Where Should You Locate Your Home Office?
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If you’re starting a small business, it’s a good idea to give some serious thought to the location of your home office.
A well-placed home office will create an environment that is conducive to work, helping you achieve success on a day-to-day basis.
Home Office in a Spare Room
The best place for a home office is in a spare room, so that you can shut the door at the end of your working day and “go home,” leaving your work behind.
If possible, the spare room should never be used for any other purpose. Therefore, setting up a home office in a guest bedroom is not ideal, as even infrequent visitors will inevitably have an impact upon your work environment.
Outdoor Home Office
If a completely spare room in your house isn’t available, why not use a summer house or a shed in your backyard?
Some companies supply purpose-built home offices in summer houses, so that your office will be fully equipped, down to the last power point.
Or, if you enjoy DIY, you could even build one yourself, as shown in the video.
Converting your garage into a home office is another option.
A Creatively-Located Home Office
If you don’t have a backyard or garage and/or your space is severely restricted, you can still set up an effective home office by making creative use of your available space.
Try to find a location or locations where your working life is not likely to interfere too much with your home life and where it will be as unobtrusive as possible.
It’s better to work on your laptop on the kitchen table, put it away when you’ve finished, working and hide your filing cabinet in a cupboard under the stairs than it is to set up a permanent home office in a corner of your living room or bedroom.
It’s very difficult, if not impossible, to relax in the same room as your work, because your office corner will be a constant reminder of unfinished work and stress.
