To work from home, you’re going to need to focus on your work from home setup.
It is essential to set your space up correctly and get all of your technologies working with each other before diving into your first day of work. That way, when you start, you can hit the ground running and are prepared to make the most of working at home.
Below I will cover three basic things you need to get set up before you can effectively work from home.
Dedicated Home Office Space
The absolute first thing you want to do when preparing to work from home is to set up an office. This needs to be a dedicated space within your home that is strictly for work purposes. This will eliminate overlap that can potentially happen with other tasks that occur in your home.
By eliminating this overlap, you will set up a space that you can operate in with minimal distractions. This can also help at tax time if you itemize. This is because you can deduct the expenses required for work.
The key to this is that it is required for work. By keeping all of your work-related materials in a dedicated space, you eliminate personal usage that would disqualify deductions.
Setup a VPN and Separate Phone
Setting up a VPN is a must if you are working from home. The reason you need a is VPN there is a potential that data you are sending to the internet could be intercepted.
This becomes a critical issue when you are dealing with sensitive client data. If you are working for a company, it also protects any confidential internal information from getting into the wrong hands as you work.
Setting up a separate work phone is vital for avoiding distractions that happen throughout the day. Spam callers, personal text messages, and social media apps are all productivity leeches that could leave you wondering where all your time went that day.
It also solves any issues that may occur when you have business calls that need to go to voicemail. This way, you don’t accidentally have an inappropriate voicemail message that can damage client relationships.
Get All Your Tech on The Same Page
When you transition to working from home, you leave behind all the luxuries of having in-house tech support. It suddenly becomes your job, often with the help of YouTube, to get all your tech working correctly. You want to get all this straightened out before you start working because you don’t want to find out your printer doesn’t print the day an important project is due.
Things to double-check when setting up your technology are printers, networking devices, making sure your VPN works, and getting all of your computer applications set up and doing what they need to do. Examples are e-mail, chatting, and project management software.
Some would say that the best offense is a good defense. Proactively working to take care of issues when setting up a workspace sets you up for success. Setting up a dedicated office, getting a VPN/phone, and testing all your tech enables working from home with minimal hiccups or surprises. This will make working from home the choice for the modern worker.
Related: Work From Home Parents Guide
I’m Cartez Augustus, a content creator based in Houston, Texas. Recently, I’ve been delving into different content marketing niches to achieve significant website growth. I enjoy experimenting with AI, SEO, and PPC. Creating content has been an exciting journey, enabling me to connect with individuals who possess a wealth of knowledge in these fields.
