Working from home is an ideal option for many employees who no longer commute to a physical office. It gives people the flexibility to watch their kids, run a household and make some extra income – all from the comfort of their home. In particular, people who write for a living – such as writers on EssayWriterFree – often find a home office is an ideal spot to do their work. It’s very convenient for others too.
Here are some practical ideas to help you learn how to organize an office in your house.
Pick the right location in your home
The right location makes a big difference when it comes to productivity. Don’t rush to organize a home office in one room just because it’s the only spare space at that moment in time. Check the other rooms to see if one of them is more appropriate. For instance, the guest room may have better lighting or is warmer – factors that can boost productivity. Consider swapping the guest room with the spare room as the home office.
If the right location is a corner or a spot in the living area, try re-arranging the furniture to create the office space. Always pick the location that is the most likely to enhance productivity as the set-up zone for the home office.
Separate your home office from the rest of the home
The point of having a home office is to allow the user to feel that he or she is using a proper office while working there. That means there should be minimal interruptions. A separate room is ideal for a home office because there are fixed boundaries – a door and walls around it.
However, if the home office is a corner or a part of a bigger room, then you should erect some kind of barrier to establish the boundaries. For instance, a big showcase, a screen, or a curtain can be used to separate the home office from the rest of the home.
Have ample storage in the home office
When organizing a home office, think also about how much storage and what kinds of storage solutions are needed in there. If there are going to be lots of reference books taking up residence, look for bookcases or install bookshelves above the writing desk. Desk trays are useful to keep stationery and writing tools organized too. If working from your home involving lots of paperwork, filing cabinets may be required. As a rule, to accommodate future growth, buy ones with just half the space currently needed.
Choose Suitable Home Office Furniture
When choosing home office furniture, it’s important to take the amount of space available into consideration. Small spaces can become cluttered and confining if they are not well organized. The best office furniture for a home office ensures there is plenty of room for working, while also keeping necessary documents readily to hand. This can require the use of document management systems that utilize in-office storage, digital document storage, and off-site storage.
Modular Office Furniture
Modular office furniture is pre-formed and has a wide variety of options that interconnect with one another. The variety of configurations and components available with modular office furniture allows a business owner to customize the look of a home office to fit their individual workplace needs. Shelving and lots of storage space, as well as a corner office desk, are great picks for a small room.
Corner Office Desk
A corner office desk is made to fit into a corner, minimizing loss of space. Utilizing all possible available space is necessary when furnishing a home office, particularly when the size of the office is limited. Using a corner desk adds to the available space by taking advantage of a commonly unused area of a room.
Document Management Systems
Document management systems are an important aspect of home office organization. A great deal of the space in many offices is taken up by scattered and boxed papers, filing cabinets and folders. A document management system helps keep all these papers organized, reduces clutter, and increases available space in the home office. Document storage solutions in addition to the common filing system include digital document storage and off-site records storage.
Digital Document Storage
Digital document storage is a way of drastically reducing the amount of physical paper processed and maintained by an office. In some cases, the documents are digital throughout the process, with necessary information typed in, while the document is passed around via email, and then stored digitally. Electronic document storage can be accomplished with an electronic documents folder on the office computer, a portable storage device, a detachable hard drive, a backup disk, or an internet storage facility located off-site.
Off-site Records Storage
Off-site records storage is useful for many businesses. Keeping all business documents in one place, whether in the form of physical papers or digital documents, results in the risk of a total loss in the event of a fire or other disaster. Using off-site records storage ensures that a backup of critical information is always available.
A small 5×10 storage unit at a nearby self storage facility provides enough space for most companies’ off-site storage needs, and renting one with climate-control helps keep all the documents there in good condition. A 10×10 storage unit will also have room for any large furniture you temporarily cleared out of your home to make way for your home office.
Employees who work from home should organize their home office properly to work productively, and our office organization tips can help. When setting up a home office, try to pick the right location, separate the home office from the rest of the home, have ample storage, and choose suitable home office furniture.
