5 Tips To Make Your Office Mom Friendly

 If you’re working from home currently - like many are doing around the world - then you’ll either have a home office space or not. For many, having to juggle home life as well as working from home can be quite a challenge, especially when you have children. As a mom, your duties become a lot more difficult to manage. So with that being said, you want to provide your office with a space that’s functional for you but that will also be handy for the rest of the family who wants to come and distract you at the most inconvenient of times. Here are five helpful tips to make your office mom friendly. Image Source Transform spare rooms with free floor plan softwareThere are going to be households where space will be tight, and as such, you might not be able to transform a spare room into your office. However, if you do have an empty room or perhaps a guest bedroom that’s currently not in use, then it’s worth providing yourself with a proper set-up. It’s much better than having to deal with the couch or the dining table that doesn’t have the right furniture for spending hours in front of the computer. Before you start, make sure you clear out the spare room, giving it a good declutter so that it’s ready for the office furniture, etc., that’s needed. It’s worth looking online for inspiration when transforming the room and making use of professional design platforms. This free floor plan software is a great example of what to use when designing an office in your home space. This can be helpful in seeing how your room would look with various layouts in order to make the space work best for you and your household. Depending on your work, might also depend on what equipment you require too, so it’s worth having a design plan laid out ahead of time. When it comes to the home office, you want something that works for you and that you’ll look forward to being in every day. It might not be something you’ll need permanently, but it can certainly be helpful to have, regardless. Therefore, if you’re looking for design options, then it’s always great to draw inspiration from mood boards and by looking at various furniture and design companies.  Let in plenty of natural lightLight can be really helpful in brightening the mood and atmosphere of a place. As your working hours might be a little more extensive when working from home, you might find it beneficial to have lots of natural daylight flooding into the space. Compared to your office at work, the building has been set up and kitted out with everything needed to provide lots of light. At home, you might not have the same amount of lighting, and so it’s important you try and find ways to mimic natural light if it’s lacking. Desk lamps and floor lamps can be useful to have in the room to light up any dark spots. For those who do have plenty of windows, make sure the blinds or curtains you draw them back for maximum exposure. Image Source Try to remove anything that might be blocking your direct line of natural daylight. You’ll certainly notice a difference in how the space feels and to an extent, how productive you’ll be when it comes to the work that needs doing. It’s been noted in studies done in the past that when measuring levels of brain chemicals, people tend to have higher serotonin levels on bright sunny days than on cloudy ones. So look at your office surroundings and consider whether you can do anything to change the overall ambiance of the room when it comes to lighting.  Consider your workstation health & safetyTypically, HR in a company is responsible for looking after workstation health and safety. And as such, they’ll usually conduct some form of workstation assessment to check that your office desk caters for you and your needs. As you’re working from home, it’s up to you to ensure you’re still getting the same support as you would have got back at the company office. If you’re not comfortable, then depending on whether you work for a company or as a freelancer, you’ll need to get the right furniture in. Be sure to get yourself a desk and monitor stand to ensure you’re working at a height that’s comfortable to do your work and to avoid any injuries or pain. You’ll also want to think about the chair you have, especially if you work long hours at a desk normally. As well as the chair, you might want to consider footrests, wrist supports, and other relevant accessories. The last thing you want is to injure yourself when it comes to working and having to also fulfill mom duties at the same time. You want to be in good health for both your working hours but also that time that you spend with your children too. So if there’s anything that needs rectifying, then it’s worth getting in touch with your workplace to get the relevant equipment and furniture needed. If you work as your own boss, then it’ll be up to you to ensure you have everything you need to keep you in good shape.  Keep important documents high upWith children running around the house and, for the most part, taking a keen interest in what mommy is up to, it’s good to think about how you’re going to store everything at home. Unlike the office, unless you put a lock on the door, your child might end up exploring this area of the home to the point where they start picking up documents that are important and perhaps even confidential. With that being said, having the right storage equipment is useful, like floating shelves, for example. These can be really handy in keeping those documents out of reach from inquisitive hands. Image Source You may also want to have filing cabinets if the work you tend to have is quite extensive and needs storing in a physical matter. However, with many of us utilizing the digital world a lot more now, there might be less need for paper within your office.  It might also be useful to be doubly sure that your children aren’t going to get their hands on it. When you have an office environment as a mom, you want to make sure that you’re keeping your work and your children safe. It’s not just your paperwork, but any relevant equipment that might be integral to your company’s work too may need to be protected too.  Think about how you can safely store or keep these items away from prying eyes and the clutches of your toddler. This can be particularly important for the more expensive equipment like your computer and other devices.  Make it functional for the rest of the householdThe main objective when it comes to creating a mom-friendly office is to make it functional so that it works for the rest of your household. This is particularly so when it comes to having a limited amount of space to work with.  It might be that you don’t have a spare room available and instead will have to rely on the space you do have to make it work for your office needs. As a mom, you’re going to have plenty of challenges with your children going about the home, so it’s worth adapting it with your family in mind.  For example, if you’re limited with space, then you might want to think about furniture that can easily fold away at the end of the day. You may want to think about where you store your work and equipment once it’s finished with.  Of course, it makes things a lot easier if you have a separate space, but if you don’t, then there are still options available. Consider where you place your workspace in relation to what’s needed for the job. Whether that’s for taking phone calls as a customer service assistant to needing daylight for focusing on design work. There are lots of different factors that you’ll need to think about when it comes to configuring your workspace for home life. As well as all this, you want to ensure that you’re keeping your space free of any clutter. As a working mom, there can easily be a lot of mess that forms within the home, but keeping your office clean is certainly a priority.  Having an office space that works for your needs is essential whilst also having it functional for the rest of the family. Whether it’s a setup you have for a permanent basis or you find yourself needing to use it on days where you work from home, it’s good to have an office space that is effective.  Hopefully, with these five tips, you’ll be able to have an office space that continues to work for you and your work but also as a full-time mom too.