#Increasing efficiency

[productiveandfree]

Optimizing Your Home Office for Maximum Productivity

Nearly one-third of the U.S. workforce works remotely at least part of the time, which means nearly 91 million people are in need of a workspace in their homes. Suffice it to say that if you are trying to fit a home office into your living space, you aren’t alone.

Your home office doesn’t have to be expensive or extravagant — but it does need to be effective at helping you focus on your tasks. Here is how to put together your home office to maximize productivity:

Choose the Right Space

Ideally, your home office will be quiet, private, and comfortable. The best option for a home office is an unused guest bedroom; the second-best option is another closed-off space away from your home’s high-traffic areas. If you don’t have a bedroom to spare, you might consider transforming a shed or garage into your dedicated workspace. As a last resort, you should carve out a corner of your bedroom, where you have total control over the décor and can close (and perhaps lock) the door against interruptions.

You need to think critically about a space before you select it for your home office. How much time and effort are required to make the space livable? Are there enough outlets to power all your work-from-home tools?  Can you envision yourself happily spending hours on end in the space? If you can, you might try experimenting with different locations, working from a mobile device or laptop, to make sure you fully understand the advantages and disadvantages of each potential home office area before making your decision.

Equip Your Office

Once you have a space picked out, you can begin acquiring and arranging your office furniture. You will need a desk that can accommodate the equipment you regularly use to complete your work, and you will need a desk chair that provides appropriate support for your frame. Likely, you will also need storage solutions to organize paperwork, gadgets, or other bits and bobs necessary to your work.

You might be tempted to invest in office furniture that is trendy or aesthetically pleasing. While the look of your office does matter somewhat — you should strive to create an office space that suits your taste as you will find more enjoyment while working — you should avoid sacrificing function for form. Your objective in acquiring office equipment is to ensure your furniture and tools support your workflow.

Clean and Declutter

A cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, as the saying goes. Efficiency experts agree that a messy work area impedes one’s ability to focus on the tasks at hand, so when you are setting up your home office, and regularly afterward, you should take the time to clean up.

It should go without saying that you should keep your home office clean with regular chores like vacuuming and dusting. You should also engage in weekly decluttering: primarily filing or throwing away documents and returning gathered objects to other rooms in your home. You should try to keep your desk free of anything you do not need consistently, like a coaster for your beverage or a calendar.

Reduce Distractions

You chose a space far from the hubbub of your home, and you are relentless about reducing clutter — but these aren’t the only distractions that can prevent you from being productive in your home office. If you want to make certain that your mind will focus only on your work, then you might want to consider the following:

Sound. Being physically separate from others doesn’t fully prevent them from interrupting your focus. You might consider soundproofing, especially if your office is in an uninsulated space like a garage or shed. In addition to acoustic panels, you might lay thick rugs and cover windows with heavy curtains, both of which will absorb excess sound.

Air. When you are in a closed room, the air can quickly become stale and polluted by contaminants. You might consider placing an air purifier somewhere in your home office, so you can reduce the likelihood of respiratory irritation, like asthma or allergies, and neutralize irksome odors, both of which might take your mind off your work. Living plants can also help keep your air fresh and clean, though you should try to avoid cluttering your windows or desk with excess greenery.

Media. Your computer, television, and phone are distraction machines. If possible, you should prevent yourself from using these tools in non-work capacities during working hours, perhaps by installing apps that limit your access. If necessary, you may need to store your phone and TV away from your workspace while you are on the clock.

You aren’t the first remote worker to struggle with productivity at home. With tools and strategies to help you focus on your work — and with plenty of practice — you should be able to find a way to function productively in your home office.

Katie Brenneman

Katie is a passionate writer specializing in time management, marketing, and education-related content. When she isn't writing, you can find her with her nose buried in a book or hiking with her dog, Charlie. To connect with Katie, you can follow her on Twitter.

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[elisdodo]

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[onemeandream]

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[apocalypticsword]

This card always makes me want to sit in his lap...

I won't be needing a chair to work at the Ada, I'll just sit in his lap instead. Don't worry, we can share the desk space, and I'll throw pens at Dazai.

[fishing-lesbian-catgirl]

It’s funny that a bunch of my coworkers older than me don’t know how to do basic stuff on computers and I also know my future coworkers younger than me (hell, even half my classmates in college) who were raised on phone apps won’t know how to do basic stuff on computers. So somehow me having the understanding of file trees, where our cloud saves are located, basic functions of Microsoft office programs, how to change settings, basic troubleshooting, and the ability to look things up if I don’t know how to do them apparently puts me above most people in my workplace when it comes to technology. And by “funny” I meant very frustrating

[molagboop]

High-echelon Mawkin suit modules can be pretty wild, and the Energy conversion module in Raven Beak's suit is no exception.

When exposed to an active current or energy field, the module accounts for the level of charged particles in the local atmosphere and converts the detected matter to power. Most substantial forms of power and radiation are compatible with its function, and it's calibrated to work more efficiently when exposed to substantially powerful forms of plasmic matter.

The conversion module is similar to (but should not be confused with) the thermal charge module, which charges the power suit in extreme heat. That technology is also implemented in the protective exosuits found in Cataris' lava zone. The Mawkin use thermal energy to power a number of their facilities: that they'd implement it in their more mobile works is only natural.

Back to the subject at hand, the conversion module's practicality is twofold: to keep Raven Beak's suit sufficiently charged and to maintain his vigor in battle. His particular biometric modifications are such that his suit, combined with his level of physical fitness, can theoretically keep him fighting without fear of exhaustion in perpetuity.

Raven Beak's juiced up version of lightning armor is the inverse of this module: it absorbs charged particles for the purpose of coalescing into a projected wave. The use of lightning armor in this manner negates the function of the conversion module for restorative purposes. Additionally, lightning armor works best against oncoming projectiles, while the reactive conversion module is at its peak when the suit is exposed to ambient radiation or concentrated, consistent flows of power.

Suffice to say, Raven Beak is probably the only person who could stick a fork in an electrical socket and have it do the exact opposite of killing him.

[bookwyrminspiration]

current writing mood

[fxreflyes]

my mom just gave me her old ipad so now i can draw without just using my laptop mousepad, i don’t even think y’all understand how excited I am 😭

[ivan-fyodorovich-k]

Feels bad only to be good at things that computers do now

[rival-the-rose]

I was extremely correct to bitch yesterday btw

[crossf15]

I should honestly screenshot my chart next time I play Sunless Sea because I've got some truly atrocious procedural generation this run. Like what do you mean I have to go directly through Khan's Heart to get to the Polythreme??? Also Mt Palmerston being way too close to be used effectively as a fuel stop without cutting it very close on the return trip.

[yupuffin]

Okay so people keep telling me "you can use passive expeditions for literally any material you need to grind for in Star Rail" and I'm not sure if they're further in the game than I am and have unlocked something that I don't have, or if they're being condescending because last I checked there are no expeditions that get trace materials which is where at least 60% of my grinding goes 😭

[hvlthgxth]

If they want me to stop buying research chemicals, they really gotta stop putting the reasons they discontinued use at the end of the article.

[obstinatecondolement]

Honestly though, southern hemisphere babes, I would give you your daylight back if it were up to me. Yours sincerely, a guy on two different prescription vitamin D supplements.

[transienturl]

disadvantages of the fact that computer hardware is so good these days: it's very difficult to know if computer software is misusing it.

(there's a post that goes around every so often on tumblr suggesting—hopefully in jest?—that we should make powerful computer hardware illegal for a few years so people focus on software efficiency. taken literally I think that's very stupid but I obviously see their general point.)

[myname-isnia]

I think the ghost of Tolstoy had possessed me for the past three hours because there is no other explanation for THIS