Moving my grandparents house

How to Make Your Home a Productive Place to Work

According to the Australian Department of Labour Statistics, working from home is becoming a common part of working life. The Department reports that 24 percent of Australians work at least part of the time at home and 1 in 20 Australians work exclusively from home.

There are plenty of advantages to working from home. You can manage your own schedule, be close to your kids and just relax in familiar surroundings rather than being surrounded by stressed-out co-workers and demanding bosses. However, when people move from the office to their study, it can place new demands on their home life.

One overlooked aspect of working from home is redesigning your domestic environment to make it a productive place to work. This could mean creating noise-proof rooms, adding extra facilities and sending junk items to self storage facilities to free up space to work. If you are thinking about transitioning to teleworking, here are some things to consider.

Invest in Furniture to Help You Work Comfortably

Make sure you have a soft chair that can be adjusted for height, with enough back rest space to fully support your back. Back support is crucial if you are going to be spending long afternoons staring at the screen, and many home workers neglect it to their cost. Don't just use an old work desk either. Either adapt it to the height of your computer chair or ask your employer for a specialist work desk to be supplied to your home.

Make Your Office a Quiet Space

It's always a good idea to create a dedicated office space for home working. However, dampening the noise of kids and televisions in other rooms can still be an issue. One way to dampen noise transmission from other rooms is to place heavier furniture against adjoining walls. Bookcases or cabinets are good candidates. You can also place soft furnishings around the base of doors or, in extreme situations use specialist noise-excluding headphones.

Rationalise Your Work Space and Get Rid of Unecessary Items

Even though your office is at home, it still needs to be rationally designed and easy to get around, which usually means moving things out of your study. Additionally, the easiest way to create a study is often by emptying a room that had previously been used for storage. But what do you do with the items that you need to move? Aside from selling them, a good option is to place them in self storage units. You can rent space cheaply in all Australian cities, and storage companies will generally be happy to collect your possessions from your front door.

With a clean, spacious office, minimal background noise and comfortable office furniture, you'll be ready to make working from home work for you.


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