Organising your workspace when working from home

Working from home can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, there is no commuting and you get to be in charge on how you schedule your day. The down sides are you have to be extremely diligent in your work, splitting the place you live in as a place to relax and a place to work hard. On top of that, because there is no one regulating your work, you need to be incredibly diligent and stick to the task at hand, which can be difficult with the distractions home life can bring. Being a student and freelancer over the years has meant at times I have had to work for a long period of time at home and thankfully have mastered the art.

It is true; everybody has a different way of thinking and therefore a different flow of working. Although for most, cutting out distractions by keeping your workspace tidy and organised will prove beneficial for productivity. Treat your workspace like you would an office you share with colleagues. It is always ideal if you have an additional room in your house that can be transformed into an office. The bedroom and lounge are notorious places for being unproductive, as the mind has wired these spaces as a place to relax. Sometimes this cannot be helped, which is understandable. Just make sure that if you are working from home, that you do not get in the habit of working on a sofa or bed.

If you have to work in your bedroom or lounge, do make sure you keep a space that is purely for work, whether it is a table or corner of a room Main thing is to keep it tidy. This goes for your computer files as well. Again you do not want the mind to grab a hold of any outside distractions. Storage such as shelves and boxes are useful to keep this up, as does regular filing that needs to be completed diligently too.

But make sure it is not all blank walls and linear lines. Try and bring a little bit of fun with home comforts into your workspace. If you cannot afford do buy a super ergonomic chair, then how about using a lounge chair? They are comfortable and will add a nice touch to your room. Not to mention that lounge chairs are made to be super comfortable, therefore you will always be itching to use it. 

Along with incorporating a few home comforts, have a few items that will help to inspire and give your space character. After all, if you find most offices boring and bland, why would you want to correlate this to any space of your home? You want to make work fun not boring. Art pieces, mood boards, candles, they are just a few items that help to bring life into your workspace.

Unless you happen to be in a photography dark room, a room that has an abundance of natural light and fresh air, is always a great way to keep the mind refreshed. It will make you feel less lethargic and keep the motivation levels up. How about facing the work desk towards a window, so the mind is able to drift off every now and then? Speaking of fresh air, for those pressed on time, make sure you take breaks or experience the world a little bit by going for a walk or visiting eating spots or parks. These power breaks were always useful during my time as a freelancer because every now and then the brain needs to look away from the screen and have a break. 

So the main rule to stick to is being focused, keep your space organised, but make sure you incorporate some character into your work place. Distractions are easy to find in the house, so take the TV plug out of the power socket and stick to radio or music and most of all, make sure you have fun what you do, (although with most occupations, it is easier said than done!).