Working from home undoubtedly has its perks. It is a welcome alternative to a pesky office environment and distractions. However, if you aren’t careful, your home office can rapidly become a hub of disorganization.
The truth is your home office can boost your productivity level to an all-time high. But, it can also cause a detrimental crawl. The only difference between these two probable outcomes is organization.
A research by Herman Miller reveals that a "seemingly insignificant" structure of your work chair can affect your creativity--negatively. So, how you set up your workspace and maximize the space you have is crucial.
The good news is, whether your workspace is spacious or as small as a cubicle, you can effectively maximize it to heighten creativity.
This article will reveal proven hacks to make your workspace exceptionally conducive to birth intricate creative ideas.
Let’s get down to it…
Organization Tips for Your Home Office
Creating a productive work environment isn't difficult. But maximizing your workspace without the right guide might come with a little hassle.
Here are tips to help you maximize your home office space:
Creative Office Space
One unique advantage of a home office is that you can get creative with the location. You can create a home office anywhere in your house… thanks to DIY room dividers.
So, you don’t necessarily need a whole room for a home office. Any well-ventilated space will do just fine.
Remember, the aim is to maximize effectiveness and productivity the best way you can. So don’t set up an office in a place where you’ll have to deal with pesky distractions.
Standing Desk
Chances are you have heard that "Sitting is the New Smoking." Sorry to disappoint you, the peddlers of this notion got it wrong.
According to the American journal of public health, the health risks of sitting for long hours pales compared to smoking.
However, there are health risks, including the risk of premature death, associated with sitting for long hours.
See why a standing desk is necessary?
A standing desk works like magic. It eases the stress of sitting for hours, so It offers a comfortable alternative when sitting becomes unbearable.
Now, here's the catch— the standing desk trend has spread rapidly like wildfire. With the sheer number of producers on the market, it’s almost impossible to separate inferior from authentic ones.
Hence, launch extensive research before you get a standing desk.
One desk that we can vouch for is flexispot’s full-featured standing desk. With this desk, you can seamlessly switch from sitting to standing by adjusting the height.
You can also check out other trusted brands. Just ensure the standing desk is versatile enough to serve diverse work purposes.
Maximize Your Wall space
Small wall space can hold more things than you can imagine. For instance, floor-to-ceiling shelves can conceal files and documents perfectly. So, your under-desk drawers can be used for other everyday office accessories.
You can make a glass sliding door for your shelf to keep private documents hidden. If you have a corner space, a corner bookshelf isn't a bad idea as well.
Hanging a bulletin board on your wall also creates space for important messages and notes. You can artfully arrange crucial messages all over your bulletin board to help you stay focused.
The wall can hold a mail filling system. It’s tempting to pile mails on your desk, but it's not wise. When space is at a premium, you can't afford to have your table flooded with daily emails. With a mail filing system, organizing your mail will be effortless.
For more organization, create different spaces for incoming mails, bills, mail to file, and outgoing mails.
Technology
If you have old, clunky monitors adorning your home office, it’s time to get rid of them, especially if you are low on a workspace.
Replacing huge computers with sleek and modern ones saves a great deal of space. You'll be surprised at how much space they occupy. Similarly, a telephone might just be a waste of precious resources, i.e., workspace. Using a headset to make calls is a much better option.
Wireless connections make life easier. You won’t have to deal with wires clogging your spaces or causing a nuisance all day. Wireless connections cut down on avoidable wire connections.
Monitor Mounts
Wondering how to manage your small desk space? Here’s a cheat: get a monitor mount.
You’ll steal back some of the space your monitor occupies. Moreover, the flexibility provides a higher visibility range from any angle.
With the proper monitor mount, you can have a field day even while using a standing desk.
There are several manufacturers of impressive monitor mounts. Flexispot’s full-motion design hits the mark. To be sincere, you'd find a couple of authentic brands on the market as well.
Clean up your Desktop
A cluttered working desk is like a confusion dispenser. Imagine spending over half of your working hours trying to find crucial documents.
Do you know cluttered or disorganized spaces affect your mental health? That's beside the fact that it affects creativity immensely.
Need some advice?
Please clean up your desk and ensure it stays that way. Now it might be difficult to keep it crisp when you have nowhere to keep your documents, pins, and whatnots.
Here’s why you need an Under-desk drawer.
Under Desk Drawer
The secret to a highly organized desktop is an Under-desk drawer. The rule of thumb is: if it’s not in use, get it out of sight.
Organizing and storing your files and other office equipment in an under-desk drawer saves you a lot of stress. To make it as seamless as possible, you can get a drawer organizer. This helps you categorize your drawers for diverse use.
Your pens can fit into space without getting all mixed up with pins or something else. Plus, it gives your drawer a spick and span look.
Tag it
"Where exactly is the printer paper," you ask your tired brain five times a day. That doesn't mean you aren't smart enough to remember. You are probably too worked up trying to figure out where everything is all the time.
Just label it! You can label your cabinets to make them easy on yourself. Although your brain registers it after a while, it still helps you maintain sanity in your space.
If you are worried about labels looking tacky, you can use a color-coding system instead.
Clip Those Wires!
The sight of many wires littering a desk isn't visually appealing, and your brain doesn't react well to clutter.
Your laptop, mice, or phone chargers aren't adornments for your desk. So, if your desk doesn't have a slot to hide the messy wires, clip them. You can group them with a binder clip and hide the same to keep your office desk organized.
Plus, it saves you the stress of diving under a desk searching for missing cords or chargers. It's about time you organized the conglomerate of wires in your workspace.
Organize Your Computer Desktop
You probably don’t have a lot to label because most of your documents are on your computer. However, organizing your computer is essential.
Save all similar documents in a file to make it easy to fish them out when the need arises.
Another crucial tip to help keep your computer uncluttered is ensuring the homepage is completely free.
An organized and homy home screen puts you at ease each time you set out to work.
Additional Tips for Your Home WorkStation
Natural Lightening
You are probably accustomed to the luminous lightning from artificial bulbs illuminating our workplace. Well, here's interesting news: artificial lightening cuts down your productivity.
Research shows that exposing your workspace to natural lightening improves your mental clarity.
Full-spectrum lighting also aids your vision remarkably. Believe it or not, your eyes get super happy under natural illumination.
So, align your home office strategically to ensure you get a daily dose of daylight illumination while working.
However, if your office doesn't have a window or any viable access to natural lightening, full-spectrum bulbs can fill the vacuum.
No kidding, this bulb is more expensive than other artificial bulbs, but it's the closest natural lookalike you can get.
Ergonomic Office Chair
A comfortable sitting chair spurs creativity and productivity. So, investing in an ergo chair will help you perform proficiently.
Slouching or improper positioning of your body can lead to back pain and other harmful health conditions.
However, the right ergo chairs levels this potential risk. If you work for long hours and intend to boost your productivity, an ergonomic chair is essential.
Personalize Your Space
Your home office primarily built for work, but it also belongs to you. Let the space be an extension of your personality.
Studies shows that a personalized office space contributes a great deal to an employee’s effectiveness. It also influences how a worker relates with work.
Well, it’s an opportunity to create a comfortable atmosphere for yourself. Something that makes you calm.
But don’t over do it, because a lousy workspace is counterproductive. Personalize your home office moderately.
Conclusion
Having a home workstation with a tranquil ambience engages your brain positively. The result never comes out wrong.
The first step to achieving an ideal home workspace is maximizing and organizing it best way you can.
A cluttered space sends the wrong message to your brain. This makes it near impossible to perform effectively.
