Finding the perfect place for an office in your home

According to the Trades Union Congress, the number of people who work remotely has increased by nearly a quarter of a million over the last decade, meaning that more and more employees are finding themselves setting up for the working day from the comfort of their own home. If your job enables you to tackle your workload without having to leave the house, you might struggle with one thing - knowing where to set up your home office. The truth is, there are a number of factors you should take into consideration before you settle on your workspace setup. In this blog, we offer tips and advice that could help you suss out the best place for you to arrange your at-home office. Let there be light Just because you’re working from home doesn’t mean that you should let the conditions of your workspace fall to the wayside. If you commuted to an office job each day, you would expect your workstation to look and feel a certain way - especially when it comes to lighting - so it’s important that you take this into consideration when you’re looking for somewhere to work from in your home. In fact, the majority of businesses spend a lot of time, money and effort perfecting the lighting in their buildings to make sure it’s just right for their employees. A well lit office is essential for the wellbeing of workers, and without it, people may suffer from health issues such as eye strain, migraines and headaches. To keep these problems to a minimum, employers make it a priority to provide their personnel with appropriately illuminated workspaces. If you work from home, it’s up to you to ensure that your work area is suitably lit. An easy way to do this is by setting your workspace up in an area that offers lots of natural light. It’s widely known that natural light can help improve productivity and boost concentration levels, so try to position your workstation near to a good sized window. If you’re struggling to keep your work area properly illuminated, you could invest in a daylight lamp. Alternatively, you may simply want to use your overhead lights, but you should be careful to ensure they aren’t too bright and cause strain on your eyes. Don’t be afraid to ditch the desk When you think of a typical home office, you might imagine a traditional style desk and chair crammed into a small room accompanied by a filing cabinet or cupboard. However, this kind of set up doesn’t work for everyone - and it could be that it doesn’t suit you. The truth is, in order to create your own at-home workspace, you don’t necessarily need to sit at a desk. It could be that you don’t feel your most productive when you’re confined to a desk surface in this type of environment. So, if you’d rather not work like this, don’t be afraid to ditch the desk for good. In fact, there are a whole host of places throughout your home that you could work from. For example, you may find that you work best from your kitchen or dining room table, or you may feel more comfortable on your sofa or even outside if the weather is good enough. It’s also worth pointing out that your ‘office’ doesn’t have to be one specific place. You could take full advantage of working from the comfort of your own home by moving around and being more flexible in where you set up. As long as you feel content and you’re getting your work done, it’s really up to you. So, before you invest in a fancy desk and a state-of-the-art office chair, think carefully about whether this kind of setup is going to work for you. If you’ve got your doubts about the conventional home office arrangement, why not take a different approach? Keep distractions at bay Although working from home has its benefits, you may run the risk of becoming easily distracted. Whether it’s your pet pooch running around your feet, the hubbub of noisy neighbours or the whir of the washing machine, it’s likely there will be something that will try its best to steal your concentration while you’re trying to get on with your work. If you’re easily distracted, you may find that having a designated workspace suits you best. By setting up your workstation in a room where you can close the door behind you, you might be able to focus on the task at hand much better than if you were to move around your home finding a place to work from. If you prefer to set up your workstation in a more impromptu manner, for example by taking a seat on the sofa or at the kitchen table - but you’re guilty of succumbing to distractions - you might want to think of ways to keep these disturbances to a minimum. For example, you could get into the habit of listening to music through headphones to help you zone out from what’s going on around you. Deciding where you should arrange your work area at home can be tricky, so it’s worth keeping these points in mind. From the lighting, to deciding whether to have a dedicated office or be more flexible, to learning how to keep distractions to a minimum, there’s a lot of think about. Where have you set up your home office? Leave us a comment below!