If you have realized your dream of being able to work from home, then you would have realized by now that it is not as easy as it seems. Whether you write for a living or have an Internet business or sell some specialty that you have expertise in, what you need is some space for yourself where you can pursue your home career.
A designated place for working is required, even if you are working from home since that is the only manner in which you shall be able to concentrate fully on what you are doing without getting distracted by the daily chores of the household and the hustle bustle if there are other people around. If you are lucky to have the house to yourself, finding this place shall be easy because you can choose any corner that provides you inspiration. But if there are other people in the house and you need to create time and space for your work, you will need to keep a few things in mind to choose the right place.
The place that you choose to work could be a separate room or an area in a room set aside to be your workplace. There are a few things that you should avoid while choosing the right place. Ensure that you pick a place that is not in the middle of high activity. Places close to the front door and rooms that are visited by other people in the household should be avoided. These tend to distract you and do not allow you to focus on the task at hand. When you know that you can snatch only a few hours away from the rigmarole of housework and other commitments to your children and husband, make sure that you make the best of it.
To make the best of available time, try and keep all distractions at bay. Try to avoid being in the same room as the television and if this cannot be avoided, do not give into the temptation to switch it on. Keep the latest bestseller that you are currently reading away from your workstation.
Once you have made sure that the negatives are debarred from your workplace, start to make the best of the available place that you have chosen and create an environment that helps in making your creative juices flow. Discover what works best for you. Does background music help you in relaxing and think clearly or does it clutter your thoughts? Even if you prefer to have music around, ensure that it is not jarring and interfering. An instrumental piece scores over songs with lyrics that are more likely that not distract you from the job at hand.
Good working conditions include good lighting. Aim to work in a place that has natural light. Dark interiors with minimal lighting can result in a throbbing headache after a few hours. If natural lighting cannot be achieved, ensure that the area you are working in is well lit and bright.
To ensure maximum productivity, keep all the objects that you may need close to your workstation. These could include a fax machine, a telephone, a printer, writing instruments, paper and reference books.
You should also give some thought to adding a personal touch to your place by adding a motivation placard or a poster. These can go a long way in motivating you when the going gets tough. Flowers and soft toys on your desk can freshen up and make the atmosphere more exuberant.
Maintaining a clean, structured environment not only provides you with the motivation to work efficiently but also gives a signal to everyone else that with the home-office that you have, you are serious about what you are doing.
Vishal P. Rao runs the Work at Home Forum, a community of those who work from home.
I just finished moving my home office from a space I shared with my husband to one where I can work alone without distraction. It’s been a huge improvement in my productivity, but the lack of natural light is a downer. I wonder if a special lamp would help.
I think your approach towards music in the home office is quite simplistic. As someone who has worked as a software developer, from my home office, for many many years, I have a different take on music (and video) in my workspace. I’ve found that its important to find music that I am thoroughly accustom to and evokes a particular response when played. Think of it as acoustic aromatherapy. I have different sets of music that I use for different tasks. When flitting around in my code doing lots of different small things, I have happy bouncy hard rock, such as Aerosmith, to keep my energy up and the groove going. When doing *serious* debugging of really nasty bugs, I listen to the LoTR “Two Towers” soundtrack for intensity and focus. When working on bigger features that require some cleverness and take quite a while to develop, I listen to Queensryche “Operation Mindcrime” or Roger Waters “Amused to Death” because it has sort of ebbs and flows, so I have a more flexible mindset and energy. I’ve listened to them a thousand times each, so lyrics do not distract from my mindset. Its kinda spooky how I can go from nearly befuddled to focused and alert in just a couple of well chosen tracks. Sometimes when working late at night I put on some favorite low brow movies, such as the Diehard series, just to keep the energy up. Of course I play it in a window on my screen, so I am not distracted by looking some place else. Again, I have seen the movies tons of times, so I don’t have to watch them to follow along. It’s worked wonderfully for me over the years.
Ahh, music is in the ear of the beholder.-) I’m going to have to check out that LoTR sound track. I agree with you, Dean, on Arrowsmith. When you have a hard time getting started on a project, or you just need some motivation, crank up “Fight The Good Fight” by Triumph. Great guitar, too.
If you’re still having trouble being productive, read David Allen’s “Getting Things Done.”
I worked from home today and opened all of the windows and let the breezes blow through. But, being Texas, I had to close all of them at 2PM and crank up the AC. But there’s always tomorrow.-)
Great post. I’ll check out the forum. Thanks, I’ll be reading.
Hi Lara,
You can try color-improved warm fluorescents. They can have daylight-like effect.
If you work on computers, consider lighting the wall behind it to minimize eyestrain. Ideally illumination should be from sides or top and never from behind as it causes the computer screen to refelct the light and cause glare. Even having a window at the back can cause similar effect.
In general, the basic rule is that the illumination of your room should be brighter than the brightness of your computer screen.
More information:
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1563/is_1_18/ai_60041481
http://www.lightinguniverse.com/articles/past_articles/Home_Office_Lighting_07_03.html
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