A lot of my clients are small business owners who work from home. Having a home office may sound like a more relaxing and informal option but it requires just as much organisation.
Some small business owners may become inattentive towards how their home office space looks because of their circumstances. Perhaps it’s because they don’t have colleagues or they have few colleagues who work in different locations. Maybe they visit clients in a neutral setting instead of meeting them at their home.
Whatever the reasons, sometimes home offices can turn into a dumping ground. Papers or books are left on the floor, the ‘to-be-filed’ pile grows higher, pens are constantly going missing, and it gets harder to go through desk drawers because they are so full.
If your home office isn’t running smoothly, in can cost you in ways such as wasting time, money, productivity, not to mention stress and worry. If you want walk into your home office without having a moment of dread, then have a look at these tips I’ve provided to help you get things sorted.
1. Before you begin re-organising your home office ask yourself these questions:
o What is the purpose of my home office?
o Will I need to share the space with my colleagues?
o Do I have enough space for work related functions?
o Will my home office be exclusively for business?
o Will I need to include space for hobbies or personal paperwork?
2. Start with the products, devices, furniture, stationery etc that you already own. Don’t feel that a shopping spree at Officeworks is in order (unless your budget allows it). Be wary of your shopping duration though. Don’t use this as a form of distraction.
3. Establish the layout of your home office by allocating zones for your space. Think about where you’d like your workstation to be, which corner to put the shelf for your resources, and storage for paperwork.
4. Examine whether your home office is user-friendly. Do you have easy access to your workstation, devices, and storage space? If not, you may need to rearrange furniture or add shelving to assist with the flow.
5. Make sure that each home office zone is equipped with the necessary tools or items needed in that area for efficient use of space and time.