Streamline Your WFH Office for Enhanced Productivity

The year 2020 had a significant increase in the number of people working from their home offices. Some European countries like France and Germany had over 20 percent of their residents as remote workers. 

This shift was obviously due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and it was thought that everything would go back to normal within a year. Those expectations were wrong, though. While many people returned to normal offices, many others still have WFH offices even today.

While the flexibility of working from home has several benefits, it also presents many challenges, such as how to have a productive work environment. This article will discuss this challenge with detailed and effective strategies to streamline your WFH office for enhanced productivity.

1. Designing an Efficient Workspace
2. Optimising Technology
3. Time Management
4. Maintaining Work-Life Balance
5. Personalising Your Workspace
6. Continuous Growth And Improvement 

1. Designing an Efficient Workspace

Your physical environment is going to influence your productivity greatly. This is why you must design it the best way you can. We are going to talk about some general considerations but before we do, here are some helpful questions you should consider before you design your workspace. 

• What type of office do you want? A dedicated room, open space, kitchen table?
• What kind of work will you be doing, and how much space will you need?
• What are the necessary accessories? Do you need furniture?
• What is your design budget?

Ergonomics

As far as ergonomics go, you need comfortable seats and desks to reduce strain and fatigue when you work for long. Consider getting adjustable furniture because it helps maintain good posture and reduces the risk of musculoskeletal problems.

Organise Your Work Environment

Very few people, if any, thrive in chaotic and messy environments. Most, however, do their best work in distraction-free environments. If you identify with the latter group, a disorganised environment makes it harder for you to focus.

The simple solution to this is to invest in adequate storage solutions, clean your office regularly, and avoid clutter unless that’s what fuels your productivity.

Lighting

Many studies show a strong correlation between natural light and mood or energy levels. Sunlight will improve how you feel which will help you to easily get your work done.

In case of no natural light like at night or in spaces with poor natural lighting, use task lighting such as a desk lamp to reduce eye strain. However, for any artificial light you use, make sure that it is bright enough but not harsh. You can even get adjustable lights to suit different tasks throughout the day. 

2. Optimising Technology

Without technology, remote work wouldn’t be possible. But not all technology will serve you well in your home office.

Hardware

Simply having a computer at home doesn’t mean that you will necessarily meet the demands of your work. You want hardware with adequate processing power, memory, and storage to handle your tasks without lag.

Even when equipping your setup with the necessary technology, get quality peripherals so that you don’t waste time on repairs or complicated setups. Wireless setups can also keep you organised and reduce clutter on your desk.

Software

There are software solutions such as project management tools, communication platforms, and time-tracking apps meant to keep you productive.

If your work is sensitive, don't waste your time worrying about data breaches. Instead, use antivirus programs and VPNs.

Internet

Few things can disorganise one’s productivity as an unreliable internet connection and to avoid this from happening to you, here are three things you can do:

1. Upgrade your internet plan or change your internet provider.

2. Use a wired connection if your Wi-Fi is unstable.

3. Always have a backup plan for internet outages. For this, your backup plan can be a mobile hotspot or secondary internet service provider. 

3. Time Management

Distractions at home are abundant which is why knowing how to effectively manage your time is important.

Tips On Effective Time Management

• Establish a Routine: Have a consistent work schedule that aligns with your natural productivity peaks. This normalcy will also let people at home know not to disturb you during this time.

• Breaks: Take breaks to rest and recharge. The Pomodoro Technique is one of the most famous practices that can help you do this effectively.

• Prioritise Your Tasks: Get the urgent tasks done first. You can do the non-critical ones later.

• Set Goals: Without these, you will struggle to keep yourself accountable. You should set achievable goals for each day, week, and month. 

• Minimise Distractions: Those you live with should know about your work hours. This will help avoid disturbances from them. Apps and browser extensions that block distracting websites and notifications during work hours will also help you remain focused longer. 

4. Maintaining Work-Life Balance

Without it, both your work and personal life will suffer. This is why this consideration is one of the biggest challenges to overcome if you want to remain productive at work. Some ways to help you achieve this balance are:

• Physical Separation: Create a dedicated workspace separate from your living areas to establish the necessary boundary between work and personal life.

• End-of-Day Routine: Regardless of whether you call it a routine or ritual, this practice helps to mentally switch off your work-mode mind. This is how you can rest effectively and be ready for the next day. Some of these could include shutting down your computer, closing the office door, or going for a walk.

• Other Considerations: There are many practices you can adopt to help you remain productive. These include mindfulness practices, physical activity, and maintaining your social connections. But the list does not end here. Listen to your feelings and create your own practices to help you balance your work and life. 

5. Personalising Your Workspace

In the first section about designing your workspace, we talked about the design decisions you may want to consider to create a functional working space. But what functionality fails to achieve is a design that is unique to you. This personalization will boost your productivity by making your workspace more enjoyable for you to be in.

When personalising your workspace, think about aesthetics and comfort.

Under aesthetics, add elements like artwork and plants, or personal photos that inspire you. You could even choose a colour scheme that you find calming or one that helps you focus. Some workspaces have blue and green colours to have the calming effect and others intended for creativity and boosted energy normally have yellows and oranges. The colour you choose should be based on what you want to achieve when you work.

As for comfort, your workspace should be kept at a comfortable temperature. Depending on where you live, therefore, you might want to use fans, heaters, or air conditioning to achieve this. 

Noise can also be a source of distraction. Therefore, use noise-cancelling headphones or white noise machines if they can help you remain focused. 

6. Continuous Growth And Improvement

You will likely fail at doing this the first time. This is because optimising your home office for productivity takes time. Sometimes you’ll find habits and practices that make you more productive while other times, you will struggle to let go of those habits that you find enjoyable yet they make you less productive. But this shouldn’t discourage you from trying. Here are a few ways you can implement this process when streamlining your office.

• Self-Assessment: You must continually assess your productivity and comfort levels. Remember the suggestion about using apps that we talked about earlier? Well, this is where you can study the data to find potential areas that you could work on. You can even keep a journal to monitor your progress.

• Adapt: Working from home will not always be a predictable experience. There are so many moving parts and obligations that may arise. You should therefore be open to trying out new tools and approaches to remaining focused. Maybe even having flexibility with your work hours in case the situation calls for it.

• Build More Skills: The great thing about working from home is that you can have time to do other things. What is not great is that your work can start to feel dull or monotonous if you have no one else around working with you. You can use the flexibility of your remote job to take online courses, attend webinars, and read some other industry-related materials. This will help you improve your skills but it will also help you relax as well as find more efficient ways of doing your work.

• Networking: The support of your professional network can provide you with resources and opportunities for career growth, but it will also keep you engaged and excited about the work you do. Therefore, attend virtual events and be active on social media.

Working from home has so many advantages if done correctly. If you follow this guide, you will be able to streamline your work-from-home office for productivity and realise most of these WFH advantages such as some level of time freedom, and the ability to work from anywhere in the world.