Software & Technology Articles

One of the most important activities you will engage in when going into business for yourself is setting up your home office. Your home office will be the place you conduct business, and while it can be in the corner of your kitchen, you will really want to find a spot where you are away from family activities and can have some privacy and silence while you work.

The size of your home office is less about the size and more about functionality. When you are deciding where to put your office, think about places that lend itself to being set up as the nerve center of your business. There are many factors to take into consideration when charting your home office organization.

What about proper lighting?

Proper lighting is essential. You do not want to spend hours in a dimly lit work area, which can result in eyestrain, headaches, and blurred vision. Prolonged periods in inadequate light could lead to serious problems further on.

Check the Number of Electrical Outlets

Take into consideration what appliances you will have in your workspace. Your computer system will require an outlet for your CPU, monitor, scanner, printer, speakers (sometimes), and other ancillary equipment you may have.

Is the area well ventilated and dust free?

All of that computer equipment needs to “breath” to remain cool and functioning properly. If you have ever, “fried” a computer you know how important it is to keep the fan clean and dust free.

Do you have telephone access?

More and more people are using their cellular telephones as their main telephones, but not always. If you are not on broadband Internet, you will need to have a landline in order to dialup your Internet Company. You can also use your cell phone to do it, but you will need to make a decision about telephone access prior to starting work. If you are not going the cell phone way, you will need to have a separate line for telephone and dialup.

Having separate telephone lines in your home office is important because you don’t want to be online if a client is trying to reach you. Make sure that this separate line is set up to receive phone calls while you are online. If you have broadband, one phone line will suffice. These things need to be considered prior to opening your door for business.

Have You Considered Internet Access?

Most modern home offices will have a decent Internet connection - DSL or Broadband. Gone are the days when dialup access was sufficient, and while it can still be done, most home office business have a fast Internet connection. You may be already DSL-ready and only need to call your telephone company to get it started.

However, if you have a broadband connection you will also need cable access nearby where your computer workstation or desk is going to be for a convent hook up. If you do not have a cable outlet near by you will want to have one installed before you move into your new space. Most cable companies can help with this or you could use a do it yourself kit to accomplish this if you are handy around the house. You will want to make sure it is done right as a poor connection will hinder your productivity.

A third option is that if you are near a WiFi hotspot, you can use the wireless connection via a wireless card and hook up to your main router or broadband connection point. Again, make sure you take the proper security measures because you do not want others in the neighborhood surfing with you.

Is your home office space affecting your productivity? Do you hunt for pens and pencils continuously? Is your document search an exercise in frustration? Are your papers a chronological stack of filing that is impossible to successfully navigate? Do you have an irrational fear of a paper flood catastrophe if you look for something at the bottom of the pile?

First, take heart. Every office - home or otherwise - has to figure out how to deal with paper, pens, and clutter. Creating and maintaining an organized space is just part of the job.

So, what do you do to wrestle the clutter-beast into submission?

Space to Organize Is Essential

One of the largest problems with staying organized lies in the lack of a system and not having enough room to effectively implement the system.

If you organize a drawer, take everything out and replace it in the drawer but still have no space to put anything else in that drawer, you have pretty much wasted your time. The un-filed pile of papers remains and will simply grow again.

Be certain to have at least a quarter to a third (more if possible) of growing room when implementing a system. You may need to change over at some point, but having some extra space will encourage you to keep up with the organizing.

This system includes everything from architectural drawings to products and documents you accumulate in the course of doing business.

Purge unnecessary papers. It will allow for more space, and help you avoid scrambling through miscellaneous paperwork looking for important documents.

Keep It Simple

Do not make your system too complicated or it will be hard to follow through. Color-coding can be the easiest if you do not have too many categories. This is effective for systems, which only require ‘Income’, ‘Expense’, ‘Projects’, ‘Correspondence’, or something similar.

When filing large groups of things like clients, projects, and invoices use a single drawer for each group of files that are related. Using a four or 5-drawer filing cabinet is good in that it can be divided either alphabetically or chronologically.

Another class of things you will need to make room for are the things that you refer to daily or even hourly. A posting board or corkboard near your desk would be in order. You can hang things like phone lists, ‘To-Do” lists and appointment calendars in one central location for easy reference.

After You Set It Up, Maintenance Is Next

A good filing system will only work if you work at it. While you may find a smaller system easier to handle, it does not matter the size if you do not work with every day. Keep important, ever-changing items near you, then when they are no longer critical, transfer them to a permanent home in your filing cabinet.

This also works for items that you need nearby such as current project information or price lists etc.

How Do You File?

Consider if you can realistically maintain a filing system. Perhaps labeled boxes would suit you better (especially if you tend to pile papers). The key is to find something you will feel comfortable maintaining. If papers are sorted and occasionally purged, your system will work.

Everything Needs a Home

It is an old saying, but all too true. Everything must have someplace to go back to. Avoid loose pens, pencils, papers cell phones, glasses and so on. Find a place to put them when you are finished with them, then put them back when you are done. Do not forget to reward yourself for a job well done, and keep your system going!