Home office: what may sound wonderfully promising to battle-weary commuters and people stuck in open-plan offices as a haven of free time and quality of life can also turn out to be the exact opposite. That is why anyone tying their working life to their own home should think it through carefully. In fact, a workspace at home can be an appealing and productive setting for everyday business. However, there are plenty of pitfalls along the way. Below is a short guide to help you avoid them.
- The rise and benefits of working from home
- 1. The person in the office chair
- 2. The office chair, the desk and the paperwork
- 3. The right technology for your workspace
- 4. A room of your own, or at least an off-limits area
- 5. Sticking to rules in a multi-person household
The rise and benefits of working from home
Ironically, a cool headwind against the concept of the “home office” is blowing in from the depths of Silicon Valley. And from the very top, no less: Marissa Mayer, CEO of “Yahoo”, ordered all employees back to the desk at the internet company’s headquarters. Her reasoning was that working at Yahoo is more than just a job you get done day after day. It is about collaboration that is only possible in Yahoo’s offices. What is remarkable is this: the fact that programmers, agents, journalists and, in general, anyone who needs little more than a computer and a fast internet connection for their work can work from home is above all thanks to inventions from Marissa Mayer’s own industry.
Advances in broadband internet technology and the software needed to use it productively have paved the way for knowledge workers without direct customer contact to move their workplace entirely or part-time into their own four walls. Or indeed anywhere at all: creatives, developers and programmers in particular have since found themselves in something of a wonderland of work. Whether on the beach, in a café or on a mountain peak – wherever ideas and energy flow best, the young, hip bosses of countless internet start-ups let their employees work.
You do not even need a free-spirited mindset to see the business benefits of the “home office” principle. The advantages, even for large companies, are obvious, especially at a time of steadily rising rents: even when business is going well, company headquarters do not need to build new premises or rent additional space. Branch offices may be avoided altogether, and experienced employees who are temporarily unable to come into the office due to an injury can still remain usefully integrated into the business.
There are also many advantages for employees: aside from the small freedoms of a working day at your desk at home and the time and cost savings from no longer having to commute, working parents can look after a sick child or a family member who suddenly needs care. It also no longer necessarily has to cost a day of holiday when tradespeople or the chimney sweep are due to arrive, or when the car needs to go into the garage. Not to mention the positive effects of no daily commute…
Even so, after a few years of video calls instead of meeting rooms, distances measured in metres instead of rush-hour traffic on the way to work, and slippers instead of lace-up shoes, we have gained a little more experience. Namely, that home office is only an improvement under certain circumstances. Quite apart from the team spirit that Marissa Mayer placed at the heart of her considerations: there are plenty of things that can go wrong when working from home if you are not careful.
IT ALL DEPENDS ON THE CIRCUMSTANCES
Of course, how “dangerous” working from home can be depends entirely on the profession being carried out there. It also makes a huge difference whether working from home for a few days is intended to complement an otherwise structured office routine, or whether a permanent home worker is regularly integrated into the company via video conference. It is something else entirely if a self-employed person or freelancer has to handle everything from bookkeeping to production within their own four walls.
First point: The person in the office chair
To find a suitable order for the points worth considering, let us exceptionally allow ourselves an egocentric perspective. Because the first and biggest problem is sitting in the office chair yourself: the working person. How varied the distractions are that, within your own four walls, are literally closer at hand than in an office building. It starts with the pleasant things, like the latest book on the coffee table, which looks far more tempting than the balance sheet on the desk. Or the brand-new camera drone, which is much more fun to control with a smartphone than trying to breathe life into a tax return with a calculator.
On top of that, even housework can prove to be a possible troublemaker. All of a sudden – keyword “tax return” – it seems comparatively more appealing. Most people know this from their school or student days: the tidiest rooms always belonged to those who were supposed to be studying for the most important homework assignments or exams. And then there are the small distractions from the big task that people so readily fall for: the quick article in a lifestyle magazine, the spontaneous chat with the neighbour, or the endless trip into private online worlds. The universal remedy for this: concentration and discipline.
One thing that helps a great deal, for example, is setting clear boundaries for yourself. Set yourself a clearly defined work goal to achieve by the end of the day and keep it in sight. The important thing is not to take on too much and to set achievable “landmarks”. Otherwise, frustration threatens in the short term and burnout in the long term. Agree regular breaks, a start time and a finishing time with yourself – and, more importantly, stick to it.
Second point: The office chair, the desk and the paperwork
Just like in the office, ergonomic standards also apply in the home office. Of course, the home environment invites you to showcase a few inherited or favourite pieces in the study with slightly cosier lighting. But since eight hours on an old wooden chair do not necessarily become any more comfortable just because it was inherited from previous generations, and a designer table that is too high simply remains a table that is too high: an height-adjustable office chair and a adjustable desk should form the centrepiece of your home workspace. These days, only very few compromises have to be made when it comes to style; lounge or living office chair collections from specialist retailers now look less like functional furniture and more like very stylish club or even living room furnishings.
When positioning your desk, focus less on extravagance and more on good lighting. The desk should be positioned at a 90-degree angle to a window; the main natural light should fall on the monitor from the side to avoid reflections as much as possible. And don’t skimp on a suitable blind that can regulate the lighting conditions in the room perfectly – even if curtains may look cosier.
When choosing your office chair, it’s best to rely on the advice of a specialist retailer – the chair should be at least height-adjustable and should be adjustable so that the soles of your feet, the seat surface and your elbows can be aligned parallel to each other. Ideally, the desktop should be tiltable, but in any case it should be height-adjustable. A height of 72 centimetres is currently considered sufficient, and the work surface should measure around one and a half metres by 80 centimetres. Position printers, scanners and backup solutions on a separate “technology” table.
Third point: The right technology at your workstation
The next imaginary circle around your home workstation includes the computer, printer, router and telephone. A wireless internet connection and the corresponding devices are now standard. Depending on whether the person working from home is self-employed or an employee, a dedicated telephone line to the home office is also recommended so that there is a separate line for business calls. Especially if there are teenagers in the house who are just discovering the joys of telecommunications with their circle of friends, having multiple ways into the global (telephone) network is an advantage. Here too – just as in the office – you should rely on professional standards.
That’s why, especially when it comes to the monitor, you should choose a professional model that fully meets current standards in terms of contrast, brightness and resolution. You should also make as few compromises as possible when it comes to lighting: the rule of thumb is that task lighting should be bright, but not harsh. Avoid reflections and glare, and invest in a good desk lamp. Place your monitor between 50 and 70 centimetres from your eyes. Think about a professional backup solution and save yourself the feeling of having lost valuable data and files due to a hard drive failure.
When choosing a keyboard and mouse, focus on ergonomics rather than design. Don’t skimp on storage space in your home office so that your work documents don’t have to leave your home office and are always within easy reach. Be sure to find out what standards your employer has when it comes to “data protection”; also make sure you have the right insurance. Put simply: are you insured if you break your leg on the way back from the printer to your desk?
Fourth point: A room of your own, or at least an off-limits area
Ideally, your office chair, desk, computer and all the peripherals should be in a separate room. The biggest advantage of a home office is having your own door. It can become an important means of communication within the household – more on that later. Especially in a household with several people, a separate room ensures peace and quiet for working and making phone calls. Even if only one person lives in the household, a separate study still makes sense: the extra room becomes a workspace clearly separated from the rest of the living area. The clearest advantage: work is work and private life is private – if you can see your desk from the sofa, you can't properly switch off.
Even if you don't have a separate room available for your home office, use a room divider or a partition to create some separation from your private life. If you can dedicate an entire room to your work, make sure it remains untouched by the effects of everyday private life. Put simply: your record, book, CD or DVD collection can stay on the shelf, as long as there is still enough space left for your work materials.
Even so, don't do without a personal touch: if you enjoy going to work – even if that means just crossing into another room at home – you'll be happier in the long run. Functionality comes before style, but with a bit of thought, you can certainly find a good compromise between practical and cosy. According to experts, the ideal room temperature is 22 degrees Celsius and the average humidity is 50 percent – plants can help here.
Fifth point: Sticking to rules in a multi-person household
Every home office plan should start with a small family meeting: What does a closed door mean, what does a door left ajar mean, and what does a wide-open door mean? Or alternatively: Are the children allowed into the office at all in the morning, under what circumstances may they come in during the afternoon, and what is the signal for “Only if it’s a matter of life and death!” As a rule, however, it is their own partners who cause more privacy-related problems for people working from home. Naturally, a housewife is thinking mainly in practical terms when she asks her working husband to hang out the washing while she picks up the children. But if mowing the lawn, shopping and vacuuming are added to that, the working day suddenly no longer has eight hours, but only five or six.
Set clear boundaries right from the start: define your working hours very clearly and draw a firm line between your professional life and your private life. Of course, you can make use of the fact that your work is so close to your home life and do household chores during your lunch break that you would otherwise have no time for. But as soon as your private life affects your professional presence, the “home office” concept is at risk or has already failed. Talk to your partner about this, and be absolutely clear. Anyone who looks around online a little will find plenty of reports saying that working from home leads to serious turbulence in a relationship.
The biggest problem mentioned is the assumption that the partner working from home is always available, so to speak, and therefore also has to take on more household tasks. Speak openly about this topic and agree that working from home should be just as bindingly regulated as working in an office building.
In summary, it can be said that working from home can be full of pitfalls. But if they are taken seriously and defused with heart and common sense, the “home office” principle is clearly one that offers a higher quality of life.