Home Office Design Aspects
A well-designed home office goes a long way in improving the productivity of your business and you must make every effort to design it in such a way that it is not only functional but also inviting.
When starting a home-based business, majority of owners work from their make-shift offices, without giving much consideration to the aesthetic and functional aspects of it. A well-designed and planned home office can not only improve your productivity and efficiency but also make you more professional. Here are some aspects to consider in designing a productive and inviting home office:
Location
Where you are going to locate your home office depends a lot on the nature of your business. Full-time businesses usually need a dedicated home-office, away from the distractions of family life. If you are going to entertain clients to your office, you also need a separate entrance to it as it is not only unprofessional but also embarrassing to have your customers tour around your kitchen and bed room to reach your office. If your work involves lot of thinking, you also need your office to be free from outside as well as inside noises, like television/music system to think clearly.
Lighting
This is often most neglected aspect when designing a home office. Most don’t bother to have a separate lighting system and continue to work with the existing ones designed for home use. Lighting requirements of an office is different from that of a home and working in poor light conditions can cause serious health problems like eye strain, headaches and fatigue, especially if your business involves working a lot on computers.
Choose color-improved warm fluorescents over ordinary fluorescents in the overhead position. If you work on computers, consider lighting the wall behind it to minimize eyestrain. Lights should be placed either on top or side. Light source from behind causes the computer screen to reflect it causing glare. Even light from windows behind can cause similar effect.
Ventilation
Office equipments generate lot of heat and if there is no proper ventilation in your office, the heat can damage sensitive equipments like PCs. Moreover, working for long hours in such relatively hotter conditions can be very uncomfortable and will hamper your productivity. Plan well in advance the number of equipments you are going to have in your office and whether the room you intend to convert into office can comfortably accommodate them allowing air to flow freely around.
If there is inadequate ventilation, you should also consider investing in a good air conditioning system to safeguard the equipments and maintain a cool environment.
Get Outdoors Indoors
Working for long hours in unnatural environment, especially near the influence of electro-magnetic equipments like computers, can degrade our health considerably. Nature is the best de-stressor and by having few natural plants in your office, you can minimize the harmful affects to some extent.
If there is a window in your office room, consider moving your desk near it. An occasional glance through it outside is good not only for your eyes but also for your mind.
If neither of the above is possible, hang some nature photos like that of mountains, forests in front of your desk. They can also improve your well-being to a great extent.
Final Word
When just starting, many start-up entrepreneurs have a tendency to splurge on office equipments, only to find later that its expenses have eroded a significant portion of their start-up capital. Start with investing in bare minimum stuff like a desk and chair. Once your business picks up and you start seeing profits, invest in other equipments.