Making working from home work for you

Like many of you,  I am still working from home due to the COVID 19 level 4 lockdown.  So perhaps, like me, you need some inspiration for your home work space.  Even though working from home sounds like an ideal situation, some days it feels like a real effort to keep myself motivated.  Being able to run off to site, or a fabric showroom would normally bring some welcomed variety to my day.

So here are some ideas you might want to consider in order to make working from home work for you:

1.ENSURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH LIGHT

Perhaps you have a home office or study as your base, if so that is a fantastic start.  You can create a work station in any area of the house, it could be the dining table or it could be a your dressing table in your bedroom.  Wherever you are working ensure there is enough light in the room.  Natural light is preferable as this will help with your mood, so if you can position your desk near a window this would be perfect and you might even get a bit of view.  But ensuring there is enough artificial light is also important and makes the space feel bigger.  Consider adding a desk lamp if which also helps to focus the light on your working surface.

PICTURE REFERENCE: MODERNINTERIORDESIGN.CLUB

 

2. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE A COMFORTABLE CHAIR

While there is something to be said for the ergonomic designs of modern office chairs, from my experience you can use any comfy chair in your home as long as you plan your day into manageable working slots.  Having frequent (but small) breaks means you can get yourself moving around.  Even if just to make some coffee, getting up out of your seat is very important as we are not built to sit in the same position all day hunched over our laptops.  Also, if you are able to work standing up for certain periods (or maybe select a certain time to make all your phone calls whilst walking around the house) you are helping your body hugely.

PICTURE REFERENCE: BRIT.CO

 

3. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ENOUGH SPACE

The bigger the desk the better, but even if you have a small desk you will achieve the same result if you just declutter!  I have realised that I just don’t feel like sitting down at my desk when it is full of stuff, it actually makes me want to go work at the dining table or anywhere else I can think of.  As soon as I clear away all the clutter I immediately feel better and ready to go. Keep your work space neat and clutter free, do not pile papers up on your desk.  File everything away in neat and organised files as soon as you can, or at least create organised piles and put these away in a cupboard.  Don’t worry you can still open the cupboard and grab what you want when you need it.  Everything looks better in boxes so collect together all your clutter items like punches, scissors, staplers and but them in a box.  You can get all sorts of lovely boxes in different shapes and colours from Mr Price Home and various stationery and decor stores.  The nice thing about the pretty boxes is that they do not need to be hidden in a cupboard, they look so good they can go a shelf as display.

PICTURE REFERENCE: PLANETE-DECO.FR

 

4. IT MUST LOOK INVITING

Put out a few small decor items on the desk to make it feel less clinical. This can be a photo frame, paper weight, small vase with flowers, it will make the work space feel like a warm happy place.  Also add some pretty touches to those shelves so they are not just full of books and files. This will just make the space more pleasant to be in and pops of colour will add some fun.

PICTURE REFERENCE: KATRINALEECHAMBERS.COM

 

5. FILL UP THE EMPTY WALL SPACE

Hang art or put up gallery wall shelves on those bare walls. If your work is more of the creative type you can print out the finished product onto photo paper, or even print out inspirational messages that make you feel more motivated, then buy some simple frames and hang these as artwork.  If you go for the gallery shelves as in the picture below, stagger the heights to make an interesting feature wall.

PICTURE REFERENCE: LIKETOKNOW.IT.HOME

 

6. CHANGE IT UP

I have discovered that my daughter and I both enjoy moving into a different room to do different types of work.  Simply changing my environment makes me feel like I am ready to tackle the next task on my list.  So whenever my daughter has English reading to do, and I have more creative drawings to complete, we find ourselves on the bench seat at the main bedroom window.  I can sit there with the beautiful garden view and feel the warmth of the sun while working away on 3D visuals for clients.  It feels less like work and I get a lot done working from this space.

PICTURE REFERENCE: YELLOW PLASTIC DESIGN

So maybe find that one other spot you can move to when you when you are feeling your motivation drift away from you.  I hope you will find renewed energy by trying this and some of the other ideas mentioned today.  Remember to also take some time out for yourself.  This is a difficult time in our lives, make time to go for a walk to get out of the house and take some inspiration from nature.

I found a wonderful quote this weekend by Rainer Maria Rilke which really speaks to me right now and I will leave you with to consider:  “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.  Just keep going.  No feeling is final”.

Stay Safe!

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