{"id":696,"date":"2022-06-19T11:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-06-19T01:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/2023\/cracking-the-work-at-home-office-setup-code-things-i-learned-from-room-rater\/"},"modified":"2023-01-03T08:15:31","modified_gmt":"2023-01-02T22:15:31","slug":"cracking-the-work-at-home-office-setup-code-things-i-learned-from-room-rater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bdabooks.com.au\/Blog\/2022\/cracking-the-work-at-home-office-setup-code-things-i-learned-from-room-rater\/","title":{"rendered":"Cracking the Work-at-Home Office Setup Code: Things I Learned from Room Rater"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n\r\n\r\n
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Working from home? There’s plenty to consider when designing your workspace! Make sure you create a stylish space that reflects your personality! And make sure you’re comfortable and very organised!<\/h5>\r\n<\/td>\r\n<\/tr>\r\n<\/tbody>\r\n<\/table>\r\n

You know that scene in the classic film \u201cThe Apartment\u201d where Jack Lemmon\u2019s character enters a beautiful, expansive apartment and exclaims, \u201cI want this job!\u201d? Well, I\u2019m not there yet. But I\u2019ve learned a few things about working from home that you might find helpful if you\u2019ve needed to make the leap.<\/p>\r\n

\"Photograph
Belinda D’Alessandro<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

There\u2019s a lot of talk these days about the importance of working from home. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started in March 2020, the job market has been challenging in some sectors, particularly retail and hospitality, and corporate workers have been \u201csent home\u201d to work remotely.<\/p>\r\n

However, whilst more and more people were choosing to work remotely at least one day per week before the pandemic, most corporate employees started working from home full-time when the pandemic started.<\/p>\r\n

So were we all really set up to work from home full-time? I suspect the answer for most of us was a BIG NO!<\/p>\r\n

How I started my current work-at-home office<\/h2>\r\n

I will tell you the honest truth about how I started my home office. When I first moved to Sydney for a corporate job in 2000, I moved into a small two-bedroom apartment and got myself a desk to set up my sewing machine. I moved home a few times and got a flatmate, but there always seemed room for my reasonably sized desk (and sewing machine) to be set up when my flatmate and I moved. So having my desk set up when I started freelancing and working from home in 2006 was a godsend.<\/p>\r\n

\"A
My work-at-home desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

In 2010, I returned to the corporate world (part-time, as a contractor, in banking and finance) to supplement my freelance income. However, by the time my flatmate and I moved to a new apartment again in 2011, I was working full-time in the corporate sector, and bringing the large desk up three flights of stairs didn\u2019t seem justified. Nor did the configuration of the apartment allow for the desk I had, so I got myself a small student desk that could fit in the corner of a room for when I needed to do a bit of freelance work.<\/p>\r\n

I went on an overseas holiday in January 2020. My flatmate moved for work shortly after I got home, so I now had a \u201cspare\u201d room with ensuite, and the Covid-19 pandemic hit in March 2020. My corporate employer sent me (and the vast majority of my colleagues) back to working from home most, if not all, days a week, with the rest of the corporate back-office world, with the laptop and peripherals I needed to work from home.<\/p>\r\n

So I had a \u201cspare\u201d room, and the student desk just wasn\u2019t quite big enough for the monitor I now had. I had decisions to make. Do I lug the desk in storage up three flights of stairs, or do I get a new desk? Do I move my sleeping quarters into the bedroom with the ensuite? Do I use it as my office? Find out shortly!<\/p>\r\n

The mindset of getting organised<\/h2>\r\n

When I first started working from home, I did it all wrong before I did it all right. I heard from other people who want to work from home, saying things like \u201cI want to start my own home office\u201d and \u201cI have a work-at-home office now\u201d. The thing is, I didn\u2019t really have a work-at-home office. I had a room with a desk, the same as when I worked in an office. When I was working as a freelancer, the only difference \u2013 well, really, the big difference \u2013 was that I was on my own schedule. It didn\u2019t occur to me that working at home is no different than working in an office.<\/p>\r\n

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\u201cI always put in one controversial item. It makes people talk.\u201d Dorothy Draper<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

Now that I was working from home again, I needed was a space that provided me with \u201cprivacy\u201d (for conference calls) and allowed me to concentrate. Having worked from home before, I knew that personal life and work-life can become easily intermingled, leading to many unproductive habits. A messy office, for example, can cause unnecessary anxiety and can distract you from getting to work. Or having the office in the living room, the television could (read would) cause distractions.<\/p>\r\n

\"View
The view behind my desk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n

I needed to be in a space that would be comfortable enough to work in for hours on end. (This doesn\u2019t necessarily mean it has to be a dedicated room if you don\u2019t have one, although that is best, if possible. If not, then make sure you have some kind of space in your house where you can work undisturbed.)<\/p>\r\n

Next, I was going to need a clean and open area to work. So the next thing I wanted to do was set up my office with all of the essentials that would make working from home comfortable and productive.<\/p>\r\n

The \u201cspare\u201d room gave me the space I needed, rather than trying to clear up some space in the living area of my home. And it meant I didn\u2019t have to move a whole heap of furniture around before I set up my office.<\/p>\r\n

I needed a desk more significant than the student desk already in the space I could use for writing or working on projects, especially now I had more peripherals.<\/p>\r\n

So, I had to decide: do I (try to) lug the bulky, static desk (which hadn\u2019t aged well in storage) I had in the garage up three flights of stairs by myself? Do I try to work on the small student desk, or do I get a new desk? Was the student chair I had when I first set up my office, which had also not aged well (the lift mechanism had broken), going to work with a big desk (either old or new) setup?<\/p>\r\n

I figured I would go with a strategy for organising my work-at-home office to stay focused on work and save time on finding things later. When I was finally ready to get my work-at-home office organised, the next step was to take on the mindset. What I could do depended on how much stuff I had, how much space I had, and how much money or time I had to organise it.<\/p>\r\n

My work-at-home setup<\/h2>\r\n

The first thing I had to do was map out a plan of attack. My work-at-home office was going to be my second home. So I made sure that it was set up in the best possible way to help me work efficiently.<\/p>\r\n

When my employer from my corporate gig sent my co-workers and me to work from home, some of my colleagues asked me how I work from home. How do I keep my corporate gig separate from my writing\/publishing gig? How do I manage to get so much done in a day? How do I keep my work lives distinct and work and family life separate?<\/p>\r\n

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\u201cA designer has a duty to create timeless design. To be timeless you have to think really far into the future, not next year, not in two years but in 20 years minimum.\u201d Phillip Starck<\/p>\r\n<\/blockquote>\r\n

The truth is that it\u2019s not easy. It requires a lot of discipline that I don\u2019t have naturally, so I\u2019ve had to develop some tactics to make it easier. Also, work seems to be all about working from home in the current environment. But often, there are a lot of distractions at home, and sometimes it can be challenging to work on essential tasks.<\/p>\r\n

There were many things to consider when I was designing my work-at-home office, and I\u2019ve pulled together the most essential elements that work for me. Here\u2019s a list of things I have to set up in my work-at-home office to create the perfect work environment for me. For my corporate gig, I have:<\/p>\r\n