designate an office space while working from home

COVID-19 has interestingly brought some of the typical challenges of a digital nomad lifestyle to the living spaces of hundreds of thousands of people all over the world. It’s now more important than ever to have a conscious work-life integration and make clear boundaries with respect to both time and space to separate work from rest and vice versa. 

When I first started my self-employment journey two years ago working from home, I was a total mess. Life was work and work was life. I worked on the sofa, on my bed, sometimes on the living room table. There were no boundaries and everything was random.

Soon after a few months, I’m glad better sense prevailed and I realized that I was making a big mistake by bringing work everywhere without reserving any areas for rest. I set up a simple work area for myself and have stuck to it religiously ever since. So, if you’re working from home and feel that your living space is getting compromised, here’s my tip: Designate an office workspace and reclaim your sacred haven.

You don’t have to go overboard and spend hundreds of dollars on setting up your space. Just a simple desk and chair along with your computer and required office items in the corner of a room works well. Occasionally, you can also take your laptop computer and work outside on your porch or balcony for a change, that’s absolutely fine. But make sure you spend the majority of your work time in the chosen office space.

When you designate an official working area, you create a dedicated spot for working allowing the rest of your home to be a space of play and rest. This is extremely important to prevent work-related fatigue and burnout, especially now when we’re dealing with stress, anxiety and uncertainty on a consistent basis.

So, in a nutshell, designate an office space in your home for work purposes so that you’re able to get the rest of your home back for rest and recharge. Just be flexible and minimal as you set it up, and soon you’ll be able to separate your workspace and restspace in an effective way.