The Remodelista editors have been working from home since the early days: The site started, after all, around Julie’s kitchen table. It’s taken me some trial and error in my own remote-work journey, but I’ve learned a few tips for success: Getting dressed (even putting on an equally comfortable but different pair of pants) is key to dividing the day between work hours and off hours. So is getting a change of scenery (a walk before work, or a swim afterwards), taking a real lunch break, and creating a physical way of dividing my home office from my regular home.
That last part is easy to do if you have a separate office, maybe. But what if you don’t?
When one space serves as both your home and your work, your relaxation space and your meeting space, your unwinding-on-the-couch and get-stuff-done space, it’s both challenging and essential to create a physical divide. As I’ve learned, if you can’t close the door on your office—if you’re working at the kitchen counter, say, or even on the couch—you can at least pack it out of sight when 5 p.m. hits.
Here are a few ideas we’ve put to use over the years for creating a mobile office (and putting it away).
1. Office on a Tray
2. Office in a Drawer
3. Office in a Bag
Also helpful: Aha! Hack: 5 Smart and Surprising Alternative Uses for Binder Clips. (Hint: They’re great for keeping cords and chargers from taking over your living space, which they’re prone to do.)
N.B.: This story originally appeared on April 13, 2020, and has been updated with a new introduction.
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