4 Tips For Setting Up A Home Office You Love

Posted on February 1, 2024 by Edna Crane

When you’re working from home, it can be difficult to separate home space from working space. You need a space where you can get into working mode without worrying about distractions. Your working space will either help or hinder you, so it’s important to get it right.

If you’re setting up your home office, there are certain things you’ll need to take into consideration. Here are some simple tips to get you started.

Light

If you’re sitting at your desk for hours every day, it will be important for you to make the most of natural light. If you’re an introvert who likes working from home, getting a good dose of vitamin D with natural light will be important. Sitting close to a window would be preferable so you have the light you need and access to fresh air. However, if this isn’t possible, use artificial light to create the light you need to work.

If you find yourself squinting at your screen because you haven’t got enough light or you’re turning the brightness up on your devices, you may want to think about a different location.

Internet Access

Using the internet at home to browse social media or connect to Netflix is one thing but relying on the internet for online meetings with clients is another. You’ll need a connection that’s fast and reliable so you can be sure you always look professional. If you’re sharing data online, it’s also essential that you have a secure connection.

You’ll need to check your SSID before setting up your workspace at home. What is SSID? If your SSID is unsecured, it leaves you wide open to hackers. If you need help with this, you can ask your internet provider.

Separate Spaces

If you live alone, you’ll need to separate your work space from your relaxing space. This will help you to get into the right mentality to work. If you live with family, it’s even more important to have a dedicated work space.

If you set up your home office in a communal area, you need to be mindful of who will have access to your work space. For instance, it’s not going to be a good idea to set up your home office in the same space as your kids play area.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy

Invest In Your Space

If you want working from home to work, you have to have everything you need. It’s okay to invest in yourself if it means creating a space that will be conducive to a productive mindset. For example, you may want to invest in a comfortable office chair and a spacious desk.

Many people start off working from their sofas or their beds but making the investment in proper office equipment is certainly worth it. If you’re spending a significant amount of time working from home, you deserve to be comfortable.

If you have family at home with you, it can also help to invest in a lockable filing cabinet where you can keep important documents away from little fingers.

If you’ve enjoyed reading this article, take a look at the others.

Save to Pinterest

Working From Home This Summer Too? Here Are Some Ways To Make It Easier

Posted on April 16, 2021 by Edna Crane

While many people have started returning to work and going back into their offices, there’s still a huge number of people that are still working from home. In fact, they’re likely going to be working from home throughout the entire summer period or even for most of the year.

This could be a combination of worries caused by the COVID-19 virus, or it could be because their employer realized how much cheaper it is to hire remote employees–especially if their team doesn’t need to be in the office all the time.

So what are some ways to help you make working from home a lot easier this summer?

Stay Cool Throughout the Entire Workday

Perhaps one of the very first things to be concerned about is the weather. Most people don’t really care about the weather because they have air conditioning in their office buildings. It’s usually nice and cool and they don’t let it get to them until they walk outside. However, if you’re at home, then you’ll need to make sure your AC is actually well-maintained and that it works. And that’s assuming you have one! There are still many homes that don’t have AC, but if you do, you’ll need to take care of it properly.

We’d suggest learning about local 24 hour AC repair services to help you out. This is a great way to ensure that there’s always an expert nearby who is ready and waiting to help you out. If you don’t stay cool throughout the day, then it’s going to be mentally draining and extremely taxing on your body. Make absolutely sure that you’re drinking plenty of water as well to stay hydrated, and consider working in a larger open space with plenty of airflow.

Keep Your Computer Cool as Well

You may have noticed this already, but working in hot conditions can often reduce the performance of your computer. Luckily, if you’ve got a modern laptop or a full-sized computer, this usually won’t concern you.

However, if you’ve got a fairly old laptop, then you may want to consider getting yourself some sort of cooling aid to help keep its temperature low. Failing to do this could cause slowdowns in your laptop and will make it frustrating to work. You could even just raise the laptop with a few books to ensure it exhausts the hot air away from your computer and desk.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy

Go For a Change of Scenery Now and Then

For some people, this is going to be their second summer in a pandemic. Realizing that you’ve been stuck in the same few rooms for over a year is never fun. Thankfully, there are ways to get a nice change of scenery.

For instance, if it’s a nice day outside then you could always work on your patio or even a local park. You could also work in a cooler room that isn’t in constant view of the sun for most of the day. This can help keep you cool and might help you focus better as well.

Save to Pinterest

Working From Home this Summer Too? Here Are Some Ways To Make It Easier - #carreer, #careeradvice, #workfromhome

How To Make Working From Home More Comfortable

Posted on March 12, 2021March 15, 2021 by Edna Crane

The past year has seen more of us working from home than ever before. We have swapped the office life for home life. While there are many benefits to this, there are also some negative points that need to get sorted. You no longer have to get up at a silly hour in the morning, nor do you have to battle through throngs of crowds on the subway or get stuck in traffic for hours. Instead, you can wake up half an hour before you are due to start work, wear comfy clothes (unless you have a Zoom or Skype meeting) and finish work at a reasonable hour. If you are set to permanently work from home, or at least for the foreseeable future, it is important to make it more comfortable. Here are some top tips on how you can do so in no time at all…

1. Get Ergonomic Furniture

If you spend a lot of time hunched over your desk at a computer, you could find that you soon get aches in your wrists, arms, neck, and back. This is also known as RSI. To make it more comfortable, there are a few things you can do. Firstly swap your dining chair for an ergonomic chair that has back and neck support. You can get a footstool and special keyboards that are designed to be at the best angle for your wrists. You can also invest in an eye-comfort screen to go in front of your monitor to stop your eyes from being strained.

2. See a Chiropractor If You have a Bad Back

If you have had a bad back for a while, working from home is making it worse. Why not see a chiropractor? You could get a discount by searching for a coupon for Chiropractic exam whereby they can analyze you and see how you can improve your posture. This will help you feel less uncomfortable when working from home.

Related Posts You Might Enjoy

3. Designate a Space With No Distractions

If you’re working from home space, in the middle of the family area where you all eat dinner and are constantly being interrupted, it can cause you not to be as productive as you might be otherwise. Try and sort yourself out a space that you can work without interruptions or distractions. Make it clear that you aren’t to be interrupted during work hours and that you need some peace and quiet. If possible, set up a designated room for your office – you could even set up an office in the garden in a summer house. It is up to you, just try and make it your own where you can work freely.

These are just a few things that you can do to make working from home more comfortable. You will find that you look forward to getting up and starting work a lot more with set hours, more breaks and when you are not in pain from being hunched over all day. What are some top tips that you abide by? Let us know!

Save to Pinterest

How to Make Working From Home More Comfortable - #career, #careeradvice, #workingfromhome

Home Business Legal Requirements – Are You Protected?

Posted on July 4, 2018July 4, 2018 by Edna Crane

If you’ve made the wonderful decision to start your own work-from-home business, there are several legal issues you need to consider. Legal mistakes can doom your business, especially in the early days.

In most cases, you will need business permits, but these laws vary far and wide between states and communities. You may need articles of incorporation. If you have workers, you may need workers’ compensation insurance. There’s a lot to consider! Here are a few legal things to think about as you start making money from home:

Know What is and isn’t Permitted in Your Community

Before you start working from home, you have to ask yourself whether or not you have the right permissions to do so. If you’re just sitting at a computer all day, there’s a good chance you’re not breaking any neighborhood rules. All the same, not having any permits, licenses or certifications you need for your field of work is one of the easiest ways to get your business shut down early or face serious fines.

Depending on where you live, you might need zoning exceptions to be able to run any kind of business from home, regardless of what it is. Check with your town or city hall, and look up guides for new business owners in your industry to see what is and isn’t required of you.

States also have their own, specific requirements for registering a business, incorporating a business, and filing sales and service taxes. Most counties have a business incubator that can help you navigate regulations so you can set your business up for success, legitimately.

You’re still Responsible for the Workplace

If you invite clients or workers into your home and they end up getting injured, you could be in serious hot water. You could face a premises liability case and you might get sued—just the same as if you were a large business with a fancy office building.

Keeping the home free of health and safety risks is one important step in coping with that threat, but you should also invest in business liability insurance. Consequently, you might simply reconsider whether or not you welcome clients to the home at all. You could save yourself a lot of headache if you visit them instead or find a neutral ground, like a coffee shop, as a meeting place.

You can also rent meeting space at hotels, conference centers, and even county offices. Check your local community centers to learn about low-cost meeting place options.

Don’t Fudge the Numbers

Even a small tax accident can inspire the tax authorities to start raking through finances with a fine-toothed comb. An efficient, organized bookkeeping system is essential. Most home business owners take care of their own taxes, but when your taxes start getting complicated and include multiple expenses and potential tax breaks, you might want to consider hiring an accountant to help you. Accountants don’t just make sure the numbers are all organized. They are also qualified to offer real legal advice on how to deal with your taxes and avoid audits.

Don’t let any of the potential threats put you off your efforts to get your own home business up and running. There’s risk inherent in running any kind of business; you simply have to ensure you’re taking the right precautions to deal with them.

Home Business Legal Requirements Checklist

It’s impossible to create a one-size-fits-all recommendation for your home business’ legal requirements, but here are some things you absolutely must research before you start your business:

What business licenses do I need? State? County? City?
Am I violating any home owners’ association rules with my business?
Do I need to incorporate my business to protect my assets?
Do I need business insurance?
Have I registered my business properly with the IRS? (if you aren’t sure, ask an accountant)
Can I safely meet clients at home, and if not, where can I meet them?
If I have a virtual assistant, what legal steps do I need to take as an employer?

Save to Pinterest

Teaching as a Side Hustle: The Pros & Cons of Adjunct Teaching

Posted on June 25, 2018June 25, 2018 by Bre Smith

If you’re in need of a side hustle, you should consider a job as an adjunct teacher at a local college, or in the case of online classes, maybe even a distant one. The entry barriers may be fewer than you think.

Colleges generally require teachers to have a master’s degree in the subject they’d like to teach or any master’s degree plus at least 18 graduate credit hours in the subject. However, hiring committees may also consider candidates with alternative qualifications such as high school teaching experience or industry certification. Past formal teaching experience is also usually not required—the interview will likely include a follow-up teaching demo.

Here are the pros and cons of adjunct college teaching.

The Good Things About Adjunct College Teaching:

Fulfillment

If you love helping people (and especially love sharing your knowledge or skills), there’s no field as rewarding as education. Ask yourself if you’ve sought out opportunities to teach informally—perhaps by training colleagues at work, leading a Sunday school class, or volunteer tutoring. If so, you’ll probably find this work very gratifying.

Reduced Commuting Time

You generally only have to be on campus when your class meets and a bit before and after to answer student questions and/or hold office hours if they’re required by your school. Most traditional college classes meet once, twice, or three times per week, and colleges are increasingly offering more and more online and hybrid (reduced meeting time) classes to keep up with the evolving way today’s students learn.

Convenience

In the same vein as a reduced commute, much of the work—grading, preparing for class, answering student email, etc.—can be done at home. This is handy because, as we’ll discuss in the next section, you’re probably going to need a separate full- or part-time job.

The Things You’ll Want to Consider Carefully:

Low Pay

It’s no secret that teachers don’t choose their careers for the money, but unfortunately adjuncts earn the worst pay of all. They’re paid per class taught, not per hour worked. The adjunct rate of pay at the college I taught at was $1,700 per class. Classes are generally four months long (a semester), so the harsh reality is that depending on how much time your teaching duties take, you could end up making less than minimum wage. This means that for most, adjunct teaching can only be a side hustle.

What’s more, colleges often limit the number of courses an adjunct can teach per semester—the one I worked for had a cap of three per semester. You may be allowed to work as an adjunct at other schools (check with your college to make sure), but keep in mind that you might have to adjust your material to meet their requirements.

No Job Security

Adjunct teaching is contract work, so there’s no certainty about the number of classes you’ll get to teach or if you’ll even be hired next semester. Also, the full-time faculty at the college are required to teach a certain number of classes each term, so if one of their sections doesn’t fill up, a class that was originally assigned to you may be given to a full-timer at the last minute.

Possible Lack of Autonomy

In attempts to ensure uniform student experience and outcomes, your college may require everyone who teaches a course to use the same materials, exams, etc. If so, full-time faculty are usually in charge of choosing and creating these items, so as an adjunct you may feel as though you don’t have much say in how your class is taught. On the other hand, it’s easy to see how receiving a highly-structured premade course could be a blessing for first-time teachers.

Related Articles You May Enjoy

The Verdict on Adjunct Teaching Jobs

Did the cons in the last section scare you straight? Just remember that although working as an adjunct is low on financial rewards, it’s big on personal ones. While adjunct teaching is more viable as a side hustle than a way to earn a living, if you feel called to teach, it’s a great way to try out a career in education and make extra money without a big commitment. In any case, please thank a teacher in your life.

Save to Pintrest

5 Things to Know about Working from Home

Posted on June 22, 2018July 31, 2018 by Katie Evans

Most people envision working from home as sitting on the beach with a margarita while scrolling through Facebook on their phones. That would be wonderful, but it’s simply not true. Working from home is actual work…just from home.

Working from home may or may not help your work-life balance, but it will definitely end your morning commute. If you are considering working from home, there are a few things you should know before you make the commitment.

1. You Need a Workstation

To work from home efficiently, you need to set up a workstation. While working from home means that you can work in whatever room you want, you will likely need to take video calls with your boss or clients, and they will expect you to have a professional-looking backdrop when you do.

I staged my home office by painting the walls of a bedroom a warm shade of grey. I then situated my desk beside a window, with my computer’s webcam facing one of the pretty grey walls. Then, I hung thin frame shelves from IKEA on the wall in view of the webcam, and strategically staged my trophies, degrees, and random colorful “stuff” on the shelves. The finished look is polished and professional, and I generally only use the setup for web conferences.

The rest of the time, I work at the kitchen table, in an armchair facing my rose garden, or outside in the shade. Some myths about working at home are true—you really can work from anywhere, most of the time.

To create this kind of mobility, I actually use two workstations: A stable, 27-inch Macbook Pro in my home office facing the pretty wall, and a 15-inch Macbook Pro that I take quite literally everywhere. I even took it to the hair salon on Tuesday. I use an iPad pro for social media, research, and making graphics, too.

2. You Need a Business Phone

I’m not talking about a separate cell phone number just for your work—I mean a landline. Carrying two cell phones is madness and expensive. Plus, your cell phone connection isn’t always crystal clear and reliable.

Instead, contact your internet provider and ask for a landline number that you can use for conference calls and give out to clients. Landlines cost less than $20 per month and make an amazing back up during summer storms when cell signal drops. It’s more professional, all the way around.

3. Email will become Your Lifeline

While you might text your friends and live on Facebook’s Messenger, the business world still runs on email. Everywhere you go, your email will be with you on your phone or tablet. You will drive to the grocery store and check email from the parking lot. You will check email while waiting in the drive through at Starbucks. Remember the beach scenario with the warm ocean breeze and the margarita? Yeah, even on the weekend, you’ll be checking email. You need to become an expert at all things email, so consider MS Outlook training and master the art of email anywhere.

4. You Have to Plan Your Days

Yes, you can do the laundry during your work-from-home workday, but you have to plan your day carefully if you’re going to make it work. It’s one of the actions that can help you feel less stressed.

There are many ways to plan your day. I use both an electronic calendar and my iPhone’s reminders tool to make sure I never miss a meeting and I complete all tasks that need to be completed for the day. Find a calendar and reminder tool that works between your computer, phone, and tablet. The synchronization will keep you sane.

Related Posts that May Help You

5. You Must Treat Working From Home Like a “Real” Work Routine

Treat your work-at-home workday like any other normal, in-office working day. You have to set your hours over the course of the day, and set aside time for a lunch and other breaks. You have to have a set time that you’re going to be “off,” too. Keeping your sanity means having a point where work is done and you shut down your computer and do something else.

Setting boundaries for working hours can boost your work from home experience and productivity. If you have a home office, have a point in the day where you shut the door and walk away. On Friday afternoon, shut the door and don’t open it again until Monday. It’s harder to do than it sounds, but it’s vital to your work-life balance and overall well-being.