Creating a good environment for working from home…

Working from home has been in the spotlight recently as Yahoo stopped its employees from home working but so many of us work from home nowadays. It offers greater flexibility in terms of work life balance, no commuting, simpler childcare etc. However few of us consider the added demands it makes on our homes.

That’s not just using more electricity for the extra cups of tea or having the heating on during the day or finding the space to actually set up a desk. If you live and work in one building then your home has to support you both personally and professionally.

If you work in an office away from home then that space will have a direct impact on your professional life and your own home will have less impact.

So how can you work productively at home? Here are a few tips:

• Don’t work in a bedroom. If your spare room doubles as your office then have a sofa bed rather than a bed. If you share the space with a bed you are mixing the energy of sleep and work which is distracting for work and can make your career dormant.
• Ideally you have a designated space for the work.
• Don’t work with your back to the room as means that you have no support behind you. In Feng Shui what’s in front of you represents your future so facing a wall means that you are blocked. Your back should be against a solid wall so that you are able to see the whole room.
• Have your goals on a wall opposite you.
• Don’t keep business papers on the floor – you are devaluing it by treating it like litter.
• If you bring clients to your home then your workspace should be as close to the entrance as possible.
• Don’t be shy about your successes – have your certificates, press coverage and positive feedback from clients on the walls. This is nice to remind yourself but more importantly it identifies your success and encourages more of it.