RWL183: From Clutter to Clarity: Building a Remote Work, Work Space in a Compact Living Area

Speaker 1
0:00

Hey , it's Alex from Remote Work Life . Thank you for joining me today for today's tip of the day , and today we're going to talk about the importance of designating a quiet , organized workspace and having inspirational elements in that remote environment . And this is , I guess , particularly , particularly relevant , especially if you're working from home , because you can essentially create a bespoke office that suits your needs and fits you . I'd actually want to share something personally for myself and hopefully help you to put this into action yourself . So when I first transitioned to remote work , I struggled to find a dedicated workspace that helped me to be productive and that was inspiring to me . In fact , my workspace was quite uninspiring , I would say . It was just basically a desk in my front room next to the TV . At that particular point I didn't really understand the importance of having a designated quiet space , because I just really wanted to get into work and the kind of work I was doing didn't necessarily require me to be on the phone at that particular point . So that was my setup . So it wasn't until I , I guess I transformed a corner of my home into a quiet , organized workspace with elements that inspired me . So I had things like plants , I had natural light coming through the window . I had a picture of my kids . I had a picture of my mom , my sister , for example that I began to experience the benefits of remote work and that's quite intentional about the design , and it helped me to stay focused and motivated throughout the work day and that helped me to increase my levels of creativity , actually , and it helped my overall well-being , I can say . So what I'd say to you is take on , take on the , I suppose , the idea of having an environment that's that suits you and , as I said , especially if you're working from home and they're just five things I want to share with you that might help you towards that . So set up a quiet environment yourself .

Speaker 1
2:23

Choose a space in your home that's free from distractions and has minimal noise . This can be a spare room if you have one , or a corner of a room or a well-insulated area . I know that . You know I live in London , so space is definitely an issue for many people living in London . So it's not always possible to have your own or a dedicated office space , but if you do have a corner of your room that's dedicated to your remote work , then try and make it , as I guess , as inspiring as you possibly can . You may even want to have a fold-up desk , for example , so that you can , once you've finished your day when I say not inspiring as you can , but as quiet as you can , so that when you finish your day you can then just fold it away . So yeah , you want a nice , quiet space , quiet environment , I would say .

Speaker 1
3:23

And number two on my list is create an organized setup . So keep your workspace tidy and organized . Invest in storage and desk organize , for example , to maintain a clutter-free environment . Because , again , I used to be quite bad at that . I used to have pens everywhere , I used to have books and files all around me , envelopes , for example and I didn't really understand or I didn't really , it didn't really I don't know what the word is . I didn't , it didn't really occur to me that's the word I was looking for that this could cause me to be unproductive or cause me levels of sort of any kind of stress . But I began to realize that if I've got like five letters in front of me that I've opened and rubbished , and I've got files of paper , everything is just cluttered . Then it felt like my mind was also cluttered . So , having that organized setup and having you know places where I could file things away definitely helped , and those inspirational elements I referred to before . So incorporate inspirational elements in your space . So , for example , you might be inspired by art or plants or natural light or pictures of your family , of your friends , of people who you know , of people who you respect . So put inspirational elements and these elements can help to boost your creativity and your motivation as you work through the day .

Speaker 1
4:53

Comfortable office furniture Again , I started off with just a chair that I got , in fact , no , I started off with my dining room , at my dining room table , working from home , and I thought , yeah , that's fine , or just any old chair , but I quickly realized that that was not the way forward . So I'd recommend that you invest in a comfortable chair and desk that support a good posture . I use a sit stand desk and a comfortable chair , which , which helps support my posture I stand up when I can , and that that I mean for you . If you can get that that investment in comfortable furniture this can help to reduce physical strain , especially if you're working long hours . Number five my list is those personal touches .

Speaker 1
5:43

Add personal touches to your workspace . Again , it's linked to the inspirational elements , but things like photos or mementos to create a sense of familiarity and comfort . So you may even have your journal on your on your desk or near your desk . That's could be part , could become part of your morning routine to do a bit of journaling before you start your work . So adding those personal touches is always going to help as well , or should help . So by designing a quiet , organized workspace with inspirational elements , you can create an environment that fosters productivity , creativity and contributes to your overall well being , and it's essential to treat your workspace the same level of intention and care as a traditional office environment . I say that once before , I'll say it again . It's really important . So thanks again for tuning in today . I hope that was useful . If you need to reach out to me , I left my LinkedIn profile link and in the show notes and in the show notes below , and you can connect with me via remote work lifeio .