How to create the perfect work from home office space

If you are a contractor and your house is your office then there are some necessary changes you need to make in order to create the perfect work from home office space.

We know there are a number of benefits to working from home; the desk is less than a minute away, unlimited tea and coffee and flexibility in picking the office temperature without upsetting anyone else. On the flip side, friends and family who don’t work from home continue to communicate during working hours, I’ve heard stories of Mums calling for a chat in the middle of meetings. It happens.

It also takes a while to create the perfect work from home environment, after much discussion in the office, we take a look at the products, apps and add-ons which might make your life a little easier.

Location, location, location

Try to position your desk as near as possible to a window so you have access to the outside world. It sounds ridiculous but if you work from home there is a risk that you may not leave the house on any given day so, it’s important to be placed near a window not only for contemplative thinking (stroking of the chin, looking afar, you know the drill) but also to give you a sense of time of day!

Looking for a new remote job? Our job board is full of awesome remote jobs listed by real companies looking for talented individuals in the digital industry.

Laptop stand

This was the first purchase I made when I started working remotely. Your home office space needs to have a decent desk where you can fit a keyboard, mouse and a laptop stand or a second monitor which is raised. You don’t have your own personal HR manager who can check your posture is correct so look out for yourself (and your back and neck) with a new laptop stand.

Standing work station

Standing whilst working is here to stay. Sitting down for prolonged periods of time has been claimed to be as ‘bad as smoking’ so maybe it’s time to mix things up, even if you do a couple of hours standing and then sitting. Ultimately you have complete control over your desk space if you work from home. Some remote jobs require long hours working on a project so this one might be useful for you, IKEA are selling cheap laptop stations, I kid you not.

If you’re not interested in standing desks but want more back support, invest in a giant exercise ball. Sitting on the ball all day long will actively engage your core muscles and makes it very difficult to slump!

Bluetooth headphones

Some remote jobs require daily stand up calls or ongoing Skype conversations so invest in a pair of Bluetooth headphones which have hands-free included. The great thing about Bluetooth headphones is the way the market is constantly churning out new high-tech and affordable headphones.

Stop all distractions

On the note of omitting out any distractions, Flip Off is just one of many awesome apps which stop you getting distracted – you choose the time you want yourphone to stay locked for and it’ll stick to it’s word, no phone restarts or resets will get in the way of this lock up. You may also want to try out Stay Focusedwhich is a Google Chrome add-on that stops you from being distracted by counter-productive websites (MSN News homepage will be top of my list..).

Smart charging for devices

Google Keep & Trello

For those working in remote jobs where you have multiple clients, you may need to document notes and create memos for each client. Google Keep has been a massive help in getting me to arrange my thoughts and ideas particularly when I am doing remote copywriting jobs, it also acts as a repository for interesting links and research I’ve found online.

Here’s a useful guide on how to use Google Keep. Alternatively, Trello is a very similar tool for arranging thoughts and ideas.

So there you go, a few pearls of wisdom which will help you create the perfect work from home environment. Remote jobs give you maximum flexibility and control of your situation so make sure you take full advantage of this by constantly self-assessing and tweaking your work from home office space.

We have a number of amazing remote jobs listed on our job board, take a look around and see if any catch your fancy.