Work from Home and Earn Extra Income

Setting Up a Home Office

One of the most obvious aspects to consider, when you are working from home, is your workspace – whether you have the luxury of a room you can set aside as an office, a spare bedroom, or just a corner of the living room – some thought has to go into making this area comfortable and accessible: 

• A seat that works for you. Make sure it can be adjusted, not only the height, but also the angle of the backrest: does it have a neck rest? Does it have castors? (Castors are a nightmare on carpet, so an off cut of linoleum placed on the carpet makes it easier to move the chair around without straining your back.)

• A footrest helps ease the strain on your back, or you can improvise with a pile of telephone directories.

• Organise your desk space and have plenty of shelving for file storage – don’t use the floor, that’s a killer!

• If you spend much time on the telephone, don’t tuck the phone into your shoulder and carry on typing: hold it to your ear with one hand, or get a set of headphones.

• When writing at a desk, don’t lean forward. If at all possible, invest in a drafting table, or an angled work surface to reduce strain on your neck.

• When working at a computer monitor, try to have the top third of the screen at eye-level: attach a document holder to the screen so that you don’t have to keep bending your head: make sure your arms and wrists are parallel with the floor.

• Ensure that your printer is within easy reach when you are sitting at your computer, so that you don't have to reach too far to load paper or take out printed pages.

Once you have the physical 'nuts and bolts' of your home office in place, you will need to give a little thought to how you are going to structure your working day. There are plenty of people ready to tell you that working at home requires self-discipline – you put in the hours during the day, and close the door on the office at 5.00pm. But one of the big advantages in working from home is the flexibility it gives you – so, if you want to take the morning off, for whatever reason, you can make up time later in the day. 

Remember, it is very important when you’re working to pace yourself. When you’re working at home, you won’t have the interruptions you would normally have in an office setting, which automatically give you a break away from the computer screen. So make sure that you take regular breaks perhaps make a cup of tea or coffee and have a stretch. After that, you’ll find increased energy when you return to your desk. 

One possible downside to working from home is the lack of interaction with other people. Having the opportunity to get out of the rat race is fine, but becoming a recluse and talking to yourself, is not! Be sure to make time for friends and family, and keep up to date with a gossip on the phone. Beware, however, don’t encourage friends to drop in or phone you just because you’re at home. Make it quite clear that you are ‘at work’ and that you would be delighted to talk to them later. 

Working from home is a big step for most people. Think carefully about all the aspects of this decision and you’ll never look back!

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