🏤 Architectural tips to increase home productivity.
Find the perfect home office layout + mistakes to avoid to support your jampacked schedules.
When the pandemic first hit a couple years ago, it seemed that everyone was in a competition of having the best, most complete home office set up in the game. Having to work from home really woke up the inner interior designer in all of us.
What a lot of us missed out on, though, is architecture’s Goldilocks Zone principle. Space shouldn’t be too big making it hard to navigate, or too small that it makes us feel cramped and exhausted. Learn to keep the balance for maximum productivity.
The mistakes and the fixes
Though it’s probably not in the bag for most of us to revamp the entire structure of our room let alone our house, there are some things that we can still do to make our work space not only comfortable, but also productive for our work and our health.
Here are some common home office design mistakes and the fixes we can do to improve them:
No Natural Light
Fix: Quite an obvious one but try to locate your workspace near a window. Make sure the window isn’t behind you as it will cause backlight for video calls.
Not Enough File Storage
Fix: Make a list of everything you need to store in your home office. Make sure to also add a cabinet for ongoing projects and paperwork.
Wrong Size Rug
Fix: Ideally, you’ll want your task chair to be able to roll on hard flooring. But, it’s nice to have a rug behind you to help dampen noise and make it more cozy.
Crazy Cord Clutter
Fix: Use power strips and surge protectors to keep your cables tidy and if you can, choose wireless options for whenever you get a new device.
Space for Pets
Fix: Consider a cozy spot for your cat to nap out of camera view, or if you have a big-size pet, add an extra desk leg so it won’t break the desk from jumping on it.
Learn more mistakes-and-fixes on having a productive workspace in the full article by interior designer, Jessica Welling, here.
The ideal checklist
If not based on its size, then what actually determines a productive work space? In its relation with design and architecture, there are mainly 3 things we need to look out for when creating a workspace, whether just for one person or for a team:
Different Kinds of Spaces
Especially in a team setting, a well-thought-out workplace should offer a variety of different spaces in which people can work. At home, this could manifest as having one main desk + a few spots around the house to work.
More Inspiring Spaces
It’s good for productivity to go beyond the basics of what you need and start thinking about what makes you feel more creative—whether that be adding a splash of color in the walls, or adding a sense of nature in the form of plants.
Encouraging a Healthy Life
At the office, showers, bicycle parking, and alike would encourage people to be more active before and/or after work. At home, you can trick it by having your work desk far from the kitchen or the toilet, resulting to more trips and steps.
Read more about the link between architecture and productivity in the full article here.
The perfect layout
Before you go into this section, we’re just gonna say it straight up—there is no one single perfect layout for everyone. That’s why, design platform, Roomlay, has laid out 7 different room layouts that would work perfectly for a workspace, including:
Rectangular Open Plan
The desk is facing directly towards the window where natural light casts over the main working area. If you are a creative worker who loves to gaze out the window while you think of ideas, this desk placement is the one for you.
Conventional Small Squared Layout
You should opt for a squared layout if your designated office space is small. A square room expresses symmetry, which is the right to create balance and establish order. There is also space to the right and the left of the desk for easy access and navigation.
Sleek and Straightforward Layout
If your home office’s main purpose is to receive clients and discuss business, this type of plan would be perfect. The desk is the first thing you see when you open the door, which directs your clients subconsciously to their purpose of visit.
Find 4 other home office layouts that might suit you even better in the full piece here.
From a scale of 1-10, how satisfied are you with your current work setup at home?
Write down some tips from this week’s Monday Mavens edition that you think would be applicable to you, and incorporate ways to make your workspace more productive throughout the week.
By the time we’ll see you again next Monday, we hope you’ll have a tidier workspace and a tidier mind ❤️️
Cheers!