Running a business or telecommuting from your home office is a great way to reduce costs. It can also boost your productivity and provide you with a better work-life balance.
However, it requires some planning and discipline to make sure you are maximizing the advantages of this option. Here are six essential habits to keep your home office operating at peak efficiency, which will help you perform better at your job.
1. Design and Equip Your Home for Success
You’ll be spending many productive hours in your home office, so it’s worth investing the time and money to create a space where you can be comfortable and do your best work. Choose a quality desk and chair set, as well as office décor that suits your personal taste and helps you stay relaxed.
Having a proper water heater installed will also improve your work performance. A warm shower or running a hot bath will be a great form relaxation when you’re in need of a quick break. Take advantage of having the ability to do so working from home. Find the best electric tankless water heater that will heat up the water on your tap while reducing the energy consumed, which will keep down the amount on your energy bill. Keep in mind ways to cut costs when purchasing other sorts of home and office equipment, including a printer, scanner, AC unit, etc.
Additionally, purchasing or leasing the best computer hardware and software you can reasonably afford — but not more than you need — can save you stress with its reliable performance.
While people have different work styles and preferences, the ideal office location should be in a dedicated area of your home, away from any excessive distractions that could reduce productivity.
2. Use Technology to Streamline Administrative Tasks
Every job comes with a variety of time-consuming administrative tasks that, while essential, do not contribute much to your overall work performance.
With 21st-century technology, it’s easier and more cost-effective than ever to reduce this impact on your daily workload. Consider purchasing a voice-activated assistant such as Amazon’s Alexa or Google Home, which can help with sending emails or texts while you’re getting other work done. These devices can also control the temperature, lighting and music selection in your office.
Other important time-saving technology solutions might include communication apps to chat with remote co-workers, or a collaboration and project management app that will serve as a common work area for your team.
3. Monitor and Maintain Your Home Office Equipment
Like it or not, your home office equipment plays an invaluable part in your success and efficiency. You rely on it to perform your daily functions, and after all, you’ve invested the capital required to procure it.
While unexpected failures and downtime are always a possibility, you should make a proactive effort to avoid these issues by regularly monitoring your home office assets.
To understand how you can protect your equipment and minimize downtime, seek the help of a reputable hardware vendor for assistance. Today, through something called active-active network architecture, businesses can better respond to high demand and reduce downtime. Most vendors today will recommend this option. They can also help you generate and understand audit reports, implement network redundancy and switches and provide a repair and maintenance contract.
4. Keep Your Workspace Free of Clutter
Although everyone has their own preferred work environment, it’s difficult for most people to remain focused and calm in a messy, chaotic space.
Additionally, a cluttered office can create a negative impression to any visitors — including those with whom you may be trying to build a business relationship. Resist the urge to leave papers, trash and other assorted objects around your desk.
Keep papers organized in folders for ready access, and stash the folders in drawers or file cabinets. Make sure to thoroughly clean your workspace regularly.
5. Be Prepared to Go Mobile
You may need to leave your office and work offsite, whether due to scheduled meetings or sudden emergencies. In either event, you should always be prepared to work at a contingency location to minimize loss of valuable work time and business opportunities.
Invest in tools that can help you work on the go, such as a laptop or tablet, mobile apps to use on your smartphone or tablet, chargers and accessories like a wireless keyboard and mouse. A remote desktop access application can also help with mobility and team collaboration.
6. Always Back Up Your Work
Just as you should always be prepared to leave your office unexpectedly, you should also be prepared for unexpected outages and computer crashes. Use a cloud-based storage service to back up all of your files, in case of a drive failure. You can also access this storage even when you’re away from the office. Google Drive and Dropbox are two of the most popular storage services.
Working from home continues to grow in popularity, as more and more business owners are beginning to appreciate the cost benefits and flexibility it can provide.
However, to maximize these benefits and minimize the potential risks, practice these good habits.
A bit of extra self-discipline may be required, but it can be well worth the effort when you realize the rewards of working efficiently from your home office.
