Working from Home: Stay Comfortable in your Home Office

While you might not exactly have a home office as a separate room, it is very important to be comfortable while you work. Being uncomfortable while working is distracting. An uncomfortable work area can be distracting and it may also shorten your attention span.

In ideal circumstances, your home office should be a separate room with a door you can bolt from the inside with plenty of natural light and space for all your work equipment and storage.
If you don't have the room, but you own your own home, you might want to consider remodeling a room or adding a room, but not many of us have the money.
Check your budget to see what you can do to make your home office as comfortable as possible.

There are several basic things that are not very expensive (as office expense go) that will make a big difference.

• A medium or large desk 
• A fan for the floor and a smaller one for your desk
• A large computer display
• A bookcase (or install shelves in a wall)
• A comfortable executive chair
• A file cabinet
• A shelfing unit with large boxes or baskets (if you can afford them)
• A CD or MP3 player with speakers.
• A large bottle of water (several liters)
• A desk or table lamp

I suppose many of these items seem silly to many of you, but they will make a big difference.  While you might not think a file cabinet or a bookcase is related to comfort, but an unorganized office with papers and books all over is not a very comfortable place to work even for those of us who have the tendency to have disorder need a place for books and papers when a guest or potential client stops by. Even if books are not central to your work, you might have some that you use for reference like a good dictionary like the Merriam-Webster's Everyday Language Reference Set. If you live in a large city you might have a book with maps of the different neighborhoods, and of course you need a place to keep your telephone directory.

If you teach private classes, you'll need a place to keep your teacher books, grammar books, extra student textbooks and extra file cabinet space for worksheets you made yourself and student grade records.

 

A large piece of furniture with boxes or baskets to match is great for those who work with crafts, traditional art media (for paint, brushes, supports, frames, art paper, etc.), or photographers who do many still life displays (you need a place to store props). If you are a business consultant, your needs will probably be more in a large book case and a large file cabinet, you won't have that much stuff to organize.

If you do most of your work online you'll still need at least a 2 drawer file cabinet for official documents, receipts, tax documents, etc. You don't want them to get ruined, and you'll want them available on a minutes notice.  Yes, there are cheap racks, but those are really a temporary solution. 

The size of desk really depends on how  you work. If you do everything at your desk, need to scan and print,  a place for a drawing tablet, or other large items, then go for as large a desk that will fit. If you prefer to be on a laptop or mostly write, then a large desk really isn't necessary. You'll only need it for when the sofa is occupied or someone stops buy to see how you work.  

It is important when working from how to give the look of professionalism when someone has an appointment  for business purposes even if you normally work in your boxer shorts at the kitchen table. You should at least give the impression that you are a pro earning good money. Plus having a comfortable work area will give you a more professional attitude. When you walk to your comfortable office it will set your mood for the day.

The fans are of course for hot days. Once fan is often not enough to circulate the air. The desk fan is for keeping you cool. Fans are also good for covering some noisy-neighbor noise. Have the other fan push air toward an open window.

A CD or MP3 player is also great when playing background music to cover some outdoor distractions.  I especially love to play Enya while I work. I find her music very relaxing. 

A comfortable executive chair and large computer display are pricier items, but they will make the biggest difference while you work. Larger monitors will let you work longer without tired eyes and at higher resolutions you can fit more on screen so you'll have less switching back and forth between applications.  The large executive chair will help you avoid backaches and you won't need to get up and walk around quite so often. These two will help you concentrate on your work.

A desk lamp is important for reading if you work early in the morning or in the evening. Try to position your desk so that you have sufficient natural light for working normal hours, but at the same time avoid glare on your computer display.