We\u2019ve all seen work-from-home promos that portray some person sitting on their couch, looking very relaxed and comfy, probably having a snack or drink\u2026while working. The truth is, its all propaganda. Working from home can be very fun and flexible but way more structured than such promos make it look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sure, you get to work in your pajamas, you have the luxury of working from any part of your home, you can eat or have a drink all you want but all these don\u2019t happen everyday\u2026unless your game plan is to get fired or ruin your business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You see, its easy for friends and family to perceive your remote working as nothing serious. Extra responsibilities and errands thus get heaped on you since \u2018you are always at home\u2019. The earlier you make them realize that you have work to do, the better and nothing establishes this better than having a structure; a work schedule and dedicated work space \/ spot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yes, your journey begins with having a spot to call your work domain. If working randomly around your home works for you then \u2013 by all means \u2013 go for it. Its however a good idea to have a spot which not only helps you detach from distractions but lets family and friends know you\u2019re working (and probably busy) just by seeing you there\u2026boundaries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It doesn\u2019t have to be a fancy space, just somewhere you\u2019re comfortable in, can get some privacy and work done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m Tech. oriented so my advice might need a little tweaking to fit a non-Tech occupation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t emphasize this enough. Aside from a bad sitting posture, an uncomfortable chair can leave you stressed with chest and back aches before good work is put in. It only gets worse workday after workday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t have to get an expensive ergonomic chair, just something very comfortable and you\u2019ll be very glad you did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019re concerned about the polluted air outdoors then you should be even more concerned about the one indoors. Pollutants build up very quickly indoors and there\u2019s little to clean them up; indoor plants can\u2019t even keep up. A good ventilation (preferably cross) ensures effective indoor-outdoor air exchange.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its important to work in a well lit space but feel free to vary the brightness and color combination of your lighting to something you\u2019re very comfortable with. If you\u2019ll be staring at your monitor for long hours in a dark space, some ambient light is a good idea to minimize eye strain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Power, internet and your gadget are the three pillars of your remote work. I\u2019m not a fan of generators. They\u2019re not only noisy pollutants but drive up your cost of operation especially if you live in Nigeria (like me) where frequent and lengthy power cuts are as normal as sunshine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019m an advocate of inverters and power stations not only because they\u2019re cheaper and more reliable on the long run but also because you can wake up in the wee-hours to work and have power without disturbing the neighbors with your noisy and fumy power-generating set.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You don\u2019t need more space, you need a better arrangement. Clutter is not only distracting but could negatively impact your productivity. Go wireless where you can, pack wires neatly where possible and only keep actively-in-use tools \/ items on your desktop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If horizontal space is limited, look into vertical arrangements and designs to maximize your space. A painting, indoor plant or soft ambient light can give your work space a nice touch at little cost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fancy or Expensive isn’t necessarily better; focus on the functionality. Quality and sturdiness will save you lots of money and headaches over an aesthetic but fragile product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Wires and cables can make your workspace look cluttered, so tag, group and bind where you can then tuck excess wires away. You should also draw boundaries so that family and friends know to respect your workspace. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A desk mat is your friend!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With work spaces, expensive is not necessarily better. Neat and comfortable trumps expensive but clumsy any day. Office branded items like mugs, pens, T-shirts, jotters etc. could also give your home work space a nice touch and keep you motivated.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We\u2019ve all seen work-from-home promos that portray some person sitting on their couch, looking very relaxed and comfy, probably having a snack or drink\u2026while working. The truth is, its all propaganda. Working from home can be very fun and flexible but way more structured than such promos make it look. Why do I need a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":61,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-60","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":63,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60\/revisions\/63"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/enigma.ng\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}