If you have family or friends visiting for the holidays, you're getting into Happy Host(ess) mode. Bathrooms are stocked with linens and the pantry is filled with snacks. But what about your home office? Have you considered being a gracious host can mean making sure your guests feel comfortable popping in to use the computer, too?
Giving your houseguests access to a workspace is as good a way to say "welcome" these days as providing clean sheets or a spread of snacks. We're all so attached to technology that having an accommodating and connected space to check email, social networks or bank accounts will put your guests at ease and can even provide some entertainment for late nights or early mornings.
Here's a quick checklist you can use to make sure that your home office is welcoming to friends and family that stay over or pass through during the holidays:
De-clutter your workspace.
Use The Breadbox Test to make your office show-home-ready, especially if the home office shares space with your guest quarters.Create a guest login on your computer.
Log out when you're done with personal matters, and have a no-password guest account option for guests to use. This post can walk you through setting one up.Share the WiFi password.
If your guests prefer to use their own laptop or tablet, have your WiFi password neatly written down before they even ask.Leave extra outlets open.
If guests need to charge their laptop or anything else, make sure there's an empty outlet or two that is easily accessible. If you can't spare one, plug in a surge protector.Stash away confidential and important papers.
If you don't want anyone to see them, or don't want to risk them being accidentally lost or destroyed, put them away in a secure file cabinet.Leave plenty of (working) pens and notepads out.
Your guests might need to jot down names or numbers as they check email or bank statements.
Do you have any other tips for getting your home workspace ready for guests?
(Images: Shutterstock, Shutterstock)
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Unless you are on call with your job, I would assume that a house guest is visiting so why would they need to be on a computer? I would think everyone else would know they are unavailable for 1-2 weeks.
People, you really need to unplug once in a while.
Most of our houseguests bring their own laptops, but this is good advice, since our home office is usually a disaster/filled with confidential info/the place we throw stuff before people come over!
I can't even bring myself to come up with a coherent response to the first comment except to say that the world is a different place now.
@LyonStill - Why would I be on a computer while I'm on vacation or visiting friends and family? To get updates on my flight home, get updates from friends taking care of my pets, and to look up information on the things I want to see and places I want to go. And make dinner reservations!
Giving guests access to a computer lets them research where they want to go for sightseeing, how to get there, etc. without having to ask the host, who might not know. And it takes the burden off the host to know all of these answers, particularly if the guests are the independent kind and don't expect to spend every day with the host.
These days, the internet is a lot more helpful than a guidebook because addresses, phone numbers, and hours change. And I don't see the issue with being connected - I don't see how unplugging is the equivalent of "getting away from it all" because it would be infuriating to not be able to look up information I wanted.
Aw I was hoping for a source for that 'welcome' screensaver! :)
Some WiFi routers allow setup of a 'guest' wireless network. This means they can connect to the Internet (possibly even filtered - I.e. blocking torrent downloading) but not access shared network devices like printers, storage/SAN devices, etc.
When you setup that guest account... this is a good time to think about your virus/malware protection, backup strategy and enable whole-disk encryption. Based on how the average PC users behaves online, I would prefer to be safe rather than sorry.
@LyonStill: Having a connected lifestyle is just the way things work now. Even eBook readers allow you to download books, audiobooks or podcasts while on vacation through wireless networks. I like to read articles on Flipboard on my iPad rather than reading a news paper in the morning.
Keeping in touch with family via Skype or email is also very common instead of making long distance calls on your friends phone.