More and more people are working from home nowadays thanks to the internet. It’s possible to make a living from virtually anything on the internet, be it as a freelance writer or as a content creator. Some people are even finding success as online teachers, guiding people on specific skills and introducing them to new hobbies and interests.
With so many ways to make money on the internet, it’s become one of the best ways to work from home and create a lucrative career path for yourself. However, you also need to keep in mind that working from home comes with many problems that need to be dealt with or else it can be more frustrating than simply working a regular 9-to-5 job.
The Effect of Your Home Office
Working at home takes a lot of guts. There are just so many distractions and your mind is just naturally accustomed to being comfortable at home. This means it’s incredibly easy to procrastinate and get distracted no matter how hard you try to work. In order to do this, you need to find ways to transform your workspace at home into something that can keep you motivated and focused.
This often seems more difficult than it really is, but it’s not to be underestimated either. Some people just assume hanging a few paintings and clearing your desk is good enough, but not everyone wants to work in a monotone and boring environment that’s devoid of personality. As with regular offices, some people find it more relaxing and enjoyable to work when they’re surrounded by positivity, and this is something that you need to keep in mind with your own home.
So without further ado, here are a couple of ways to boost your boring home office and make it a trendy workplace that will motivate you to get some work done.
- Keep that coffee machine away
Something important to remember when you’re working at home is to stretch now and then. You need to get up and work those legs or else you’ll spend far too much time sitting on your chair. If you keep your coffee machine (or other similar amenities) too close to your office, then you’ll be less inclined to go for a walk, look at some greenery and take a break. As this helpful article from Forbes.com/ explains, it’s important to take regular breaks throughout the day so that you can work successfully from home. Add breaks in your schedule and do your work in bursts instead of subjecting yourself to long periods of it.
Going for a coffee break should feel like a break. Go for a walk, head into the kitchen and stand up for a bit. Stretch those legs, grab a little snack if necessary and get some fresh air. Yes, your home office is a place of work and you may feel like you need to keep things like a coffee machine near it, but you need to stop restricting yourself to a small corner of your home and embrace the idea that your entire home is your office now.
- Remind yourself that you’re at home
People work from home for a number of different reasons. Perhaps they just want to be at home with their family, maybe they feel more comfortable at home or it could just be because their workplace is too far after a move so they decide to stay at home. Since working at home is closer to a comfortable environment than a working one, people tend to think that they need to remind themselves constantly that they should be working. Whether it’s with post-it notes stuck on their laptop or a motivation sign telling them to get to work, there are many different ways to give your home office that workplace-like feel.
Unfortunately, this kind of defeats the purpose of working from home. While you shouldn’t get used to sitting on the couch with your kids watching television while you work, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with doing that once in a while. For example, if you’re answering emails then there’s nothing wrong with doing it while you’re on the sofa lounging or in the kitchen cooking. Of course, if there’s intensive work such as writing up a document or designing a spreadsheet, then you’ll need to focus a little. However, if it’s a plain and simple task it’s absolutely fine to indulge yourself in your homely comforts. Get yourself a coffee or hot drink and relax on your bed while you take care of work, then go for a walk, relax, watch a bit of television or just listen to music as you do your tasks.
In other words, stop removing all of those decorations and accessories that remind you of home. Instead, embrace the idea of working at home by hanging up pictures where appropriate, giving yourself more breaks, speaking to your kids when they come home and enjoying the freedom you have.
- Turn multiple places in your home into an office
Switching up the scenery now and then is a great way to embrace working from home. You can do this in a number of different ways. For instance, take a look at Fombag.com/ to see some huge bean bags that can act like chairs that you use for work. Couple them with a laptop or tablet device and you can work virtually anywhere in the home without a desk. They’re big, comfortable, trendy and open up more opportunities for you to work around the home. In addition, you can also set up multiple small offices around your entire home.
You could try turn one side of your dining table into a temporary office, then the next day you could work from your bed instead. Again, the idea is that you should be transforming your entire home into an office. Far too many people try to shut out the idea that they’re working at home by dressing up one corner of their house into a boring and bland office. One of the reasons people work from home in the first place is to get away from boring office environments and have more flexibility to do things at home while they work. If that’s the case, stop confining yourself to a small space and use your entire home as an office!
- Get out of the house and work somewhere else
Working from home means working in your house, right? Wrong. Working from home is just a blanket term for being able to work from wherever you want. Unless you’re tied to working on a desktop computer or using some equipment that’s bolted to the floor, there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t head out into the garden to work on a laptop or even go to a nearby cafe to get a smooth cup of coffee while you knock out your morning chores.
As long as you have a laptop available, it’s easy to move around and get work done wherever you want to do it. Don’t think so much about staying at home if you’re not forced to due to your work obligations. The fantastic thing about switching your workflow so that it’s mobile is that you can pretty much take your job wherever you go. Of course, it’s best not to take it literally everywhere with you (holidays are one good example where you should NOT take your work laptop) but having that freedom is part of what makes working from home such an attractive choice.
Look out for public workspaces as well. Many cafes also function as public offices because they offer private cubicles with power sockets and they usually come with free WiFi as well. Many people that are new to working from home actually find it helpful to come to these public locations because it helps to simulate what a real office feels like. The noise, chatter, music and tapping of keyboards help to get you into a working mood. Just don’t sit in a coffee shop pretending to work and looking important–no one likes that!
Final words to help you out
So as you can see, these are some rather unorthodox tips and probably not what you expected–but that’s actually a good thing. You see, working from home is rather unorthodox itself because it’s only something that has been around for the past decade or more. It’s slowly becoming the norm and many of the tips and tricks you learn to make working at home more comfortable are being discovered as more people do it. In short, try and think outside the box when you work from home and try new things every day to make it easier for you. Don’t just listen to the same few tips and find what works best for you to make it a career choice you won’t regret.
