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6 Home Office Solutions to Make Working from Home Easy For You

If you work from home, then you need home office solutions to eliminate day to day problems. Here are some affordable ideas for your best home office setup.
6 Home Office Solutions to Make Working from Home Easy For You
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If you work from home, then you must setup a home office. However, you may encounter several problems because, after all, your home may lack the office environment. There are many types of home office solutions that may help you increase your efficiency as well as maintain the level of professionalism while working from home. Here are some of the best home office ideas for work-from-home professionals. ~ Ed.

 

As technology improves, jobs and work becomes flexible. More companies reward their employees with opportunities to work from home.

If you’re one of them, congratulations! You don’t have to endure traffic or follow a dress code. You can work anywhere — in your bed, in your family room, in the kitchen, on your patio, or in any place where you feel comfortable and relaxed. Sooner or later, you’ll feel tired of working from point A to B or C. You will need a stable place where you can keep all the work-related stuff. You will need something to separate work from your life.

You need a home office.

Here’s the thing: your home office is more than just a chair and a table. When you set-up your office space at home, you also need to address the challenges that come with it. And you need affordable home office solutions for efficient and quality work.

Working with architectural designers in Australia, I’ve realised that those problems are solvable through proper design.

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6 Home Office Ideas to Solve Your Biggest Work-from-Home Issues

Here are some of the common home office dilemmas, solved:

Getting Privacy

It’s heavenly to work from home if you’re alone in the house.

However, it’s a different story when you live with your family, and you have little kids. The rugrats might run around and bother you while working. If not, they might sneak into your work files and accidentally destroy something important.

You can avoid this.

The best thing to do is to locate your home office in a separate room. Do this to attain the privacy you need while working. Close the doors if you don’t want anyone to disturb you when you have a meeting, or you have an important task to finish.

a separate place for office by partitioning the room

If you don’t have an extra room at home, you can also set up a double duty room. Merge your office with the living or dining room. Use a sliding door, folding screen, or a room divider in order to make this space more private. This is commonly done when the homeowner has an open floor plan format home or if you downsized your humble abode.

A home office created by separating it from rest of the room

The least ideal place to put your study is in your bedroom. Your bedroom is the go-to place to sleep and relax, not a place to remind you of your job. But, if you have no choice, you have to do something to balance your rest and work hours.

Set up a table and chair in a way that you don’t face your bed. If you don’t see the bed, you’re less likely to feel sleepy and take a nap.

filtering noise at home office by putting thick curtains

You can also technically divide a bedroom with curtains. Close it, so you don’t see your computers before bedtime. This will drive your mind away from work and will help you sleep better.

Controlling Noise

Most people who work from home don’t need to follow the regular nine-to-five work hours. This is why some people chose to work during the quiet hours at home. This is the time when there are no more loud neighbours and kids.

But what if it’s impossible for you to work in the wee hours of the day? What do you do about the noise that distracts you?

Here’s the solution. There are two ways to control noise. It’s either you add surface to absorb sound or to block it from entering your space.

For example, your floating hardwood, concrete or cork floors can absorb sound. Maximise their noise absorption capacity through laying thick rugs or carpets on the floor. You can also hang wool and velvet drapes to keep the noise out.

To block sound, use a solid wood door. The material suppresses the sound as the sound waves try to pass through it. Never use pocket doors because it’s light and hollow. It won’t block noise at all.

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Organising Mountainous Piles of Paper and Folders

This is a common problem, whether at home or office. If you’re the type of person who likes a clean office table, then cluttered paperwork and office stuff are too much trouble for you.

Don’t let clutter take over your workspace. Go over these things and papers again and identify the ones that you still need and you will dispose of.

If possible, produce a digital copy of the papers and store them in the cloud. Go paperless — it cuts trash and operational costs of your business. In addition, put all the items that you regularly use on a nearby shelf or in the drawer of your table.

Hoarding

Some home office solutions for small spaces come through practicing minimalism and simplification.

If you find it hard to let go of the items you really don’t need, you are probably hoarding. I have a friend who keeps a lot of highlighters in his home office. The highlighters alone ate half of a drawer storage. He’s not alone.

There are other people who keep pens, notebooks, and even ketchup sachets. They can’t let go of it because they think they might need it someday.

The best way to solve this is to throw in a monthly cleaning scheme. This is when you scan your office to throw out what you don’t need any more. You can donate or recycle the stuff you get from this regular de-cluttering session.

Post-it Note Pollution

Your post-it notes are life savers, but too much of these colourful papers sticking in your place is nerve wrecking. Its clutter, and it takes up space in your office and in your mind.

Man upset by too many post-it notes in home office

If sticky notes don’t work the same way again for you, it’s time for a change. Decide where to place your post-it, so they look fine even if your tasks are piled up. You can also switch to a digital to-do list.

There are a lot of productivity apps available for download, and I’m sure you’ll find the app that suits your work style.

Hiding Exposed Wires

Wires all over? Here’s a smart idea for your home office. Conceal and organise your wires through arranging all your electronic devices in the office. Make sure all of their plugs can reach the outlet. Run them all in a single route so you can tie all the wires in a bundle.

A desk with a built-in grommet is nice too. It helps organise wires that you connect to your devices.

Additional Tips

For people who have home offices in the secluded areas of the house, it might be helpful to install a wireless doorbell extender. This device informs you if someone’s at the door, waiting for you to open up. It can be anyone especially the delivery guy. You can also install a remote garage door opener, so you can let someone you know in, without leaving your office.

I hope these ideas help solve the problems you face at your home office.

Over to you –

Do you work from home? If yes, then what are your solutions for your home office problems? Share your ideas in the comments.

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Disclaimer: Though the views expressed are of the author’s own, this article has been checked for its authenticity of information and resource links provided for a better and deeper understanding of the subject matter. However, you're suggested to make your diligent research and consult subject experts to decide what is best for you. If you spot any factual errors, spelling, or grammatical mistakes in the article, please report at [email protected]. Thanks.

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  1. I am about to start a full home-office dynamic and feel a bit anxious about it, this article seems helpful! Thanks

  2. This is really nice and helpful. I do work at home(doing freelancing) and i use my room as an office space.This arrangement has been working very well for me.Have a great Day Charlene!

  3. Hi! I found this article interesting. For us, I was working at home in the house and it was too intrusive for my wife. Working internationally I tend to get calls late in the evening, and as a civil engineer opening out and studying large construction plans on the living room table, was very inconvenient.

    The solution was to convert our garage into an office, which we seldom actually used for our cars.

    It has bee great success. My talking loudly even on late night calls, is no longer a problem, and there is plenty of room to spread out drawings.

    I would recommend this, if a garage is under-used.

    Unfortunately, I do tend to hoard things and must force myself to digitise documents and throw more away, or else even my new-found space will be become cramped!

  4. Thanks for sharing this tips with us. This is really helpful. I do work at home and my office space is in the main living area of our apartment.

  5. Hi Charlene, Very well written and thanks for sharing the information with us.

  6. Hi Charlene. I’ve been working from home for several years now and only rarely had dedicated office space. Where I live now my office is where ever I set down my laptop. My wife and kids generally remember that I am working and leave me alone for the most part. On the other hand, I am open to interruptions because that is why I decided to work from home.

    I usually work at a table in the living room. If I need privacy I work on my bed. If I need quiet I put on headphones and turn up Pandora. If I get a phone call everyone knows to keep their voices down. It’s all just part of learning to live together and respect each other.

    This arrangement has been working very well for me for 2 years now in our current (cramped) space.

  7. Hi Harleena and Charlene,

    It’s nice to e-meet you, Charlene. Thanks for sharing this tips with us!

    I have to have a clean workspace or I can’t concentrate and I’m a post it queen – my notebook is filled with them. 🙂

    I used to have wires all over the place too and then the hubs did the twist tie with them like you said and it’s all better. He just hates that I bug him to untie them because I tend to move my furniture around a lot. 🙂

    Great post Charlene! I’ll be passing this one along for sure!

    Have a great day and rest of the week!

    Cori

    1. Sure thing, Cori! 🙂 Anw, if you have any questions about furniture layout, ask away 🙂 It’s what I do!

  8. This is really helpful. I do work at home and my office space is in the main living area of our apartment. So, the paper clutter is something I struggle with same with wires ugh. I dream of having my own ‘room’ for writing and work someday. Luckily we’re empty nesters so it is often quiet at home. Your suggestions to go paperless is something I need to truly consider. I like to have certain documents at my fingertips though 😉 Time to clean out!!

    1. We all dream of having a separate room for an office. While we can’t, we have design to rescue us. Thanks, Lisa! I wish you all the best after decluttering!

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