Are you looking at how to create a good work from home environment? More people are working from home and the number of remote workers job has increased, jobs are offering you the chance to work from home. If this is something you prefer to help you create a better work-life balance, then you need to think about creating a good work from home environment.
I have worked from home for many years, way before the pandemic and when it wasn’t as easy to connect to team members. I choose to work from home to create a good work-life balance for my family and personal life. Generating an income from home allowed me to do the school run, keep on top of the household jobs, manage my pain levels due to health issues, and be on hand if something happened with the children. I am grateful I decided to go down this route, it comes with its downsides like every decision you make for your family and career, but it’s all about creating a life that you and your family members are happy with.
Working from home isn’t for everyone though, as some people find it very hard to switch between home life, and work life and learn to create boundaries between them both. This is a hard one to accomplish, as it’s so easy to switch between them both and never get the chance to switch off. You need to work hard at learning new things yourself, you really could do with a mentor to coach you! So after many years of creating this myself, I am going to give you some ideas on how to create a good work from home environment.
How To Create A Good Work From Home Environment
Work Schedule
Looking at your work hours first to see how many hours you need to fit in each day, can you break up your work schedule easily? Or do you have a specific time you need to do something on a certain day? Then look at your family life schedule, are there things the children need to do on certain days and times that you need to be there for or get them? Then you can create a work schedule around these commitments. It might be more time-consuming to get all this information together at the start, but once you’ve planned your week properly it will give you the focus you need.
Do you prefer planning with paper? Or happy to go digital? If you’re looking at paper versions you can pick up handy A5 notebooks with planners and work schedules printed in, I find sitting down and planning what is happening a week ahead really helpful for my mindset on a Monday morning. Using different coloured pens for different jobs helps, if things look pretty I prefer using them!
If you like using digital options, then look at apps like ClickUp, it’s free to use on the basic plan and you can add all of your work in one place, including tasks, social media planning, video call, documents, and a to-do list. If your job involves bringing together many remote employees you can all have this app to work together and brainstorm ideas together. Keeping everything in one place, saving distractions.
Create A Dedicated Workspace
This is the biggest one for me, I have worked from my sofa in my living room, dining table, and then a dedicated desk space and as soon as I had this work desk area it improved my working environment 100%. I was able to focus on my daily schedule, and my productivity shot up. I felt like I was going to work when I was sitting at my workspace and I had all my home office equipment to hand easily.
Make an area that’s solely your work area. A desk or area slightly partitioned off will help you stay focused on the task at hand and stop you getting distracted with home related tasks. It will also help you have a work / home balance because when you have finished work you can close that area off
Having this ideal environment meant I set myself ground rules on my work schedule, I could still create flexible schedules like I wanted but as soon as I sat in my office space it allowed me to switch off from household chores and distractions of the home. If you can create a desk area somewhere in your home, you can turn up to work and focus much better. It doesn’t have to be in a separate room if your home doesn’t have this, just setting up an office environment in an area of your home can be just as good.
People have built outdoor office rooms for their work area, so they have a physical space that they walk to in the morning which is away from the household and gets rid of any distracting background noise. Great if your work college work in different time zones, you won’t be waking the house up during the night.
Pick a room with the least distractions- I end up doing chores like washing and dishwasher when I work in the dining room, so select a space without things that will get in the way of work when you’re fed up or bored of the task. Try to be further from the kitchen to force yourself to stretch your legs each time you need a cuppa so you don’t just sit for hours without a break
Claire – Single Parent Pessimist
Making My Home Office Space Comfortable
You want to make your home office space comfortable and somewhere you happily sit for a lot of time without suffering from back pain or joint pains. Investing in a comfortable chair and the correct height desk is important, you will be spending many hours here, so look after yourself, you don’t want to end up having sick days, especially if you’re working for yourself and cannot be paid for sick days.
Look at how much natural light comes into the area you’re working from, I designed my son’s bedroom to have an L-Shaped desk so the side he does his uni work on is under the window which gives him fresh air and natural light on his work area. This creates a positive work environment which will make him more productive, have a positive thinking attitude and not feel like he is shut away which helps his mental health.
Make sure your desk is well-lit so you don’t strain your eyes, and keep the desk clutter-free. This helps with keeping you focused on your remote working and not thinking about cleaning!
Create a space which feels uncluttered and as spacious as possible. Give yourself a nice view, even if it’s a noticeboard – you’re going to spend a long time looking at it. Add in things which aid your working, particularly if you’re a creative – candles, music, fresh air, plants, all help to keep us calm and our brains focused.
Taking Breaks
It’s a good idea to schedule break times as it’s very difficult to keep track of time when you don’t have anyone else in the room to let you know the time or see moving around come lunchtime. If you’re working in a team but you don’t need to talk to each other, you could even set up google hangouts to have lunch together and chat, keeping up your social interactions with people, This is one of the hardest things people struggle with when working from home, is the lack of time to talk to people.
If your lunch break is your time to get away from interactions, then make time to go for a long walk on your lunch break, get some fresh air and exercise, and have a chance to have some personal time.
If your work day allows it, think about going to the coffee shop with your laptop, changing your work environment can really lift your energy levels. Making sure you have a backpack that keeps your laptop safe is really important. We tried the Lawrence bag from Trendhim which has plenty of space inside for you to hold your planner, workbooks, chargers, and important things, and a perfect laptop holder at the back, keeping everything secure and safe.
This has strong well-padded shoulder straps it’s super comfortable to walk around with, and even when it’s full up with heavier items it easily can support this. You can also get this backpack in Navy if you prefer a different colour to black.
You don’t need to head out of the house on a regular basis, and could even visit the coffee shop early morning to start the day but changing up your routine might be just what you need to create a productive work environment.
Up To Date Office Equipment
If you’re working for a company that supports working from home, make sure you have up-to-date equipment from them to be able to keep your productivity up. If you’re required to attend a video conference you need a webcam and microphone for video conference calls, these communication tools are a must-have to be able to complete your job properly and it helps to keep up employee morale to feel valued. It might be you have to spend out on extras yourself like noise-canceling headphones which aren’t a requirement, but they would help you focus better if you have noise within your home during your working time, or outside noises from neighbours.
As well as making your space lovely, it’s also important for it be practical. Invest in the best equipment you can afford because not doing so is a false economy! A good computer or laptop, desk, and chair are essential for a professional working environment.
Switching Off
It’s the end of the day and you’ve finished your working day, your stress levels are high and you’ve been home full-time working all week, it’s now time to walk away from the home office area and switch back to home life mode. If you don’t have a separate room for your home office that you can shut the door on, you need to pack away your home office equipment and hide away as much as possible. This creates a healthy relationship with this type of work, and you don’t feel like it’s taking over your life and blending into your home life.
I have a stunning leather surface pro holder that not only looks nice when it’s left out on the side, but it’s also super protective too. The leather protects the laptop from being scratched, as it contains the laptop like a wallet. The soft leather in a burgundy colour means it blends nicely with my colour scheme whilst sitting on my desk, but I can’t look at it properly. I need to untie the pouch, so I’m not easily drawn in to quickly turn the laptop on and check the emails!
This is from Leather Leo who ships to the UK and can be purchased for £90, looking after your expensive items is so important in a busy house, you don’t want to start on Monday with a broken laptop as the kids found it!
I was so impressed by the quality of this laptop sleeve, the leather is super soft and of amazing quality. This would make a wonderful Christmas gift for someone as you can even have it personalised.
If it all goes wrong one day don’t be hard on yourself, the best thing you can do is start again tomorrow with a fresh mind set. If today everything seams to be going wrong, or you cannot focus properly, take regular breaks, jump onto Microsoft teams and have a chat to someone who will listen.
If it’s your own business and you can, pop out for some leisure time to recharge. You might be that extra time away from the house re-focuses you and you come back and produce your best work!
4 Comments
I agree with all your suggestions.
In fact, since when we moved to a smaller house where I haven’t a studio, I’ve lost focus and determination!
I was surprised on how much it allowed me to focus on what I was doing
I needed this. I work from home completely now…with a house full of kids and it is really hard to get into the work zone. My work space can easily get mixed up with kids’ play space and feel crazy. I just organized my space, made it feel pretty and separate, so now I feel more productive.
Yes it makes such a difference to your mindset, and keeps everything in one place!