Don’t put your office in a box room with no windows. Instead, make sure there is a window to the side of you which shines that natural light on you. When it gets dark, you can then close your curtains or blinds and turn on a lamp. This light should be LED so it isn’t too bright and makes it energy efficient. Additionally, you should be able to adjust the brightness on it so you can find the appropriate lighting for you to transform your home.
Furniture
Something else you should carefully consider is furniture. A comfortable chair can ensure you stay focused on the task at hand. Furthermore, you should look to get ergonomic furniture to help with your comfort even more, especially if you are going to be sitting on this chair for periods of time each day
It isn’t just the chair that you need to consider, it is also important you have a good desk that has plenty of space and is the right height. Yes, you can adjust your chair but ensure that it isn’t too low down or too tall. Your arms should be a perfect 90-degree angle when sitting at your desk for optimal comfort. Plus, have some form of shelving unit that you can use to reduce the clutter on your desk. This can either be a part of the desk or even above the desk.
Organisation
We briefly touched on it in the previous section but to ensure you maximise your productivity, your desk area needs to be clean and tidy. The best way to do this would be to ensure you have the right storage available. Consider installing a shelf above your desk where you can place important books and documents. If you are in a rented home, consider getting a set of cabinets that you can place underneath your desk so you don’t damage the walls. Reduce that clutter and you will soon notice that you can increase your productivity and remain focused.
Branding and Aesthetics Can Also Help
Something else that you should consider and is often forgotten is branding and the overall aesthetic. Mixing and matching different colour schemes can be quite distracting for the brain, more than you think. That is why it is important to ensure you have a level of consistency with your home office. Not only does this mean the overall colour scheme but also branding is important.
When working in your office, you need to have subtle reminders that make you proud of your little business or for the company you work for. Consider placing your brand logo above your monitor so it is something that you are constantly looking at. Even little things like your mouse mat and cups should have your brand logo on to ensure you keep that level of professionalism. If you don’t have branded products already then a branding agency can help with that. Additionally, if you go into your office with colleagues, you can also get them branded mouse mats and mugs if they want them. That extra level of branding can make a difference, especially in your home office.
Digital Tools To Also Improve Productivity
This is something you may not have thought of but something that is certainly worth considering, especially if you are aiming to improve your productivity. The only issue with this is that there are so many to choose from and some of them can be paid, with some being an upfront cost or even monthly subscription.
Asana
Asana is one of the best apps that you can use and makes emails far less chaotic because it is all in one place. So, if you need to communicate with other people in your company, this is a great app to help with project management and keeping communication running smoothly, without missing any key details.
Zoom
Zoom is more for video calls and day-to-day communication for conversations that don’t need to be tracked/recorded. The benefit to this is that you can create rooms where multiple users discuss work with one another. Additionally, Zoom allows you to record it so no important information is missed if say you have a meeting with a client. Plus, it will summarise chat threads in case you have missed a conversation in a group chat.
Clockify
Last but not least is Clockify. This specific software is excellent for time tracking so it is something that is worth considering if this is something that you struggle with. Additionally, this app helps you become more organized as it also has calendars, auto trackers, projects, timesheets and much more.
To Conclude
If you struggle to remain focused at your home office, an office redesign must be essential to help you increase your levels of productivity. All of these changes will help keep you focused on the task at hand and will impact the amount of work you complete.
So many businesses can be run from the comfort of your home, so if you don’t have a home office and you would like to have a side hustle to earn extra money, it is something that is worth considering. Just browse what businesses can be run at home and find one that is suitable to you and your set of skills.
