2021 has been a whirlwind for us all. While some have returned for work, others are figuring out how to find balance in their Work-from-Home lifestyle as more companies allow workers to stay remote. If you haven’t been one of the early home-office renovators, now is the time to get your space and standards figured out before the dining room table becomes your home office and dinners are during work hours.
- Find your space. Again, we recommend it isn’t the dining room table, but finding a corner of a room, a designated area in your bedroom, or a guest room can be the perfect spot for a small office set up. If you’re using your room, make sure you aren’t working from your bed, because blurring the lines between work and home, especially in your bedroom, can affect your sleep habits or quality. Regardless of the room, try to find an area that’s easy to reduce distraction and stress!
Splash some color on the wall. You don’t need to fully redecorate the family room, but spend the time to find relaxing colors, inspirational items, or pictures to help make your space as productive and stress-free as possible. The surprising thing most Work-from-Home veterans find is that most of the items they thought they’d have to purchase for their office were already in their home. You don’t have to paint to add a pop of color; even adding a bouquet of flowers (we like fake ones from a craft store!), some colorful tchotchkes on the wall or on your desk, or a personalized picture frame with a meaningful picture or inspirational quote can make a huge difference in creating an uplifting office space.
Splash some color on the wall. You don’t need to fully redecorate the family room, but spend the time to find relaxing colors, inspirational items, or pictures to help make your space as productive and stress-free as possible. The surprising thing most Work-from-Home veterans find is that most of the items they thought they’d have to purchase for their office were already in their home. You don’t have to paint to add a pop of color; even adding a bouquet of flowers (we like fake ones from a craft store!), some colorful tchotchkes on the wall or on your desk, or a personalized picture frame with a meaningful picture or inspirational quote can make a huge difference in creating an uplifting office space.- Keep yourself on track. Find unique ways to keep yourself on track for the day, between the pandemic and working from your home it can be hard to mind the hours during the week. Some people find that setting timers for certain projects or tasks helps them boost productivity, others use color-coded visual planners. There are plenty of apps and assistive technologies out that can help you focus, like Cold Turkey and Rescue Time. Whatever you decide to do to help yourself focus, remember that it’s not a one size fits all solution and often requires some trial and error to find what works best for you!
Set hard limits for yourself. It’s easy to fall into the bad habit of mixing professional and personal lives together, especially when they operate in the same physical space. This makes professional burnout even more likely but is easy to avoid with the right practices! Setting alarms to end the workday, shutting all tech down, cleaning up your workspace, and leaving the desk are all simple tasks to create healthy habits associated with work and home life. Your partner will thank you for it.
Set hard limits for yourself. It’s easy to fall into the bad habit of mixing professional and personal lives together, especially when they operate in the same physical space. This makes professional burnout even more likely but is easy to avoid with the right practices! Setting alarms to end the workday, shutting all tech down, cleaning up your workspace, and leaving the desk are all simple tasks to create healthy habits associated with work and home life. Your partner will thank you for it.When you feel like you’re living in a bubble, it can seem like the barriers we once had between work and our home lives can’t exist anymore. If your company is becoming fully remote, offering Work-from-Home as an option for employees, or you just never got around to setting up a space for yourself, it’s probably time to get started with setting boundaries and creating a productive office. So try out some of our tips to see if you can make the transition to this new way of working a little easier.
