Office space: how to work from home without losing your spare room

Posted on Friday, September 27th, 2019

You might be weighing up the option of working from home – whether as a freelancer, to run your own business, or simply to work remotely as part of an established team based elsewhere. Still, how exactly you can work effectively in your possibly distraction-ridden home could elude you.

For example, while there may be a spare room in your house that could theoretically be used as an office, you might want to save that spare room for something else and situate your office elsewhere in the home. In that case, you may instead…

Create office space from a different room

Yes, you can avoid touching that spare room at all, as you can easily fashion office space from literally any room of your house, Tweak Your Biz contributor Joe Pawlikowski reassures.

Nonetheless, you might remain at a loss as to which room to choose. After all, if you live with a significant other, you might lack enough space in the bedroom. However, you should keep in mind that you only need to create a workstation rather than a complete dedicated office, so you don’t necessarily require all that much space regardless.

Regularly switch between spaces to spur your productivity

There are many different possibilities for where you could site your office space, and it would be beneficial not to settle for just one setting. By alternating between the kitchen, the space under the stairs and even your garden, you could help yourself to regularly reignite your creative fires.

If you do venture out into the garden, consider migrating even further to a cafe or library. You could find that they serve as surprisingly distraction-free workspaces.

Build up a social network to stave off loneliness

One common issue with working from home is that it can feel lonely. Unlike your office-bound counterparts, you will be denied work colleagues with which you can casually and regularly interact face-to-face, which is why you should put a strong onus on meeting people through other means.

Those could include using Skype for Business to keep in touch with clients, while co-working spaces mentioned by the Startups website could enable you to meet freelancers in cafes and restaurants.

Routinely get dressed into work-specific clothes

One problem with integrating an office into an already used room, rather than setting aside a room specifically for office use, is that you could struggle to easily switch into a work mentality when required. Maybe your office still falls short of a thorough and distinct corporate feel?

If so, you could help yourself to foster that by routinely slipping into formal attire before starting your work for the day. Leaving yourself in your jeans or nightwear could instil the wrong mindset.

Find creative ways to store essential items

If you fail to allow for storage spaces, a variety of clutter – such as paperwork, devices and cords – could too easily gather on your desk over time. Fortunately, Ideal Home suggests many ways to store items without marring that space aesthetically.

For example, to spare yourself from needing to rummage in drawers, you could paint an old filing cabinet for paperwork and invest in trunks for larger items.