Working From Home: The Basics of Setting up a Home Office
by Carrie Hinkel on March 28th, 2008
Today, most small business entrepreneurs have a home office – even if it’s just to catch up on a little office work on the weekends. Whether you’re considering setting up a home office for full or part-time work, here are some helpful suggestions in getting it set up right the first time:
Your home office space
Choosing the right space for your office is more important than you might think. Everything from the amount of sunlight to the color of the walls can affect your productivity. An area that’s secluded, yet bright is best – like a spare room in the house, but preferably not the basement or attic. If you don’t have or need an entire room to devote to your home office, that’s fine, perhaps a corner or closet in a spare bedroom will do just fine.
For the best work atmosphere, get rid of the maroon or navy painted walls and bring in some lighter colors. Keep windows unblocked and be sure your office space is uncluttered and clean – it’s hard to get into a work mode if laundry is scattered everywhere. Also, as tempting as it may be to set up a little corner of the living room for your office, don’t – you’ll end up getting half as much work done, having to constantly deal with distractions and interruptions. Your home office should be out of the main flow of the house – a secluded spare bedroom is the perfect recluse to focus on work.
Your work tools
For your home office, you’ll most likely need a phone, fax, computer with internet service and a printer. However, there are plenty of options for each. For your office phone line you might decide to use your cellphone, a voicemail phone service or an internet phone service like Skype. For your fax, you have options such as a fax machine, a scanner with a computer fax program or an online monthly fax service. As for your computer, you have the choice of a desktop or a laptop with a docking station. If you do a great bit of traveling, you might find that having a laptop as your main computer will make life much easier. And, of course, for internet you can choose from cable, DSL, T1, etc. You may find having a wireless internet connection is convenient if you sometimes prefer to work on the couch or in your bed in the evenings – hey, why not!
In order to have a productive home office, it’s important to have all of your work tools convenient and readily accessible. That means having files, paper, pens, trade magazines and books within easy reach. Nothing disrupts a great work momentum like having to get up and look through a basement full of file boxes for your business’ EIN number.
Having your office right at home can truly make going to work fun: not having to worry about what power suit to wear or what lunch to pack, no commute and no idle chit chat with cubemates you don’t particularly care for. Yep, working from the comfort of your own home puts you in total control of your workday – which for some can be scary and temptation ridden. But, don’t worry, a productive workday begins with your home office – and as long as you keep your work space separate from your home space, you’re off to a good start!