Industry experts predict that working from home will be a permanent way of working. Since 2012, a Gallup survey has shown that Americans have increasingly worked from home. In 2017, the number of Americans who worked from home passed the 8 million mark for the first time.
This tallies with the wishes of the American workforce. After all, according to a recent survey, 82% of workers want to spend at least one day a week working from their homes, while 57% would like to work from home for at least three days a week. It has been found that maintaining job satisfaction, holding productivity levels, and keeping a good work-life balance is much more achievable if you create a productive home office space. Here are three ways that you can do just that.
Separate work life and home life with a dedicated space
When you work from home, the boundaries between work life and home life can become blurred. After all, working from home means you’re effectively always at work. As a result, you should take steps to create segregation between your home life and your work life.
The best way of doing this is to build a garden room and convert it into an office. Adding a room like this isn’t cheap, a 2.4m x 2.4m office will cost you around $6,000. However, this space will repay the money in two ways: it will make you more productive and it will also increase the value of your home. As such, you should see the space as an investment.
If building a garden room is an option you’re considering, then seek the advice of a financial adviser. If you speak to a mortgage adviser such as Trussle, you’ll get a detailed understanding of whether remortgaging could free up the money to fund your project. It’s all done online and is a free service, and knowing your funding options is an important first step to obtaining an appropriate workspace for yourself.
Follow ergonomic rules for comfort
Once you’ve established your home office space, you need to make it as comfortable as possible. After all, by making the space comfortable, you’ll find that you’re more willing to spend lengthy periods of time there. Plus, this can help you prevent chronic pain and other, work-related health problems further down the line.
To make your space comfortable, you should follow the ergonomic rules laid out by the Mayo Clinic. This means:
- The top of your computer screen should be at eye level and an arm’s length away
- The position of your keyboard should mean your forearms are parallel to the floor and your wrists are straight
- Your chair height should mean your feet rest comfortably on the floor and your knees should be level with your hips
Embrace natural light
When creating your office space, it’s tempting to push your desk into a dark corner so it’s out of the way. However, by doing this, you’re creating a corporate cubicle that’s dark and uninspiring. If you’re looking to maximize your productivity, then you’re much better off placing your desk under the window and increasing the natural light you get as you work. After all, a study from Eco-business has shown that workplaces with natural light experience up to a 40% improvement in productivity.
Follow these three tips and you’ll find that you’re even more productive in your home office than you were in your traditional office. After all, 65% of all workers now say they’re more productive in a home office than a normal office, so isn’t it time you followed the trend?
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