Overall, working from home has been received as a positive step forward. Yet, it has its drawbacks, forcing more people to try and figure out how to make working from home easier.
Whether you suffer from too many distractions at home to get your work done, or you’re limited by your make-shift “workspace”, or if it’s something else holding you back from fully embracing working from home, we Norfolk construction experts have some tips to share.
These tips range from easy DIY jobs to ideas for home construction projects. So don’t worry, whatever your budget and available time, we’re sure you’ll find something in this blog useful.
Creating a Comfortable Home Workspace
Let’s get the most obvious working-from-home piece of advice out of the way – making a home office.
If you’re working from home, there’s no ifs, buts or maybes about it, you need a dedicated workspace. The age of remote working is upon us and pulling up a chair to any available surface isn’t going to cut it.
Creating a home office is the number one way of improving productivity at home.
“What if I have no space in my home for an office?” If you simply don’t have the space to create a whole new office room, you can just create a dedicated workspace as part of another room.
When we have our own workspace, working from home is immediately easier. This is your space to get organised, get comfortable and get to work.
If you do have the space to build a home office from scratch, that’s great! There are plenty of builders in the UK who can do this for you. Just like our Norfolk-based construction company.
Stay Focused When Working From Home With Soundproofing
Noise pollution is one of the biggest enemies of working from home. Especially if you’re trying to stay on top of your workload with young children running about the house.
Soundproofing offers a direct solution to this problem. Gone are the days of drowning out the noise by burying yourself in a pair of noise-cancelling headphones.
Soundproofing a room isn’t always as difficult as it sounds. Here are some ways you can help to soundproof your home office. From quick jobs to hands-on projects:
- Seal all holes in your walls with caulk
- Install a door sweep to stop sound coming from under your door
- If your office is on a lower floor or basement, stop the noise coming from above with a drop ceiling
- Add a second or third panel of glass to your windows
- Install acoustic panels
The difference between a home office that has no soundproofing to one that does is clear. Try it out for yourself!
Effective Remote Work Routines Start With Great Internet
There are so many different remote jobs currently out there, but one thing they all have in common is the need for the internet.
And not just any internet will do – it has to be reliable and fast. Nothing disturbs a work output like unsteady internet, so ensuring you choose a dependable internet provider is especially important.
Your internet may be running perfectly fine to support all of the mobile devices in your home, along with a handful of other appliances, but depending on your remote job, you may need to upgrade your home internet.
There are plenty of online resources that allow you to do such things as test internet speeds in your area and compare deals from different providers for free.
Natural Light and Airflow: A Healthy Home Office
As important to you as it is to ensure you can get all the work done that you need to at home, it’s just as important to stay healthy while working from home.
Ensuring you’re receiving optimal natural light and encouraging decent airflow in your office are two easy ways to not feel like you’re typing away locked in a dark and dusty dungeon.
To improve the rate of natural light your office receives, there are some architectural solutions, you could try, such as putting in a skylight, fitting bigger windows, or installing glass walls.
As humans, we gain ample health benefits that come with natural light. Making this a non-negotiable for your home office is a great decision that will pay off in the long game.
To improve airflow in a home office:
- Invest in air conditioning
- If you don’t have AC, install a ceiling fan or purchase a simple standing fan
- Use an air filter or air purifier
When a home office is light and airy, as opposed to dull and stuffy, it creates a more pleasant work environment where ideas flow, attention is focused, and inspiration is all around.
Remote Work-Life Balance
We touched on this in our last point, and this is our final tip on how to make working from home easier, which is to be certain that alongside our productivity, our comfortability is paid attention to.
Working from home has really benefited some people – they’re able to get more work done than ever before, but without an office environment it’s sometimes easy to forget to take that 10-minute break, stretch your legs, or tuck into your lunch.
As a high-quality construction company in Norfolk, our team is always busy – from our builders to our office-based workers – so we know the importance of maintaining a healthy work-life balance.
Here are some handy tips to keep you from melting into your home office while working from home:
Break Up the Amount of Time You Spend Sitting Down
Being confined to a desk for 8 hours a day doesn’t do your back, knees or neck any good. So remember to stretch your legs every now and again. You could achieve this by investing in an electric standing desk.
Give Your Day a Routine
As we’re working from home, it’s sometimes easy to crank out a whole day’s work in one go with no breaks. To avoid this, create a work-from-home routine – schedule coffee breaks, assign lunch to the same time every day, and so on.
Stay Active (even if it’s just a little bit)
Did you used to cycle to work or walk? Even with office-based jobs, it can be surprising how much we move around and this should be the same at home. Even if you just plan a 15-minute walk outdoors into your day.
Know When to Stop
Even if you’re grateful to be working from home, you still need to ‘switch off’ when it’s time to. Don’t work yourself to burnout just because your work environment has changed.
Final Thoughts
We hope you enjoyed reading this blog on how to make working from home easier for you.
As we said in the blog, some of our suggestions are small things you can implement straight away to feel better about your remote job.
Others are larger projects, such as creating a home office. If you’re local to us and are hoping to build a home office as part of a larger home construction project, such as a renovation, then you can reach out to our team of Norfolk construction experts.
