With the Covid 19 pandemic, many people now prefer to work from home. What’s more? Most companies have since implemented work from home policies to enhance employee safety and comfort. Entrepreneurs haven’t been left behind, either! With the corona scare, doing business online is a viable option for many. Besides, many shoppers now prefer shopping online.
For this reason, most entrepreneurs are now dealing with the usual challenge- working remotely. With many movement restrictions, business owners are now forced to adapt to this new norm. Nevertheless, a home office is a handy space for all entrepreneurs. Whether you have a separate room or want to convert a corner of your living space to a small office, you need the best design for optimal comfort and productivity.
Check out ideas for designing a comfortable home office:
1. Choose an ideal office space
First of all, determine the purpose of your working space. Do you want a small space to store your paperwork? Or a fully equipped room where you handle all your business dealings? This helps you choose the most suitable room. The main challenge would be a distraction.
With a home office is that determining the best working space can be daunting. With other family members and probably kids, it may not be easy to achieve optimal productivity. In most cases, you’ll be distracted by kids, and perhaps a few house chores.
Avoid a room with lots of noise and distractions. Keep off the living room where you’re likely to get distracted by other family members. Instead, opt for quiet spots like the garage and avoid things like a TV or music systems.
By doing so, you allow yourself to focus on your tasks with minimal distractions. If you don’t have a separate room, consider adding a workstation or split a large room to create ample space for a home office.
2. Enhance productivity-Acquire the right furniture
Staying productive while working in a home office home can be challenging. You want the right furniture pieces for enhanced comfort. With the wrong furniture, you can easily sleep off or worse still hurt your back. There’s a challenge, though! I presume you’re aware that quality furniture comes at a cost. And you may have to stretch your budget to acquire the necessary office materials.
Here lies the problem. Without the right furniture in your home office, you will not only be uncomfortable but may also hurt your health. Back support is vital, especially when sitting for long hours. What about productivity? This also matters! Without the right accessories, you move up and down to get things done, which wastes time.
Wondering how to resolve this? Set a budget and save up for all you need. It won’t take long before you have enough to acquire the right furniture for your home working space. Some of the necessary furniture pieces include an office desk, ergonomic chair for back support, and locker. You may as well need to set up a few shelves for additional storage space.
Acquire a computer, printer, fax machine, and other office essentials. However, don’t crowd your room. There’s a wide variety of simple home office furniture that allows you to maximize your space. There are also other options to consider. Borrow from friends and loved ones, and agree on a flexible mode of payment.
3. Connect to a network using your home internet
Working from home involves running most of the tasks online. This may include sending e-Mails, client newsletters, running online promotions, updating your social media pages, and more.
To achieve this, you need reliable internet connectivity. And this may be a significant challenge. With a home internet connection, your information isn’t encrypted, which can pose multiple risks to your business data.
What are the consequences? You risk losing your data to hackers and other external intrusions. The security of your information is vital to the smooth running of your business. Losing your data can be costly and may result in the closure of your business.
An ideal solution would be to install a VPN router to your network. It creates an encrypted and secure connection for less secure networks like home Wi-Fi. A VPN service will safeguard your privacy when online and bar hackers from intercepting your data, thus avoiding data breaches.
4. Ensure natural lighting
According to a new study by Alan Hedge, a Cornell University Professor, a daily sunshine dose can significantly impact workers. It minimizes eyestrain and headaches by approximately 84%. Sounds good? Not really. Nowadays, there’s so much crowding in cities, and it’s not easy to get an adequate amount of sunshine from the office.
With improper lighting in your home office, you’ll likely suffer from fatigue and drowsiness, which affects your productivity. You may also be forced to keep your lights on the entire day, which adds to your power bills.
Working from home gives you limitless options. You have the luxury of choosing the most suitable location for your home office. Look for space where you can work comfortably and still get optimal natural light into your room. What’s more? Do away with bulky curtains and use light sheers to allow in more light.
5. Set restrictions
Most entrepreneurs think that working from he comes with many privileges. Well, it does. But, if not managed well, it can ruin your business in many ways. You’re likely to experience lots of distractions while working from home. It’s also challenging to manage your time better in a home office.
With the distractions associated with working from home, it isn’t easy to stay productive. This can adversely affect your business, leading to loss of business and reduced profitability.
Set strict working hours and share this with other family members. Moreover, educate them on how and why to avoid disturbing you while working.
Conclusion
If you’re not used to working from home, you’ll likely face some hurdles in the initial phase. Nevertheless, setting up a home office has never been easier, thanks to technology. You can now get the latest gadgets and furniture for a more comfortable working space.
The post 5 Tips for Entrepreneurs Creating Their Own Office from Home first appeared on Feedster.
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