Working from home sounds great at first, but your productivity may take a hit surrounded by distractions — you need a lot of courage to fire up that work laptop and not slack off instead. How do you go about setting up a personalized work station at home that has the effect of a flexible workspace, helping you focus and reduce procrastination? Here’re some tips for the handy you:

Inspiration Board

An inspiration board in a workspace is always a good idea. It reminds you about your to-do list and serves as a visual muse. Doesn’t matter if you’re the creative kind, as long as you keep adding new ideas, this little scrapbook of yours will look great on the wall eventually.

You can include all sorts of things on it, ranging from positive quotes, personal photos, to your handcrafts, totally up to you. The main point is to make yourself feel motivated when you stare at it and inspire you to work hard for your bright future.

Scented candles

Cozy vibes are just so important when it comes to working at home. Lighting up a candle with amazing smell help set the ambience of your work station.

Candles that are more refreshing and with sour scents are recommended for concentration. For example, sugared lemon zest, bergamot mint, white tea & pear, and wild sage & aloe are some great mixes. Try them and you’ll know why scented candles are such popular gifts.

Curtains to hide your mess

We get it — it’s not easy to juggle between the job and the chores. A messy apartment can be a constant eyesore while you work. Make use of curtains to hide your untidied bookshelves and everyday office clutter so you don’t get the sudden urge of cleaning up and risk procrastinating on your work.

You can choose the one with a soft fabric and your favourite pattern, so it doesn’t come off as rigid like a regular office.

A Planner

Working from home means you have flexible working hours. You’re completely untethered — except that you’re still under a tight deadline for your tasks. Furious keyboard typing at 3 a.m. isn’t healthy, you need to hang a planner that clearly maps out your many deadlines and goals.

A planner shows your itinerary over the week or the month. Looking back at it, you can reflect on the tasks you find time-consuming, unnecessary, or monotonous, and streamline your work schedule accordingly. This is a great way to make work more efficient, so you have more time for yourself.

Storage boxes and baskets

If you’re logging in a lot of work hours at home, chances are you’ll need some filing cabinets to sort your work documents. After you’re done for the day, you can simply tuck them away so that you’re not reminded of work. Filing cabinets can be expensive, hefty, and look like they belong in an office from the ’90s. As long as you’re not running a clinic at home (which we really wish you weren’t), some budget-friendly simply storage boxes and baskets will do the trick. It’s easy to personalize plain old baskets to your liking.