Home Office
How to Set Up a Home Office
Once you’re ready to set up shop in your home, it’s time to turn your little corner into a real corner office.
1. Establish a permanent space within your home for your office. A separate room is ideal.
2. Decide on an office arrangement. The best is a U-shaped arrangement, which lets you use three surfaces to keep everything within reach.
3. Choose an L-shaped arrangement that provides a secondary surface if space is limited. A parallel arrangement can provide two full-sized working surfaces if they are placed opposite each other.
4. Consider a V-shaped arrangement, which consists of a small working area in front of you (generally used for a computer monitor) and two surfaces angled to your left and right if your office area is very small. This is similar to a U-shape, except the central working area is much smaller.
5. Establish two business-only phone lines (one for voice and one for fax and/or Internet) for your office. If you’ll need to forward calls to other offices, ask your phone company about related services.
6. Buy office furniture that suits the arrangement you’ve chosen. Include desks and tables, chairs and desk lamps.
7. Buy a phone with a built-in answering machine and a hold button. If you’ll be transferring calls from within your home office, make sure your phone has a transfer button.
8. Buy a computer system, including a printer. Consider built-in fax software if you’ll be sending and receiving files created on a PC.
9. Purchase a separate fax machine if you’ll be sending and receiving photos or articles from newspapers or magazines by fax. To save money, consider buying a fax machine that can also serve as a photocopier.
10. Stock your office with standard office supplies. If you’re self-employed, budget the cost of these items in your monthly business expenses; otherwise, your employer may provide these supplies for you.
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Design an Efficient Home Office
Efficiency should be kept in mind when designing any office, including your home office. The only difference with a home office is the fact that the boss is typically you, and slacking off is only costing you time and money.
Fortunately home workers have a great amount of freedom when it comes to designing and decorating their home office or work space, and there are some great steps that any home worker should find helpful.
1. Clean your office. A clean work environment is a happy and productive one, and this holds true for your home office just as it does anywhere else.
Before decorating or moving any furniture or equipment into your home office, make sure to clean the area from top to bottom to help boost the efficiency of your office before you even get settled in.
2. Buy a comfortable desk chair. Without a comfortable chair to sit in, working at home is going to be a literal pain.
Take your time to shop around and test out some chairs before deciding on the one that’s right for your home office. For best results, adjust the chair’s height to a level that is just below your own kneecaps.
3. Arrange your home office in a fashion that best suits your needs. Any kind of electronic equipment that you’ll use frequently, like your computer, printer, and telephone should be placed in convenient locations that are easily accessible. Other hardware that you use less frequently, like a scanner or fax machine can be placed out of the way until it is needed.
4. Keep your desk clear of clutter. Important documents should be kept in folders and placed in a filing cabinet or bookcase. Paper trays can be used for documents that don’t require filing, and a paper shredder should always be used on unwanted papers before recycling them.
5. Maximize the amount of space in your office by installing shelves on the walls. Shelves like this are simple to install, inexpensive, and can be found at any home improvement or hardware store. Read the rest of this entry »