Office Essentials for Working at Home

The dream of many people is to be able to work at home without the pressures and regimen of working at an office. But with that dream comes discipline and organization. Even though you are no longer required to get up early, get dressed and be at an office for 8-10 hours, you still have to produce the same quality of work. How you schedule your work day depends on your profession, but it is necessary to set up a schedule and stick to it. Having a comfortable, well-equipped home office will make all the difference.

1. Dedicated office.

If possible, use a separate room dedicated as your office only. With many people this may be impossible. If you don't have a separate room, then use your bedroom so you can lock your door when working. My home office was in my den and my family knew that when I was in the den, I was working and was not to be disturbed.

2. Home Office Furniture.

Secretarial Desk - Any desk will do, but, one with drawers is preferable for easy access to files which you use regularly. As a former real estate agent, I was always doing research on my computer so I used an L-shaped secretarial desk. My monitor and keyboard were on the sidearm, which left plenty of working space on the desk. If you are limited on space, a pedestal desk with drawers on each side or a compact computer workstation will work out fine.

Comfortable chair - This is a must. Standard armless secretarial chairs are fine if you have a space problem, but the adjustable executive swivel chairs are the best for your back.

Filing cabinets and bookshelves - Again, depending on your profession, these may or may not be necessary. I always kept a dictionary and thesaurus handy, but you can put those on your desk instead of a bookshelf and use your desk drawers for files instead of buying a filing cabinet.