The Editor’s Desk – From Beneath the Clutter

Here comes Thanksgiving! The kids have the whole week off and my husband’s on an out of town training session, so it’s been pretty crazy around here.

The holiday shopping season is getting started too, and it should be interesting to see how that goes. Amazon.com even started their “Black Friday” deals yesterday. It should be interesting to see how the deals go this holiday shopping season.

Work at Home – 5 Top Tips to Jumpstart Your Productivity

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A lot of people start out thinking it will be a breeze to change from working for someone else in a traditional job setting to working at home. But there are a lot of potential bumps in that road. And unless you are aware of some of these lurking problems and plan for them early you may have a very rocky ride ahead.

• Before you start investing money in outfitting your new office, invest some time in making an inventory of everything you will need to do your business. What furniture, storage capabilities, supplies, equipment, software will you be using?

• Visualize the general atmosphere or ambience that will make you comfortable and productive that will make you want to go into that office. You may have a whole room or just part of one, divided off from a larger space, but it should be an area clearly marked as your work place. So it definitely needs to be professional, but it should also express your taste and personality. After all, you can work surrounded by things you love to look at and listen to. Make your office your personal sanctuary.

• Make sure you will be comfortable. Will your workspace need additional air circulation or temperature regulation? What will you be looking at? Listening to? What will you be sitting in?

If your work involves sitting for hours–and most work does–you will not be productive and happy at the end of the day if you don’t have the right chair. In fact this may be the most important upfront decision and financial outlay you make. Do a little exploration in the area of ergonomics or consult with an ergonomics specialist to learn about what a really good office chair has to offer. You can save your body and your bottom line from a lot of wear and tear.

• Analyze how you work most productively. Do you sit quietly with maximum concentration and minimal distraction? Your office might not take a lot of space. Or are you a walkabout when you are brainstorming or on the phone? You may want a larger or more open area. Do you mostly sit at a keyboard or are you able to work in a more reclined, relaxed posture. There are many specialized chair solutions–functional, executive, leather, mesh–that will suit your style.

• How can you be available and connected to the people in the house, but not so available that you can’t get your work done? If you need to keep track of the activities of kids or pets, you may need to be able to see or hear them from your work place, so think about whether you need see-through partitions or doors, or some kind of audio or visual monitoring systems. You may need to schedule your work time for the kids’ school time, or find helpers to keep an eye on the household when you can’t be available.

So take some time to work through the details of this new way of working that will affect not just you, but your family, neighbors, friends and business associates.

Denise Zangoglia has been working from her own home since 1999 and is an avid writer. She has created a website, http://thehomeofficecafe.com/ to share what she has learned from her own experience and others. Check out topics ranging from how to setup a home office right the first time, to how to choose the best ergonomic desk chair for you.