Working from home is truly amazing. It offers great flexibility, maximum comfort and minimum of distractions. However, if your office is too casual, not sufficiently isolated from your living space or designed in an inefficient way, your productivity will suffer. Here is how to avoid common home office mistakes and how to boost your productivity through efficient design.
Choose the right colors
Colors can have a much bigger role in your office than just looking pretty. As a matter of fact, some colors can evoke strong emotions in people and affect our energy, mood, motivation and creativity. For instance, green is perceived as very comfortable and invigorating. It can also boost concentration and make us feel restful and fresh. On the other hand, blue can make the room feel too chill and put its occupant to sleep. This is great for bedrooms and kids’ rooms, but not so good for workspaces. So, before you decide on one particular shade, make sure to check out The Psychology of Color and choose a hue that will work for you, not against you.
Remove distractions
Being productive and efficient while surrounded by a sea of distractions is practically impossible. That’s why proper office insulation and office location is so important. If you can, make sure to put up your work zone as far from the living area as possible. One other thing I personally use every day is noise-canceling headphones. They will allow you to listen to your favorite music and muffle all the other noises around you.
Avoid clutter
Clutter might not seem like much, but it can greatly affect your productivity and focus. It often works on the subconscious levels and makes you nervous for, what seems like, no reason. So, make sure to bring clutter to a minimum. Remove all empty coffee cups, plates, outdated files, folders and reminders, extra office supplies and unnecessary décor pieces. They just take away from your work surfaces and create distractions. Additionally, make sure the air around you is fresh and not ‘cluttered’. Make sure to have fresh air flowing throughout your home office all day in order to boost productivity and help you not get too comfortable in that office chair. You can simply open a window, however by doing this, noise can become a problem in terms of productivity. By looking at getting an air conditioning system (perhaps installed by Barnett Electrical: ac service or a similar company) you can have conditioned air flowing throughout your office space with minimal noise.
Boost organization
The key to smooth and efficient work is organization. Once you remove all the clutter, make sure to organize your workspace, desk, documents, supplies and computer. There are filing cabinets and folders in all sizes, colors and materials and they can help you with practical archiving. Having a few shelves can help you utilize your vertical space and provide you with storage for your office supplies and decoration. Once you tidy up your physical space, it’s time to tackle your virtual one. Deleting old emails, files and folders can help you be more efficient and save you a lot of time. Plus, your computer will work much faster!
Good lighting is essential
Having the right lighting can work miracles on your productivity, motivation and mood. The ideal office lighting type is natural lighting. It’s the most balanced and eye-pleasing type of light. However, some offices just can’t get enough sunlight and people who work at night certainly need artificial lighting. If most of your work includes screens, you have to know that overhead lighting and monitors don’t cooperate very well. Luckily, you can easily fix that by getting desktop or standing lamps. They will reduce eye strain, minimize glare and improve aesthetics in your home office.
For other office activities, on the other hand, you really need overhead lighting. However, try to position your lighting fixture so it doesn’t hang exactly over your monitor. During the process of installation, it’s very important to hire electricians like experts from Glenco; otherwise, you’re risking all sorts of issues that can affect our productivity or even render your office unusable. I always hire professionals who handle all of my lighting installation and maintenance and I’ve absolutely no electrical issues since then.
Invest in good equipment
If you want to work quickly and efficiently, you have to have the right equipment. However, make sure to make good decisions. Do you really need that industrial-style copier that’s taking half of your office? Sometimes it’s better to work with less. But, it’s always smart to invest in a wireless hub that will allow you extra mobility. Also, having the fastest gear on the market will save you both time and money in the long run. There’s nothing more nerve-wracking than waiting while your slow computer or printer boots.
Splurge on a high-quality desk and chair
Most office jobs involve a lot of sitting, so if you have a cheap desk and chair, you might find yourself constantly moving around, feeling uncomfortable and distracted. Plus, your back and neck can become quite painful and sore. So, don’t hesitate to splurge on the best ergonomic furniture. It will help you work painlessly for hours at a time. However, even if you have a top-shelf equipment, make sure to take regular brakes!
If you do all of these home office design tips and introduce a few purely decorative pieces to boost motivation and style, you’ll bound to notice your productivity improving.