Setting Up A Home Office

Figuring out exactly where to put your home office is probably one of the toughest decisions to make. Most of your homes already have a limited amount of space and trying to fit a small home office into this too just makes matters even more complicated.

So what choices are there? You could put your home office in one of the following locations:

Attic
Having an attic conversion to accommodate your home office can cost several hundred or even several thousand dollars. That being said you'd have a dedicated space to work from away from family and friends.

Are all attics convertible? 95% of them are but it depends on how the roofing timbers are arranged and on the overall structure of the house. A local attic conversion specialist will be able to help more with advice on this aspect of it.

Just make sure that if you do decide to setup your office in your attic that you have a proper folding or fixed stairs involved and that you provide more than enough power points for computer and other equipment to be plugged into.

Basement
A great location for a home office. Similar to the attic idea but with far more space and less work needed to make it a functional home office. Concerns with using a basement would be moisture damage to computer equipment - make sure it's well insulated and properly air conditioned.

Garage
Another ideal location for a home office. Converting your garage into an office should require a minimum amount of work. Obviously you'll need to make sure it's secure from outside intrusion and also that it's properly heated, air conditioned and insulated.

Having a home office in your garage is again a good idea as you're keeping yourself away from general family life.

Downsides to consider are the fact that unless properly converted your garage conversion could easily be cold, uncomfortable and damp. Don't cut corners when converting.

There's plenty more to learn about where to locate your home office and home office conversions at HomeOfficeBuddy.com

Your office chair is something you need to be paying A LOT of attention to. You're going to be spending a lot of time with your behind firmly planted in it so it's important to get an office chair that's going to suit you - both now and in the future.

A good office chair will have adequate upper and lower back support, arm rests and be made of a washable synthetic or natural fibre. Leather office chairs look really good but tend to be very "sticky" when it's warm out - the last thing you want is to find yourself sweating while you're sitting still.

The nice thing about home office chairs is that you don't have to spend a fortune to buy yourself a good one. That being said don't cut corners when buying your chair - you'll pay for it later on in more ways than one.

Learn more about the different types of home office chairs available today

Coming right behind (no pun intended) your home office chair is the home office desk. Now that you have something to sit on you'll need something to work on also. Again the choice of desk is something people tend not to pay too much attention to - big mistake! The wrong desk can make your working day miserable. The right desk won't have you doing cartwheels around the office but at least it's not going to cause you any severe difficult during the day which is the most important thing right?

Basically if you choose a desk that's too small you run the risk of working in a cramped environment which means a drop in productivity and clutter and an increase in frustration and the desire to dismantle your new home office desk with a hammer or an axe.




Conversely if the desk is too large it won't fit properly into your newly designed office space. You'll be working in cramped conditions yet again and your mood and productivity will suffer as a result.

Choosing home office furniture is not something to be taken lightly especially when you're working for yourself and have to stick to a budget. Mistakes can be costly - learn more about choosing the right home office furniture at www.HomeOfficeBuddy.com.

The literal definition of ergonomics is the applied science of equipment design to maximize productiving by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort.

This basically means it's the process of ensuring that you're comfortable at your desk and in your general working environment. Uncomfortable employees are unproductive employees. Not only does your productivity drop but you also have the risk of causing permanent damage to your legs, hands or back through RSI (Repitive Strain Injury).

Most home office workers never, ever consider ergonomics as an issue worth considering. That being said no home office should be created without ergonomics being taken into account. The smallest considerations towards computer and physical ergonomics in your workspace can have a huge impact on your overall comfort and personal performance.

Make sure that you learn more about home office ergonomics today - it's important for your health.

There's one thing you won't be short of when buying a computer today and that's choice. You have the first basic choice of going with a Mac or PC? Then do you want a laptop or desktop computer - which would really suit you more? Then you have connectivity... should you have USB or Firewire or both? Many of you buying your first home office computer usually leave computer stores more confused than when you entered. Too many choices are a bad thing believe it or not.

Even if you're an experienced computer user the speed at which technology moves can be stunning at times. The simple act of buying a computer can quickly become bogged down in the "what brand... how much of that.... how little of this?" stage. That's leaving out the other choices like what printer to choose, antivirus and firewall software and data backup solutions. Is your head spinning already? Don't stress. Once you learn to focus on what you need (remember this word) to buy then the rest all falls into place.

Wanna know more about buying a good office computer? Get your ass over to HomeOfficeBuddy errrr buddy!

The use of the Internet in offices all over the world has become not only the "norm" but it has also become the standard "tool" that keeps most offices alive. Email, websites, FTP, domains and servers have all slipped into modern language and become almost second nature to many of you.

Our modern lives have become intertwined with Internet usage and the small business or home office is no different. This is true regardless of what business you might be in. The modern consumer expects your business to have an email address and websites have become almost mandatory for every business out there - they're as common now as business cards.

If you want to read more about what home office internet options are available to you then you need to drop by our handy-dandy site on using the internet in your home office. See y'all there!

Software for the home office has become a new mini industry in it's own right. No matter what particular task you need to complete there are usually dozens of programs available to help you with this.

This is where the problem starts - too many choices. Too many programs. Too many promises. The big question to ask yourself when buying any software of any kind for your home office is "What exactly do I need?" Focusing on what you *need* instead of what you *want* is the critical point here.

You may want the latest Microsoft Office Suite Professional Edition, Photoshop and all the other latest and greatest programs. In reality what you *need* might is MS Office Small Business Edition or Microsoft Works and Paintshop Pro. There's huge different in costs but not almost no difference in how well these programs do their job for you.

Here's a real world example. Take any thirty something male. Ask them what their dream form of transport would be. 99% are going to name their dream sportscar, Harley or superbike. This is what they want. What do they need? Probably a family Saloon and/or a 600CC commuter bike. One choice costs a fortune and looks really good. The other doesn't make your bank manager cry but does the exact same job - it provides you with transport.

If you want to get kitted out with the right home office software then check out our guide on software for the home office.

Time is a precious commodity. We have a fixed amount of it in our lives and once we've used it up we can never have it back. It's more precious than anything else in the world yet we can always find excuses for wasting time.

In our 9 - 5 job it might have been that we simply weren't appreciated or understood; that our managers didn't care (they probably didn't in fairness).

The irony is that when we finally set ourselves free and work for ourselves we wind up doing the exact same thing - wasting vast amounts of our day on trivial or pointless tasks (checking email, long lunches with friends, tv breaks, talking to the dog - ok maybe it's just me who talks to my dog... her name is Donut by the way :-)

Managing our time doesn't come easy and when you finally do become free of working in the 9 - 5 rat race you tend to get a bit time "lazy". Lazy is probably a harsh word but it's a case of just enjoying your freedome more perhaps?

In either case if you find yourself struggling with not having enough hours in the day then you need to do something about it. Learn more about time management and maximizing each day now.

Something I personally learned recently about time management and distractions and what do do about them.

The Internet is part of your office life. It's that simple. From a testing ground for University geeks the Internet has become a standard "tool" for all small businesses. Your modern life is now so dependant on the Internet that were it to just vanish tomorrow then our modern world would come to a complete halt. Everything from airlines to armies would simply not be able to function without this marvel that we've come to know as the World Wide Web. Scary eh?

Any of you working in a home office (or planning to work from a home office) will be using the Internet to a greater or lesser extent. All customers expect to be able to contact any business by e-mail and will also expect to find your website online. It's just the norm. No more and no less. An email address and website have now become as common, and as important, as a business card.

Here's the first question - what kind of Internet connection do you need? This all depends entirely on your requirements and also on what types of connections are available to you locally. Let's look at the different types of connections first....

Read more about Internet connections for your home office, domain name registration and affordable website hosting at www.homeofficebuddy.com