Making Your Home Office a Productive Space
Being self-employed brings a lot of positives but also can bring some negatives as one would expect. One of the negatives is not having an office to go to, which some people thrive in, but others need that space away from the home to get their work done without any distractions.
When you’re self-employed or a freelancer, you tend to find that your home is the office, and it can be hard to differentiate relaxed time to work time.
Here are a few different things you can do to help your work time at home be a lot more productive.
Remove Distractions
Firstly you want to keep your desk area away from things like the TV, the sofa and any kind of significant distraction areas in the house.
If you struggle to make the space, you could get a divider which boxes you in so you’re not easily distracted. By having this space away from major distractions, you’ll be able to focus more on your work and get a lot more done in the time that you sit down.
You won’t be distracted by wanting to watch TV, taking a quick break on the sofa or wasting time procrastinating the day away. It gives you a better work sense and the ability to concentrate on what you need to do.
Get Equipped
Making sure you have the right equipment is a significant aspect of working from home. You don’t want to have to rely on going to a local library or shop to print things or get copies of paperwork made.
So make sure you do a shop for everything you need so the small things like the staples, paperclips, pens, pencils and different paper to the bigger items like office equipment including printers and copiers.
When you have all the equipment you need, you’ll be able to work more efficiently and effectively in the comfort of your own home.
Get Inspired
Remember to keep part of your personality and knickknacks on your desk as you would if you worked in an office. It doesn’t have to be completely plain and boring as these little things can help bring some sunshine to your day and give you inspiration.
Just as you would in the office, you can have a picture of your kids, a small plant, a stress ball and any other little things that help you get through your day.
Schedule Dedicated Time to Work
When you’re working from home, it is essential to set aside time that you are going to be doing your work, so put Airplane Mode on your phone make sure there are no distractions. Make sure there are no parcels due to arrive at the house at that time so you can sit down and just focus entirely on the work you need to do.
And then if you do need to break up your day, you can schedule it into your planner so put a couple of hours aside to binge-watch Netflix shows or go for a walk or even if you wanted to nip to Starbucks and get your favourite drink to help you get through the afternoon slump.
Play with implementing these things and you’ll be able to help your freelance and self-employment work grow to be more efficient and effective and get a lot more of the job done in this shorter space of time.
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