In 2018, 56.7 million Americans made a living as freelancers. Freelancing may seem like the perfect way of life to the observer, but it takes triple the learning, talent, connections, and hard work to make it.
Freelancers often work alone from their home offices or join co-working spaces for a dose of social interaction. Those who work from home struggle with staying productive, as there are too many distractions in the form of housework, meal prep, taking care of kids, answering the door, and answering the phone.
Aside from productivity hacks and tools, having a designated office space somewhere in the home is a must if you want to preserve your sanity and get some quality work done. It doesn’t have to be fancy, but it should be comfortable, clean, and decorated to your taste.
Read on to discover the best ways to decorate your office for increased productivity and make it a quiet, airy, bright space for getting work done.
Personalize It
The best way to boost productivity in your home office is to add personal touches and things that matter to you. These can be photos of your family, souvenirs, art paintings, personalized cards you’ve received for important life events, items in your favorite color, sticky notes with motivational quotes, and anything else that makes you happy.
If you have a clear idea on how you want the space to look, work with an interior designer to help you maximize the space. They will incorporate your personal taste into the office without making it overstimulating, and you’ll be more motivated to work.
Let the Light In
Natural light is crucial for any office space, and if you work from home, you know how important a little sunshine is to your mood. When you’re on a deadline and don’t leave the office at all, letting some fresh air and sunrays in will help you stay motivated and energized.
Use sheer curtains and window treatments and try to position your desk facing the source of light to avoid glare on your computer screen. The best location for a desk is right in front of a window so you can have an office with a view, but also enough light to see everything in your workspace.
If you work late into the night but don’t want to keep the lights on, you can add a string of lights to your desk. Do a quick online search to read more now and see how to decorate your desk with energy-efficient led strips.
Bring In the Greenery
If you’re looking for cheap ways to decorate your office at work and elevate the space, plants and flowers are your best choice. They’re not only great for decoration but also act as air purifiers. Make sure to get low-maintenance plants that you don’t need to water too often.
A vase of fresh flowers on your desk will also do wonders for your productivity. Plants bring an element of life into the room and make people smile. This way, when you don’t have time to go to a nearby park, you can just look at your plants and allow the stress to melt away.
Create a Gallery Wall
If you have an office wall that’s empty, use it to create a gallery of beautiful art, photos, and prints to liven up the space. You can also leave a section of the wall for post-it notes with your ideas, goals, and achievements.
Having an entire wall designated for art will add a playful dimension to the office and you can look at it anytime you want to rest your eyes. You can also switch the items up according to the season and make it fun and festive for Christmas, add a flowery and green theme for spring, images of the beach and sea for summer, and paintings of foliage during fall.
Add a Pop of Color
Colors are a proven way to boost productivity and evoke emotion in people, so why not use them to your advantage in your home office? Choose one main color that’ll lead the decor of the room, and keep the rest of the space neutral. Use the main color in accent items like pillows, lamps, art, stationery, and furniture.
The best colors for focus and productivity are blue, yellow, and green. Try to avoid red, grey, and too many colors in the office as they can have a counter-effect.
Make Place for Storage
Having an organized office can help boost your productivity, and motivate you to keep the space professional. If you have meetings with clients in your home office, there’s nothing worse than having them see messy papers all over the place.
Once you decorate your desk and make it all clean and tidy, it’s time to find storage solutions for all those files, documents, and extra stationery. You don’t want them scattered on the floor collecting dust, so the best solution is to install a shelving unit or an office drawer cabinet.
Stock Up on Stationery
To learn how to decorate your office to best suit your needs, write down everything you’d like to have in the space. The list should include all the stationery you’ll need to do client and admin work, but bear in mind not all of it should be on display.
Too much of anything can clutter the desk and instead of helping you focus, it’ll only make you frustrated. Only display the stationery you use every day and put the rest away. Place all pens and pencils in a holder, get paper trays for your most important documents, and have a trashcan nearby to keep the mess away from your desk.
Have Healthy Snacks at Hand
Hard work requires a lot of energy and brainpower, so it’s a good idea to have a drawer of healthy snacks in your office. This way, if you get hungry, but don’t want to lose focus by leaving the room, you can grab a protein bar, a handful of nuts, or a piece of fruit until lunchtime.
Freelancers run on coffee during the workday, so if your space allows it, build a small coffee/tea/snack station in your office. You can refill your cup and get a healthy energy boost right then and there, without going to the kitchen.
Create A Relaxation Corner
As a freelancer, you’re your own boss and choose your own working hours, but this doesn’t mean you don’t get stressed. Working with clients, meeting deadlines, and dealing with payments is overwhelming, so you need to carve out a little time to relax right there in your office.
Pick a corner in the room and make it a designated relaxation space. You can put a soft mat for yoga and meditation, a small coffee table for aromatherapy and scented candles, or a bean bag where you can sit down and close your eyes to take a break for a few minutes.
Make a Vision Board
For most freelancers, working from home doesn’t mean working any less than at a regular job. In fact, freelancing is an around-the-clock commitment because they do everything from marketing, bookkeeping, meetings, negotiating prices, customer service, social media, and admin work.
This is why setting personal and business goals is essential for moving forward. To help you focus on your goals, make a vision board and put it somewhere you can look at it every day.
All you need is a big corkboard that you can fill with pictures of the travel destinations you’d like to visit, quotes by people you admire and are inspired by, photos of your role models in business, your dream home and family, your business goals, and anything you find inspiring and would like to attract in life.
As long as you stay focused and work hard, vision boards do actually work. There are many celebrities who have used vision boards to make their dreams a reality and if you’re serious about your business, you need to make one soon.
Have a To-Do List at Sight
Your freelancing business is more than just your website – it’s also about branding and making a name for yourself in the industry. Though making it as a freelancer takes a lot of hard work, most people actually choose this way of work for the freedom and lifestyle.
Freelancing also means mastering to-do lists. These aren’t technically a work desk decoration, but with a little creativity, they can be a powerful productivity tool. Having a clear schedule of what you need to do throughout the day right in front of you can help reduce stress and give you structure.
Decorate Your Office for Optimal Productivity
Whether you have an entire room to yourself or just a small corner in the home to call your office, this space should be distraction-free and pleasant to be in. Aside from keeping it tidy, you can also decorate your office to boost your productivity by adding personal elements, plants, and art pieces.
Your desk should be free of clutter at all times, so an extra storage cabinet is a simple, effective way to stay organized as a freelancer.
Need more freelancing tips to make your life easier? Check out our business blog to find more useful articles, productivity tips, and business advice.