You may have an entire room in your St. Louis home dedicated as an office, or maybe you’re just using the dining room table or a corner of the living room. Whatever the case, you want to make sure that you’re maximizing the space allotted for work. If the goal is to create a functional environment where you can focus and thrive, here are a few of the most common mistakes you’ll want to avoid:  

Lack of Consistency

Not all of us have the luxury of using an entire closed-off room for a home office. For those of us without a separate office in the house, it can be challenging to find the right place to work. But it’s still possible to create a consistent work environment, we just have to make it so. Choosing a different spot every day or moving from room to room can be counterproductive. Selecting a space that we can designate as our home office will help us to have an easier transition from home mindset to work mindset and aid in focus. Any space that you can define as your home-office will work, as long as you use it every day.

Not Differentiating Between Work and Home Space

As I mentioned above, it’s very possible to have a productive work environment without having an entire room dedicated to it. If you’re utilizing a portion of your living room or kitchen for work, it’s important to differentiate that space. For instance, find a way to mark off the area as a work zone with maybe a rug under a desk in the living room, or if you’re working from the kitchen table, clear away things like dishes and salt and pepper shakers to give yourself a clear work surface that isn’t crowded with non-work things. Even if your workspace is right in the middle of a personal space, you want it defined as the place where you do work.

Inadequate Comfort

When we work from a proper office, we’re usually using ergonomically designed furniture. Our desks, chairs, and computer monitors are positioned to support being seated for hours at a time. It’s important that we replicate that same support at home as much as possible. Look at your work environment and see what could be improved. It could be something as simple as adjusting your monitor height to avoid slouching, or maybe you invest in a new work chair. If you can create a space that is comfortable and that promotes a healthy posture, it will help you stay seated and working for whatever duration you need to be.

Absence of Inspiration

A neutral, empty environment isn’t always conducive for a good workspace. Making a more pleasant environment doesn’t take much — a plant, some photos, really anything that will warm the space up a bit. Just the simple act of making your home-office area feel more inspiring can help you stay more productive while you’re working there.

Avoiding these common mistakes is quite easy, and doing so will help you maximize your at-home office.
If you’d like to talk more about home office mistakes, or if there’s something else we can be of assistance with, please get in touch. We’re always happy to help in any way we can.