Home Office: Healthy & Productive Work Environment

guest post running a business from home Aug 31, 2017

Owners of small businesses and relatively new companies usually opt for the affordable solution of working from home. However, building a home office can be a long-term project, especially if you’re aiming to create a space that is both healthy and productive. Usually, you would look for advice on interior design, or how to keep your desk organized. But perhaps the first thing you should consider is your personality. As ultimately, not all offices fit all types of people. We have compiled a list of work environments that best suit a specific type of person and their job description. See if you can spot yourself!

The Balancing act

The balancing act are people who attempt to keep their private and work life in some kind of equilibrium.They will tend to take breaks during work hours to do some errands around the house, family or other engagements. Their home office needs to be close to the important rooms in the house, and it’s desirable to have a whiteboard on the wall with a timetable for that day. For the balancing act, organization is top priority, and the office should be as spacious as possible, with a dash of personally styled décor.

The Roamer

Not all home offices are used every day for eight hours, as strictly as if an actual corporate office. Those whose jobs entail working remotely, from a cell phone, and meeting with clients or potential investors, usually see more of the outside than the inside of their four walls. Roamers have their schedules packed with meetings and outdoor lunches, which is why their office is ascetic – but effective. The emphasis is on the desk, where a laptop is more desirable, due to its transportability, while the phone and fax machine are always within reach. The rest of the décor is up to personal preference.

The Creative soul

The designers, artists, photographers, musicians, writers and other artistic types fall into this category. They value audio or visual stimuli more than anything, which their office normally reflects. It’s important to be surrounded with other inspirational work in order to boost your own creative flow. On the other hand, moodboards and set goals for the project currently underway should be kept right in front of you, to endorse subconscious problem solving. The colors and design of the office furniture and walls are also a big part of this type’s personal seal.

The Business person

Those who build empires from humble beginnings know how important it is to radiate success. You need to believe it to be able to achieve it, and it is just what the business person does. If you find yourself in this category, you are the delegator who usually holds conference calls, holds meetings in their home office, and spends a lot of their time on the computer, monitoring your employees. A business person needs a corporate office replica in their home – a comfortable chair, wall art, contrasting color-coded furniture and a few house plants. It’s fitting for the decision maker and the CEO to have an office that reflects that kind of work style, as it gives a sense of security, confidence and professionalism.

The Puppeteer

This work type sounds scary, but is actually quite the opposite. Puppeteers are the people who network and often manage projects. They assign tasks, but also connect employees and act as a mediator between them and the clients or their supervisors, spending a lot of time on the office phone. The best productivity solutions for them are several smaller whiteboards or pinboards with the names of employees and their tasks, at least two computer screens for better monitoring, and a workspace where they can physically map out the project and plan the best course of action. Like a strategist on a battlefield, dealing with a lot of information and people, they need their space clear of distractions.

The Nester

Those whose jobs sometimes include most of the above mentioned, nesters do many things throughout the day, usually multiple tasks on a project. They spend the whole day at their desk, which is why everything needs to be within arm’s reach. If you are a nester, you need to be constantly on top of assignments, so aside from your laptop, you need shelves with books, magazines and specialized instruction books in your own respective field. On your desk should also be the phone, printer and a fax machine. Last but not least, a coffee maker is a blessing for every nester that was ever “chained” to their desk for hours on end.

The Minimalist

The minimalists are people who wish for no distractions during their work time. Their offices are empty, but stylishly so. Depending on whether or not they are seeing their clients in the office, they might break out of this pattern. But if not, these types care extremely about the cleanliness and practicality of their workspace. To really achieve the minimalist ideal, one needs to completely reshape their office. At supercheap mobile self storage, you can get rid of unnecessary furniture and excess décor (at least until you decide what to do with it). Then, by introducing the most basic necessities into your workspace, you can finally have a distraction-free environment.

The Brainstormer

The brainstormers are similar to Creative souls. They dedicate their time to creative problem solving, and they need an actively stimulating environment to do that. Through brainstorming, they reach the problem and its possible solutions, and to emulate that, you need papers, colored markers, fidgeting objects like a mini basketball hoop and a tiny ball, or a dartboard. You need a separate space for coworker or client meetings for joint brainstorming, so thinking about a comfortable space for them is also an imperative, as brainstormers need their “walls” to bounce ideas off of.

In the end

Different job positions and different personalities will dictate the kind of home office one will have. Those who work in corporate offices usually have very little to say in how they are going to decorate their workspace, and it is known that this rigid uniformity tends to be counterproductive. So to be one step ahead of the “big dogs”, take into consideration the position you are holding, and how your own personality plays into your work habits. Because we are all different, our work conditions should be the same.

*** This Guest Post was from Victoria Lim ***

Victoria is a true home improvement and DIY fanatic.

She’s passionate about writing, sharing tips and DIY projects.

When she’s not writing you can find her traveling and exploring with her dog or in a tea shop making difficult decisions about which tea would be perfect for her next cup.

You could say she’s an avid tea-drinker.

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