IT was when my husband and I decided to swallow the madness pill and quit our jobs and start our own business that we discovered the myths about how great it is to work out of home. It’s such a deceitful lie. Either that or we were incredibly disorganized people.
What I now realize is that, perhaps, there should have made a sincere effort to browse some web sites on tips on how to successfully set-up and organize the home work space before really getting into it.
Trust me you must delve into the web archives before you decide to bring your office into the house. If not, it’s a guarantee that your life will go through this manic phase that will have chaotic results.
You can begin with identifying your workspace and figuring out how to convert it into your office. http://www.galvins.com/designtips/ has some great ideas of how to begin searching for that right place in your house to convert into the office. Consecutive links then cover areas such as Designing a Home Office and then cover several ergonomic issues such as how to avoid excessive eye strain, ensuring proper wrist support and most importantly, choosing the right desk chair. The Chair is what can, seriously, make you or break you.
An ergonomically unstable chair will not merely be uncomfortable but could also cause some dormant back problems to surface, so be sure to be very very picky when it comes to choosing a chair for yourself. This web site also discusses the pros and cons of modular versus built-in furniture a decision that largely depends on the space and budget you have.
Another site that has some good tips on how to set-up a home office is http://www.nightcats.com/samples/office.html. This link doesn’t carry too much information but the one pager is quite handy. It covers some very practical issues that you need to keep in mind while setting up shop.
For example, long phone cords may be a quick fix but they’re the easiest way to trip and break a leg! So if you really must go for the long cords, make sure to tape them down. Yes, it’s not too pretty, but safety comes first. There are some other useful tips about lighting, furniture and ways to maximize convenience, comfort and most importantly productivity.
In order to cost-effectively and smartly develop your home office workspace http://office.lifetips.com/TipSC.asp__Q__id__E__9735 is a fairly good resource. From choosing the right chair, to sensible shelving ideas, to decorating tips, the site covers it all. Additionally, each item has a link to ‘matching web sites’ so you have the choice of delving deeper into your area of interest. There are also some really smart ways to do up your office cheaply, such as visiting your local second-hand furniture market. You would be surprised how much you can save on items that you would ordinarily spend thousands purchasing.
There are several second hand markets around the city and a couple of visits are usually fruitful. Instead of spending plenty of thousands on a bookshelf you can very easily find one for less than half the price and that’s after it’s been restored!
Where have you been shopping for new stuff when the old is right there waiting to be picked? This site also has a section on clearly marking your office’s ‘wants and needs’. Plenty of times one thinks that you may need something whereas it’s more about wanting it.
Two things happen in this case. One you spend money that you really didn’t need to and two, you’re just adding to the clutter. So be a little hard on yourself and honestly ask yourself if it’s a whim or an actual need.
If it’s a clear-cut picture you seek about the realities of working out of a home office then the address to visit is http://www.powerhomebiz.com/Index/workathome.htm. This site has a rich resource of articles, tips and some really good listings of books, software and magazines to make your home office a productive, organized space in your home.
Some of the articles are great reading material as they candidly approach the pros and cons of working out of home it’s good to be able to see things as they will be and these articles make sure that you won’t have too many unpleasant surprises.
From productivity to family considerations, the articles listed here carry enough information to give you a much clearer picture of what your home office life will be about.
For an endless resource of tips on a cross section of topics on setting up and maintaining a home office visit http://www.ibiztips.com/home_archive.htm. This site has over 400 tips that range from the basics of setting up a home office, how to look after your office equipment, how to handle customers, how to ensure you know when to stop working, when to start living in your house and so on. Considering the broad spectrum of tips here there is a lot to be learnt from this site. Although it appears to be updated daily, this particular section hasn’t been updated lately. However, that’s quite all right as issues remain more or less the same and don’t get dated like other things. Definitely a must visit site.
Then there are some sites that carry concise yet useful information. http://www.homedecorresource.com/html/tips/officeorganization.htm has five main tips of how to organize your home office. It’s all about how to attack that stack of papers, how to make sure you stay focused and how to keep business and pleasure separate.
Then there’s a small section on the CNN site http://www.cnn.com/interactive/career/0105/homeoffice/content.h=87l that briefly talks about setting up a good, functional home office. It contains eight basic tips on how to make your home office, distraction proof. Good storage ideas and some handy ideas on how to be organized in terms of routine and work ethics. Visiting this site won’t take up much of your time and yet, will give you some basic ideas that will go a long way.
If it’s the designing part of your home office that has you confused then check out http://co.essortment.com/homeofficedesi_rqtk.htm. This link features a short article that talks about some easy ways to design a practical and purposeful home office. Once you have sorted out the designing aspect, you can move on to http://nc.essortment.com/decoratinghome_rltu.htm and obtain some decoration tips. There are some effective ideas on how to conceal ugly wires and some lighting tips. No need to go the glaring lights way but perhaps, using some carefully placed lamps could do the trick as well. Always make sure that you have enough lighting to avoid straining your eyes and not that much light that you’re spending half your time shielding your eyes while working on your computer!
Once you start the home office, there will be plenty of issues, plenty of unexpected pleasant and not-so-pleasant surprises. Reading beforehand will, if nothing else, prepare you for the trials, tribulations and triumphs of working out of home. So get started on some browsing and may you battle the home office tribulations better than I did!
IT was when my husband and I decided to swallow the madness pill and quit our jobs and start our own business that we discovered the myths about how great it is to work out of home. It’s such a deceitful lie. Either that or we were incredibly disorganized people.
