Your Home Office--Get a Room Already!"
So you're finally following your dreams. You're self-employed.
You set your own hours. You pick your paychecks up at the mail
box. No more long commutes for you. You even get to
"wheel-and-deal" in the quiet and solitude of your own home
office. You . . .
What's that? You don't have a home office?
You work, instead, on the kitchen table or the computer station
in the family room or--much to your spouse's dismay--on the
cluttered desk in the corner of the bedroom (clickety-clackity,
clickety-clackity go the keys until the wee hours of the
morning).
Get a room already! Preferably one you can claim and make your
own. Concentration, focus and productivity will improve--and so
will your peace of mind.
LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION! Being a home office, by
definition, the space you choose as your own actually has to be
in your home--so right away you're constrained to a certain,
fixed location. Your "home office" can't be in the building down
the street.
That said, here are five items that mattered most to me when I
chose the location for my home office:
1. My office space needed to be physically practical while also
being good for my psyche--no stark four walls, cramped space, or
gloom for me.
2. I needed a space into which I could literally disappear for
hours--away from the hubbub of family activity, noisy children,
cooking smells, and errant pets.
3. The space needed to work for me in physical terms, with
adequate room for a desk, work area, reading nook, printer
stand, fax machine, storage of office supplies, etc.
4. I needed a room that afforded me a view of the outdoors--a
room that provided me something to look at other than my
computer screen.
5. The space could serve no dual purposes. This had to be my
office with my "stuff" in it, from pictures on the walls to
books on the shelves.
CREATING THE SPACE Fortunately when we built our home over a
decade ago, I imagined that I would someday want a home office.
During construction I had a spare 10-foot by 13-foot bedroom on
the top floor wired for an additional phone line and the
electrical outlets in the room equipped with surge protection. I
also placed sound deadening board in the walls, six inches of
fiberglass insulation in the floor, and topped it off with a
heavy six-panel solid wood door--complete with lock and
key--making for a very cozy and quiet setting.
Granted, not everyone has the opportunity to plan their home
office as I did, but you may be able to make some "after market"
changes to your space to make it more functional . . . and
desirable.
HERE ARE SOME IDEAS: * When I converted the spare bedroom to
office space a few years ago, I placed industrial shelving in
the room's large 3-foot by 6-foot closet, creating an efficient
storage area lined with office supplies, paper, envelopes,
client files, books, computer references, print cartridges, and
more--all easy to access, all readily available. No more down
time hunting for paper clips!
* On the walls, I hung non-work related items such as photos of
my wife and children, a painting of a doe and fawn lakeside,
photos I've taken of places I've visited (and often would rather
be)--all visual cues I can look to when I need to step back from
a project and remind myself of what's really important.
* I recently added a semi-dry aquarium to the mix, full of
shells, sea glass, and mementos of various excursions to sea
shores both near and far. What's unique about this mostly-dry
aquarium is that at its center in a traditional "gold fish" bowl
resides--you guessed it--a gold fish. As I watch the fish swim
about its watery home, "Flo" has become a companion of sorts,
providing me with occasional and necessary mental "breaks" from
lengthy stints at the computer or on the phone.
* I also have a doublewide window that overlooks my backyard and
a strategically located birdfeeder that affords occasional
glimpses of a flitting jay, chickadee or mourning dove--not to
mention the sometimes-comical antics of several resident red and
gray squirrels as they shinny up the steel post from which the
feeder hangs.
BE "AT WORK" WHEN YOU NEED TO BE By creating your own distinct
space, you can truly "be at work" when you need to be. No more
trying to mask the sounds of jovial children in the background
as you speak to a client; no more apologizing for being up late
with light on, rustling papers as you print the latest draft of
that important proposal.
Once you get a room for your home office and once you make it
your own, you will see a marked difference. With fewer
distractions and an increased ability focus, you'll be more
productive, more attentive, and that much further along the way
to making your dreams of successful self-employment a reality.
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Copyright (c) 2004 by Matt McGovern--All rights reserved.