[Infographic] Designing Your Home Office for Productivity

With communications now more advanced than ever, the number of people working from outside an office is significantly increasing (40% growth in the last 5 years). Technologies such as Skype and Slack enable instant collaboration from staff members from almost any location in the world and, in an era when flexible working arrangements are increasingly appreciated, many people are availing of the option to work from home.

Also read: What are the Pros and Cons of Working from Home?

Having a home office provides several benefits, not least the removal of a time-consuming and potentially blood-boiling commute. However, if you’re going to work from home, you need to have the self-discipline to be just as productive and co-operative as if you were in the office with management watching.

It isn’t just your inherent character traits that will determine your level of productivity when working from home, either. The setup of your home will go a long way to facilitating or hampering the quality and quantity of your output.

One of the most crucial factors in fostering high productivity, at home as well as in the office, is the quality of light entering the space. Ideally, you would work from a desk that’s receiving plenty of natural light from the windows of your home. If this can’t be achieved, use bright, white bulbs to simulate the impression of exterior natural light.

Color is also crucial to enhancing productivity. The ideal color for your home office will depend on the type of work that you do. If your job involves a lot of deep, analytical thinking, blue is good for stimulating the mind. If creativity is a core attribute in your work, an abundance of yellow helps to get the creative juices flowing.

Also read: How Decluttering Your Workspace Can Make You A Better Employee

You’ll probably be committed to maintaining a tidy home in any case, but when your home doubles up as the office, tidiness becomes even more vital. By removing clutter (or choosing a room where clutter hasn’t developed and most likely won’t develop) and keeping a well-organized filing system, you can work without mental distractions and save time that would have been squandered on fruitless searches for essential paperwork.

Here is an infographic from EZ Living Interiors which provides further tips on how to make your home office conducive to a highly productive output of work.