Creating a Workspace at Home: Six Tips to Get You Started!
Chances are, with COVID-19 still a raging presence across the country, you are now required to run your business from your home at least part of the time. You’re in good company – this is a new experience for countless people across the world as quarantine measures fall and stay in place. Setting up a home office for remote work is the new normal.
Here are a few tips to help you out:
Establish your work needs
Creating a workspace that supports your needs and obtaining supplies is essential. Consider the following questions.
- What will I be using this workspace for?
- Is it going to be solely for computer work?
- Will I need a large desk or table space for large drawings and plans or mass amounts of paperwork?
- Do I need to order any office supplies?
Set the space to support a convenient workflow.
Designate your workspace
If you have children under eighteen at home due to closed schools and daycare, this is an added complication.
Designate a place as free from distractions as possible.
- Separate it from your personal and family space
- Make it yours -personalized and cheery -you’re more likely to want to be there if you do
- Keep it organized
Dress the part
Yes – just about everything is more fun in your comfy clothes. Your sweats and slippers are probably calling to you right now. But if you want to get into a work-mode mindset, dress accordingly. Studies show that how we dress affects our thinking. If you dress in sweats for a workday at your home office, the chances are that you slip more easily into sluggishness. But if you dress like you are heading into the office, you set yourself up for a mindset of productivity and confidence. (If you do have young children present, seeing you ‘dressed for work’ will help them understand the don’t bother dad/mom concept.)
Set a Routine
Create a pattern for your day and stick to it. A routine stimulates self-discipline and creates structure. It saves time, while building momentum and self-confidence. Keeping a routine reduces the need for continual decision making and solidifies your control over the day, providing an anchor of certainty despite the chaos of the times.
Communicate with your Team
If you have employees also working remotely, this is a fabulous time to lead by example. Help them to do their jobs through communication and encouragement. There’s a multitude of technological services out there for leveraging excellent communication, including Zoom, Skype, Meet Now, Google Duo, and SO much more. Many can be accessed through apps on your phone as well as your computer, so there is no excuse not to stay in touch.
Give Yourself Grace
It’s a wacky, crazy, surreal time in history. Life as we know it is changing almost daily. The thing is, we don’t know how long it will last, causing vast amounts of uncertainty. Home is your safe space, your comfort, and downtime, making it hard to transition to a home workspace. Home is also filled with pesky distractions – such as those dishes in the sink or the untamed hedges that need trimming – so give yourself grace. Grace to not get this right the first time and to try again. Grace to be flexible in your routine. Grace to just take a deep breath and know that it will eventually be over – maybe even one of those ‘someday we’ll laugh about this’ events.
We’re glad to offer ideas with setting up your home workspace, but we also would love to help you continue hiring and staffing your company. With over three decades of trusted experience, ERG Staffing, is here for YOU! Now, perhaps more than ever, building strong work teams is vital. Assisting you in an extensive range of business and staffing requirements, ERG Staffing offers flexible partnership models to meet your unique needs. We take care of the headaches of recruiting and hiring…so you don’t have to. Contact us today and let us help you thrive!