Working for yourself is a dream come true for many, you have flexibility and freedom, and you get to put your efforts into something you genuinely care about. You get to escape the rat race and a boss breathing down your neck, and you can work from home if you choose. This means you’re more comfortable in your own surroundings, there’s no long commute and you save yourself the time and stress of travelling back and forth. But if you are going to work from home, it makes sense to have your own working area- lounging on the sofa or typing away at the kitchen table may not yield the best results. Here’s why you need a separate home office.
Separation between work and life
Flexibility is one of the best things about working from home, for yourself. However, this needs to be done in the right way. When you don’t separate work and home, your workday can stretch out over the entire day. This isn’t good for productivity levels and it isn’t good for you either. When you have a home office, you know that work gets done here. You can still choose the hours you do, but your office is for working in and once you’re done, you shut the door and enjoy your home life. This prevents you from overworking yourself, and gives you a break. That way, when you return you get to see things from a fresh perspective which can be massively beneficial.
Working from home is better for your health
Right now, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, working from home has obvious health benefits. However, it’s also easier to be healthier when you work from home in general. Home based workers are able to go to the gym or swim at lunch time due to flexible schedules. They can cook healthy, home cooked food instead of taking soggy sandwiches to the workplace and being tempted by office treats. Maintain your health when working at home by taking regular exercise breaks and using a chair and desk that supports you and allows you to sit comfortably.
It prevents distractions
When your life and work are both in the same place, you are subject to all kinds of distractions. The home office again keeps things separate and the space clear and professional. Decorate the room in calming, neutral colours and don’t bring a tv or radio into the room, or any personal clutter. When it comes to reducing business clutter, the cloud is incredibly useful as it allows you to store your documents online. No longer do you need to mess around with paper files and hard discs, you can store all of your data easily in cloud based storage and access it from any other computer without compromising your security- look into a vps server to do this. While you’re still keeping or using some paper documents, have the right systems in place to store them. A good filing cabinet will prevent paper and mess.
