Working from home? If you’re one of the countless people who have suddenly found themselves in a home office over the past year, then you’re certainly not alone. You’re also probably very aware of the particular challenges presented by working from home. However, by being strategic about the design of your home office, such as investing in a comfortable chair or hanging up a felt board, you can not only survive—but thrive—in this new work environment.
While the concept of the home office isn’t exactly new, it has rapidly expanded in recent years. This rapid transformation has brought on unexpected challenges for professionals in a variety of industries. To help you better adapt to your new work from home lifestyle, we’re looking at how simple steps, like hanging up felt boards, can improve your new workspace. Who knows, with the right home office, you may never even want to go back to the office.
THE RISE OF THE HOME OFFICE
In recent years, working from home has transformed our professional lives. It’s easy to point to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 as the cause for this sudden and swift transformation, but that’s not the complete story. While COVID-19 certainly played a major role, there were other factors at work, such as recent advancements in digital tools and technology.
Sure, most of us are burnt out on Zoom calls by now—but could you imagine working from home without this technology? Over the past decade, more and more jobs have shifted to working from home or a hybrid model due to the freedom given to us by digital technology. Communication has never been easier. We simply don’t need to all sit in a conference room anymore to share ideas and information.
Not only that, but the expansion of global companies has also led to more people working from home. When your company has offices all over the world, it only makes sense that you can decentralize your work and have people work from home—or anywhere in the world.
CHALLENGES WITH YOUR HOME OFFICE
Anyone who has worked from home knows that there are inherent challenges to this transition. While, sure, there are clear perks (no commuting, dealing with traffic, or that pesky water cooler chatter), there are also challenges that most of us simply didn’t see coming.
Here’s a look at some of the most common challenges of working from home:
- Distractions: kids, pets, neighbors, friends and family… there’s no shortage of distractions when you begin working from home. Learning how to juggle these distractions while still focusing on your work is one of the biggest hurdles for those in the home office.
- Poor organization: the traditional office has a clear design and organization. Even if we don’t like cubicles, the organization works for the most part. In your home office, there are no clear organization rules and you’ll often have to figure this all out as you go.
- Lack of storage: even in our digital, paperless world, you’ll be amazed at how much storage space you need to work effectively. Your new home office may not have enough storage space, leading to a cluttered desk and cluttered mind.
- Unclear boundaries: our old offices helped us organize our lives. While at the office, you can focus on professional tasks. At home, it’s all about your family and personal commitments. The home office makes these boundaries fuzzy as, all of a sudden, we’re meeting all of our responsibilities in the exact same space. For many, this can make our priorities unclear.
WHY YOUR HOME OFFICE NEEDS A FELT BOARD
It might seem almost impossible to overcome all these challenges created by working from home. Aside from building your own office out of a shed in your backyard, is there a way to really recreate your traditional office space? This shouldn’t be your goal. Instead, you should focus on practical steps toward making your home office more comfortable, organized, and yes, even quieter.
One way you can do so is by using felt board tiles to decorate the walls of your home office. This material is perfect for working from home for several reasons. The unique material of a felt board actually absorbs sound, which can help you create a little bit of solitude in your new workspace. It can also help you focus on your work when someone is watching TV or listening to music down the hall.
Felt boards can also help you organize. With a felt board, you can pin up important documents and reminders to keep you on track. And since most of us don’t have a ton of extra room in our home offices, being able to take advantage of wall space like this is truly a game changer.
And finally, felt boards can help your home office look better with a wide variety of patterns, colors, and designs. While this may not seem like the most important benefit, you’d be surprised at how much more rewarding working from home can be when you actually enjoy the space you’re working from.
CONCLUSION – WHY YOUR HOME OFFICE NEEDS A FELT BOARD
Practically overnight, millions of employees across almost every industry were asked to start working from home. While this sudden shift, for many, was first seen as a relaxing way to get your work done (who doesn’t love not having to deal with traffic) the unique challenges of the home office gradually became apparent.
Working without boundaries between home and work, dealing with distractions, poor storage and organization, and simply not enough space quickly revealed that this work from home life might not be as perfect as it seems.
But with careful planning and a little reorganization, you can certainly make the work from home life work for you. One simple option to improve your home office is by hanging up felt boards in your workspace. These sound dampening felt tiles work to absorb noise, cut down on distractions, help you organize, and simply improve the aesthetics of your new home office. You’ll be amazed at how quickly these felt tiles can transform your space.
