Tip #1: Have an Office Space
This might seem simple and common sense, but it isn’t. The number of people who tell me that they are simply working from the kitchen table is huge.
The challenge from working from ‘anywhere’ is that you have ‘nowhere’ to set your space, nowhere to leave your stuff, nowhere to have the environment to work in.
Working from the kitchen table is a nightmare, especially if you have kids. They get home from school and basically, even if you could keep working, you won’t be able to with kids also needing the table for homework or simply lots of sticky little hands.
Your environment is so important and when working from home, it helps to carve out a space that is yours to work in. It doesn’t have to be a big space, it could simply be a desk in the corner of a room.
You can get those cool desks that even close up. There is a great one at Ikea (who else loves Ikea?) that is super affordable, so even if your desk is in the corner of your living area, you can simply ‘close the lid’ and hid your work away from the world, but when you are ready to work, simply open up and there it is all ready for you.
You need a space to work and you want to find somewhere that works for you. It sets up your day and saves you a lot of time having to work out where you are at each and every day.
If you simply can’t find a place for a desk and the kitchen table is the best place (or only place) you can work, then I’d suggest you get yourself a plastic tub. Yep, a good old plastic tub, maybe even one with lid. Then at the end of each day, you pack up your work space into the tub, put on the lid and then the next day when ready, you can simply open up the tub and reset your workspace. Maybe have some smaller containers within the tub to hold your items.
Create a workspace will allow you to focus when it is time to work and to not focus when it is not time to work!