Designing a Productive Home Office

Tips for Designing a Productive Home Office

Almost 50% of employed people in New Zealand did at least some part of their work from home during the lockdown at COVID-19 alert levels 4 and 3 in April and May last year.

The conditions may not have been ideal, but work got done, and some people have continued working from home.

Employers around the world have recognized its benefits and have backed it up. However, the dilemma is still on whether working from home makes you productive enough.

Recent studies conducted in the US suggest that people who manage to maintain their office schedule at home get more work done per day. The reason is that a quiet and more comfortable environment helps.

Working from home allows you to create the space according to your needs and control the surroundings, whereas back at the office, your world is practically only your desk.

To help you design a productive home office, here are top productivity tips, which you can try out in your own home workspace.

Find your spot

When you’re looking for the best home office location, look for the quietest corner of your house. Noise, in general, is incredibly distracting and often disturbing.

The chances are that you’ll be much more efficient and productive in a quiet, distraction-free space, away from the sounds of the TV or your kids’ play.

It may be a corner or a nook in an existing room, but the best way to go is to find a spot where you can shut the door.

Let there be light

Try to pick a spot that gets sufficient natural light. In general, New Zealand gets over 2,000 hours of sunshine a year which means around 83 sunny days, so take advantage of that!

Naturally, your options might be limited because of your home’s layout, but a workspace near a window will help keep you stay alert and focused throughout the day. If you can’t find a place with natural light, make sure it’s still bright and well-lit.  

Declutter

Clutter will certainly hold you back as you’ll be wasting your time rummaging through piles of papers and supplies.

According to experts, you only need a few things on your desk – folders on your left-hand side with your current projects, extra supplies tucked neatly away on shelves or in your drawers, and a to-do board with your schedule, so you can avoid the chaos of sticky notes.

Add a Pop of Colour

Your home office needs to be both comfortable and pleasant environment so don’t think you need to keep it too strict and minimalistic.

An appealing home office design will help you look forward to your day at work. So, don’t hesitate to add your personal touches and don’t shy away from colour.

Get creative and add pops of bold, vivid colours – they will enhance the natural lighting in the room and give off a bright and cheerful vibe.

You can do this with interesting wall art, sculptures but also with carefully chosen rugs from NZ that will add more warmth and texture to your workspace and help boost your mood, reduce stress and raise your productivity level.

Invest in ergonomics

Investing in comfortable, ergonomic office furniture is an important design factor for your home office that will affect both your comfort and productivity.

There has been a notable and steady rise in the flexible workforce which also led to an increase in quality home office equipment.

With around 57% of people in professional jobs in New Zealand working from home during the pandemic, it makes perfect sense to wisely invest in ergonomic furniture that will provide lumbar support and help you avoid back problems in the future.

Bring in the greenery

Greenery has magical powers when it comes to boosting mood. Adding a desk or floor plant is not only a great way to add a breath of fresh air but it will also create some visual interest when you need to rest your eyes from the screen.

You can opt for resilient kinds such as cacti or succulents, but you can also bring a vase with fresh flowers each day.

Whenever you’re designing your home workspace, keep in mind the main purpose of the room.

Adapt the design to it and your personal needs and you’ll get an environment that will get the maximum productivity out of you whenever you’re in your home office.