Tips to Transform Your Work From Home Space
Check out some of these simple tips and tricks for keeping your work from home space organized. Hint: You don’t need to buy anything fancy or construct a whole new space.
A Perfect Space
Working from home has so many benefits. You don’t have to sit in traffic, you save on gas, you can work in comfy clothes and you can work in your own comfy space. It’s so easy in our home environment to forget that we are actually working. Work blends in with the home and the home blends in with work.
Before we know it…
…This happens.
And we get frustrated. Working from home suddenly becomes uncomfortable. We miss deadlines, we can’t find things, we feel more stressed out than ever before.
This Is NOT How Things Should Be
If there is one thing about working from home that you truly cannot get anyplace else is that you are in YOUR comfort zone. It is YOUR space. The first step in organizing your work from home space truly is owning your space.
You have power over your space and schedule.
First Things First
My space is what I make it – make this your mantra. Make your space work for you.
What I want VS What I Need
What do you actually need close to your desk? Make a list of things you use frequently throughout the day and those are the only things you should have on your desk. If you have a lot of things you want but don’t actually need, create a space close to your desk but far enough away that they don’t cause clutter.
For example, I love plants.
I tend to collect quite a bit of plant and want them all over my desk. It can easily become too much and make it hard for me to get to the things I actually need.
So, I began keeping my plants NEAR my desk not ON my desk.
I place a few on shelves nearby, a few on top of a book case. This way I can still enjoy what I want but easily get to what I NEED.
Make a Schedule and Stick to It
This is incredibly important. Keep work at work and home at home. It is important to create these boundaries early on to avoid tons of stress. Schedule your work time throughout the day. Make sure you schedule your breaks as well.
When you have a break – take a TRUE break. Remove yourself from work and take a walk around your home, stretch, truly give yourself a break.
When it’s lunch time – take a true, well deserved, lunch break. Remove yourself from your work environment. Enjoy your meal.
Get in the habit of separating work and home so you can continue to enjoy both with less stress.
Create a daily routine and stick to it.
Have a set sleep time, wake time and eating time. Have a work routine complete with scheduled breaks, scheduled calls/video time, scheduled screen time and scheduled preparation time. No matter what industry you work in, having a routine with a solid schedule as well as boundaries between work and home will help reduce stress and increase productivity.
Lay Down The Law
We all love our families but it can be difficult to balance home and work life – ESPECIALLY – when it is all under one roof!
It can be chaotic.
Our loved ones mean well but seeing you home often means, you are available.
It’s a tough issue and one that many people struggle with. The best thing to do is set your hours and make it well known to everyone in the household that you are unavailable during certain times. With that being said, you should also plan for and allow for exceptions to the rule. Flexibility is important when working from home. Often times, things come up and we just cannot avoid distractions.
Take things as they come. Don’t get overwhelmed. Be kind to yourself. Give yourself time to handle random situations then get right back to your routine.
Have a schedule and routine…
But be kind to yourself. You are working from home. As convenient as it sounds, it means you are in charge of balancing two worlds under one roof. It can be tough. Things happen.
The important thing is that you still have your schedule and routine and get back to them as quickly as you can.
The Big Stuff
Now for the big stuff. You know… the stuff. All the work from home stuff. The work stuff at home… Files, folders, pens, paper, memory cards, additional gizmos, gadgets and wires that bunch up at the back of your desk.
That stuff.
Since we’ve already established that we need to keep bare necessities on our desks, we have to think about organizing the stuff.
Craftsy Hacks has a great list of 40 creative (and affordable) ways to organize your home office.
In general, I like to keep things as clutter free as possible. In order to do that, I tend to use as much wall space as I can to avoid keeping things all around me.
Simple Notes & Mail
I set up a basic mail system leaning up against my wall. It doesn’t take up tons of space. It’s low cost and easy to use. It’s great for quick reminders, too.
Cute Containers
I use random glass containers or jars to organize my pens, pencils, styluses, paper clips, memory cards and other random work items.
Billions of Bookshelves
I use (probably overuse) bookshelves to keep things off of my desk. I like to use binders and folders to organize my paper items and they all end up… on the bookshelf.
Make It Your Own
The most important thing in organizing your work from home space is to make it your own. Own your work from home space. It is your journey. Make it work for you in the best way possible.
If you found any of these tips helpful or if you have additional suggestions, let us know! Leave us a comment or visit us on social media!
