Do You Have a Home Office Ritual?

Home office setups are very much a topic of interest here at unplggd. We have seen offices carved out of walk in closets and even offices that used to be closets. For the very small space dwellers out there, there have even been collapsible offices. With all these home offices, it got us thinking, do you have a home office ritual?

For some of us, blogging for unplggd is part time in addition to a full time gig, but there are also some of us, and we assume many of you, who are working from your carefully planned home office spaces Monday to Friday, 9 to 5. When we head out to work every day the routine is clear. Hop in the shower, dress, quick breakfast, hop in the car. When we get to the office, it becomes grab a coffee, check email and figure out what's going on for the rest of the day.

The act of leaving the house makes for a very clear transition and mental shift to working. On occasion, we have found ourselves spending the day working at home, and while the change in environment is nice every once in a while, breaking free from the distractions of home and mentally changing gears is definitely a bit more difficult.

So what do our work at home unplggd readers do to shift into work mode? Go for a run in the morning? Change into a suit? Make sure you have your shoes on? Do tell in the comments.....

Comments (3)

The main thing I do is always get dressed, make the bed and do breakfast dishes. My apartment is very small (being in Tokyo) and every room can be viewed from every other room and it's easier to work without domestic chaos in view. If it's more focused work, I also like to get a cup of tea (as it was part of my working ritual when I worked in an office). I even use the same mug I used to keep in the office.

Routine has become much more important now that I work from a home office. I get up, walk the dog, shower, make a cup of coffee and make the bed before beginning work everyday. Not only is this routine important for me, it is also important for my husband. Because I am at home all day it can be hard for both of us to draw the line between work and personal life. He knows that we can chat while I'm in the middle of my getting ready routine but as soon as I walk into the office and sit down I have begun my work day. At that point he needs to allow me to focus on my work.

My home office is also in a closet ( http://bit.ly/e97V ) off my bedroom. When I clean up the bedroom and make the bed I do a much better job at work.