Many digital marketing companies operate from home offices. This has always been quite a common working arrangement within our industry, because we operate flexibly and we are able to hire remote workers.
Here at Bright Fish Media, we always had a hybrid arrangement in place. But when the pandemic hit, we brought our business (quite literally) in house. But working from home full time has made us realise that we need to make some serious home upgrades. Especially as we plan to keep in office within our family home.
Our Office Set Up
I started my working life as a digital marketeer, so working from home is something I’ve done throughout my career. However, I’ve never done this full time and when I started to spend my full working week within our family home, I had some major realisations.
I started off in the box room, operating our business from there. But it soon became obvious that I’d need more space. That meant that I had to take over the kids’ play room. This is something we needed to do and it hasn’t been easy for the children. They had their play space taken away when they needed it the most. With that in mind, we are planning a conservatory, so they can get their space back.
Creating a welcoming work space
We all spend a lot of time working and it soon became clear that using our former play room as an office wasn’t going to be a temporary thing. This was something that we’d doing long term, so we had to make the space function as a long-term working environment.
We spend a lot of hours in the home office, so I felt that it was important to make the space inviting. Firstly, we decided to get new wallpaper, prints and posters for the walls. We also put some framed photos on the desk and we bought a new rug and curtains. Making the space pleasant has made the home office a more enjoyable place to be in.
Keeping The House Warm
As we have been working from home, we’ve seen our household bills go up significantly. This has meant that upgrading our windows has become a priority. We need to ensure that our home is well insulated, so I have spent some time looking at discounted windows and this is the first major upgrade we will make to the house.
We know that upgrading the windows will bring the bills down, as heat is currently just escaping our home throughout the day. However, we will also be looking at other ways to stay warm without whacking up the heating.
Upgrading Our Doors And Floors
We have also decided to upgrade our doors and floors, as again, this will help us to keep our house warm. We want to change our front door, as well as our back door and we’d like to upgrade our floors from the laminate that we currently have down, to solid oak.
As well as helping to keep our home warm, these changes will also help to improve the aesthetic. That’s important too, especially when you’re working from home all day. That cheap looking laminate in our home office has certainly started to irritate me, which is why it has to go!
Why This Work Is Essential
We obviously all need to be comfortable in our homes, but when we are working at home too, this becomes an absolute priority. We need to feel comfortable, so that we can flourish. There is no point focussing on growth hacking and expanding if we are sat shivering, in a cold, cramped, home office.
If you’ve decided to stick to home working, or to move to a hybrid set up, then you should also look to improve your environment. Any business owner worth their salt knows that you need a positive office space in order for your business to flourish. That’s why this is something we’ve decided to prioritise.
Note: this is a collaborative post.
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