Friday, March 27th, 2020
For many of us, working from home is a change of pace. It can be challenging to have healthy work-life separation and a productive work environment if you live in a small space and your amenities are closed. Here are some tips on setting up your apartment to work from home.
Whether you have a studio apartment or just want to section off your living space, there are few quick and easy ways to create an additional room. You can use a tension rod to hang curtains on the exposed side of your bed to give yourself a designated bedroom area in your studio.
Bedroom created with curtains, Courtesy of IKEA
You can also use shelving to create a similar effect. Floating a couch in the middle of living space can give the illusion of separate rooms, as can area rugs.
A shelving unit used to separate rooms, Courtesy of IKEA
Another way to create work-home separation is to give your tables different designations. For instance, if you don’t have a desk, maybe you temporarily designate your dining table as your “office space” and eat at your island. If your island or peninsula has an outlet (as is the case in many new construction apartments) you can try designating the island as your “office” during your work from home period.
You can also create separation by having your furniture face different directions. For example, try putting your desk facing a window, so you’re not looking at the rest of your space while you’re in work mode. If you have a studio apartment, try facing your bed away from the rest of your apartment.
Having separation is important for keeping routine and healthy sleep behaviors. Regardless of whether you opt to break up your space, whatever you do, don’t bring your laptop or work materials into your bed. Keep work materials out of sight when it’s time to unwind by storing them in a designated spot.
Living space to bedroom convertible set, Courtesy of IKEA
In addition to setting up your space to be work from home conducive, it’s also crucial to optimize your living situation to be distraction free, which could mean communicating with roommates or other occupants about work from home agreements. For instance, put a “Work Mode” sign on the door to your bedroom, guest room, den, or wherever you’re working. Create expectations about what it means when that sign is up. Maybe it means they need to act as if you’re away at your office and should call, text, or email you to communicate rather than coming in or even knocking. Put away your pets during zoom calls. Resist the urge to do housework in the middle of the work day.
If you’re conducting your apartment search, DAC offers virtual tours which are, as always, a completely complimentary service. For more information about virtual tours and remote showings, contact us today! We’d be happy to keep you in the Loop!
