Ever since the pandemic, a lot of people had to start working from home due to lockdown and social distancing regulations. Whether you had to move to an online space or had to find a new job altogether, a lot of people feel like they got lost in career changes within these last two years. When it comes to remote working advantages and disadvantages, there is a lot of good to be said about it.
You are comfortable in your own home, you don’t have to commute, or deal with co-workers. However, there are plenty of cons to working from home. A major pitfall in remote work is not always having a quiet space to work in.
Whether it’s your neighbor mowing their lawn during your morning meeting, or your child crying for attention, there are a hundred different distractions that can interrupt your work.
There are a few ways that you can create a quiet workspace in your home.
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Find the Perfect Space
The most important part of creating a quiet home office is to firstly, find a good space to work in your home. If there is a room in your home that doesn’t get much traffic, claim it as your new office.
Make sure that this space is in a location that is not directly next to or around the living or dining areas of your house, as those seem to get the busiest.
The perfect spot would be tucked away into a quiet corner in your home that is mostly undisturbed. It cannot be stressed enough how important it is to make sure there is a door to this space that you can close. This allows you the privacy to work productively and without distractions.
If you have children, it is also a good idea to let them know about this space and make them understand that they cannot run freely into that room whenever they please.
Once you have found the perfect spot, it’s time to move in your work desk and favorite chair.
Do Not Work In Your Bedroom
You might find that the previously mentioned perfect space sounds a lot like your bedroom; it is far away from the living room, it’s quiet and generally undisturbed. Do not make this mistake.
Your bedroom is not a good place to create a long-term office space in. Your brain will associate the bedroom with relaxation and sleep, making it incredibly difficult to stay focused and productive during the day.
In the same way, if your office is in your bedroom and you get used to working there, when it is time to go to sleep, your brain will now associate your bedroom with an office space, making it very difficult to fall asleep and relax.
You also don’t want to create your office space at the foot of your bed. Moving in a desk and a chair and all of the paperwork, books, and supplies needed for an office is going to make your bedroom feel busy and crowded.
To create a positive, healthy work-life balance it is important to keep work and rest separate.
Work Near A Window
This might sound counterproductive at first. You might be thinking that if you want to find a quiet workspace that doesn’t have a lot of distractions, working next to a window might sound like a bad idea.
However, when you work in front of a window, you actually boost your productivity. It lets in natural light and also gives you an opportunity to take small breaks from your computer.
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Taking short breaks and not staring at your computer for too long actually helps you work better and in a healthier way. In addition, when you work from a small home office, you often can feel like you are boxed in.
Without a window, your workspace can start to feel claustrophobic, fast. A window transforms your office from a box to a room.
Set Boundaries and Limits
When you work from home, mixing your personal life and your work life is almost inevitable. However, you want to make sure that that happens least often as possible.
To accomplish working as productively and efficiently as possible, you might want to set boundaries both for yourself as well as other family members that you live with.
Boundaries for yourself might include things such as keeping some areas of the house off-limits to you. For example, try to avoid the living room; the couch, the TV, and the comfort all serve as a great distraction in your working routine.
Make sure other family members know about your space and they understand that it is off-limits while you are working. This includes your partner, children, and even pets.
Another helpful tip to avoid mixing your private and work life is, try not to bring personal items into your office space. While you are in your home, treat it like any other office.
Don’t let your children bring their toys or homework in there, and avoid bringing your bills or mail into this space. The point is, try to keep it as professional as possible.
Make Small Renovations
Creating the perfect workspace in your home is not easy to do without making small renovations in your house. The first thing you can do that might be extremely helpful is looking into soundproofing your office. This gives you the freedom to have meetings, conference calls, or brainstorming sessions with your colleagues.
Soundproofing your office also allows you to quiet the noise of whatever might be going on inside your house, whether the TV or your children are playing too loudly, or your dog is barking at something, soundproofing allows you to stay oblivious to all of that, not interrupting your workflow.
In addition, you could look into making small renovations within your office space to make it feel more professional.
You can change the carpeting or floorboards and the walls so it doesn’t match with the rest of your house, making it feel like it is separate from your home.
Additionally, you can also get different furniture for your workspace to make it feel more like an office and keep that healthy balance between work and home.