Dedicated Space

To effectively work at home full time, a dedicated office is a must. You may think you can work effectively from you kitchen table or couch, but you’re just getting by. Effectiveness requires commitment.

There is a strong psychology around why you should have a dedicated space. You need to be able to mentally transition from your home to work persona and back. If you work where you eat, and eat where you work, how can you ever tell the difference? You eventually won’t, and one or both of your personas will suffer.

There are security reasons for having a dedicated space. Many jobs require you to be able to lock the door to an office to protect equipment and files. At a minimum, most will require lockable file storage and commitment to security around protected information. If you are like me, you may also tend to raise your voice or say things that others shouldn’t hear. Ok, maybe it’s just that you talk about client information and don’t curse out-loud about the email you just received. Either way, there are likely ears that shouldn’t be privy to such things. Data you speak should be just as secure as data you write or read. You also don’t want to be an annoyance to your family or teach any impressionable people those 4-letter words.

Security isn’t always about data and equipment, it’s also about your personal security in the form of safety. When you are working, you are on the corporate dime and therefore typically covered by your employer’s Workman’s Compensation program. Your employer likely has some materials for you to sign related to the manner in which you will keep your home space organized and free from hazards that may result in personal injury or other harm. If you do not have a dedicated space, you open yourself up to more risk of injury or damage, like stepping on the kids Lego’s and dropping your laptop. You also open yourself up to that issue not being covered. Employee injury or illness is compensable under workers’ compensation if it arises out of and in the course of employment, regardless of the location the injury occurs. Employees typically have the burden of proving that the injury is work-related. “Arising out of” refers to what the employee was doing at the time of the injury, and “in the course of” refers to when the injury happened. It’s a lot harder fight this when you tell your Lego story, compared to a secured space.

Having a dedicated office provides you some financial assistance as well. You have some deductions you can take advantage of, but the reserved space really is a must. Common deductions include a percentage of your property-related payments (like mortgage interest, rent, insurance, and property taxes, office furniture and equipment, physical home repairs and improvements, business phone line, etc. The catch is, it MUST be for work! (Or you have to only deduct the portion that is.) If you deduct that new hardwood you just installed, you better not be watching Sunday Night Football in the same space.

In an upcoming post, I’ll talk about how to situate that home office to be your most productive self. In the meantime, start looking for that space you can carve out as your own.