How Do I Make My Home Office Space Productive?

I mean, it’s probably no secret that people, are spending A LOT more time at their desks these days.  With the growing trend toward home offices {it’s almost like they have taken the place of formal dining rooms in most newer designed houses}, a lot of people are starting to work from home or get work done from home. Even when they do have a physical work office.  

You don’t need a ton of space to create a home office. I’ve seen some pretty sweet home offices made from closets on Pinterest.  BUT, you do need to create an environment where you can actually get some work done.  

For me all I really need is a desk, a chair, a laptop and absolute quite. I’ve learned over the years that I can pretty much work from anywhere that has those four things. But since most people’s needs are a little greater than that…

Here’s a couple of tips on the age old question, how do I make my home office space productive.

Keep your personal life separate.

I know that seems impossible, but if  you were to go to the office, you wouldn’t have permission slips, catalogs, etc. piling up on your desk.  If you don’t have the space to keep them physically separate, consider getting letter trays to keep them separate and organized.  Clutter clutters your mind and your desk.

Lighting.  Natural lighting is best.

But if a “window office” is impossible, make sure to have plenty of lighting.  Studies show that plenty of bright light actually makes people more productive.  {No wonder I can’t stop yawning when I’m sitting only in the glow of my computer in the wee hours of the morning. Or maybe it’s the wee hours of the morning part:}

Consider comfort.  

Really, if you want to get right down to it, it’s not terribly natural for humans to sit in front of a screen all day.  If your space allows, consider investing in a ball to bounce on {I know that seems weird, but lots of people swear by it} or a place where you can stand and type.  Movement matters.

Keep kiddos out.  

I know sometimes the office has to serve as a homework station, internet surfing hub, etc. but if at all possible, keep the kids out of your work space. It limits the possibility of an important document getting moved or drawn on with bright red crayon.

Go minimalist.  

Yes, you want everything you need at your fingertips, but you don’t NEED 18 pens, you need one.  It will be less clutter, and when you only have one of something, you tend to put it away, knowing full-well you don’t have a spare to fall back on.

Organization techniques.  

Create a workable plan for your personal situation.  Where does incoming mail go?  Where do outgoing documents go?  Do you have a file system.  Taking a moment {or day} to decide HOW you will organize your space and then sticking to the plan will save you countless hours in the long run.  

There is nothing worse than wasting precious work time digging for a piece of paper you could have sworn was sitting somewhere on the desk only to find it hours later underneath a chair in the corner of the room {not that that has EVER happened to me specifically.  Ha!}  Consider shelving for reference books, etc.  It will give them a home, and make the space less cluttered.

Temperature.  

Believe it or not, studies have shown that when a work space is too cold production goes down.  {I would have thought that too warm would be problematic because you’d get all relaxed and nappy, but apparently that’s not the case.}

Invest in ergonomic seating.

Being that you literally SIT for hours in the office, it’s important to have a good chair.  If you decide to alternate with comfort techniques listed on tip #3, then even better.  Consider a chair with ergonomic back support–if you can’t invest in the chair, consider a seat support that you can add to your current chair.

Keep technology up to date.  

Make sure to run scheduled scans, etc.  Constant technical difficulties really slow down production.  Consider springing for necessary memory upgrades, etc.  The ultimate performance of your system will more than make up for the cost.

Make it personal.  

If you have to spend hours of your life somewhere, you might as well take some time to make it aesthetically pleasing.  That doesn’t mean hauling out 8 tons of knickknacks and pictures, but carefully selected artwork/photos makes the space much, much more appealing.

How do you use your home office?  Any tips that you use that I missed?

~Mavis