How to work from home without an Office

Would you believe me if I told you my husband and I both work from home WITHOUT an office. My husband works for a large company and has an actual office he can drive to-like his own desk, phone, etc, but he has the flexibility to work from home whenever. And I’m a blogger, influencer, content creator, all the things. But we both do all this WITHOUT a dedicated work space.

We don’t live in a big house that allows us an extra bedroom to dedicate for an office, nor do we have extra space in our house to throw in a desk. Well we could, but I HATE clutter and try to live as minimally as possible. So for the last year, I have been able to run my business without a work space. Before Laila was born, her room was a playroom which housed a desk, my desktop computer, and all my products that needed to be photographed.

When I first gave up the playroom slash office, I didn’t mind it because we. were preparing a little girl nursery. After having 3 boys, you know how exciting and monumental that is?! But once I started picking up extra work, and my blog became full time it started to bother me. So much that we were so close to listing our house while the market is hot, selling it and building a new home. That’s how annoyed I was. I just want to paint a picture for you how I was working. Every evening when I’d dedicate 2 hours to writing, I’d go UNDER my bed to pull out my desktop (I have an all in one) and set that up, my keyboard, mouse, etc on the dining room table. After I was done, I’d unplug everything and put it all away.

My husband said I looked like Will Smith in Pursuit of Happiness carrying around a big ole desktop every time I needed to work. But I did what I needed to do so I could get work done. But then I decided it was time to make a business expense, and reinvest in my business buy buying a MacBook Pro. By having a laptop, it offers me the work space flexibility that I needed. Now I was able to work anywhere in my house (right now I’m on my daughter’s bedroom floor, RIP my old office), and on the go since we are a family that travels frequently.

But upgrading to a laptop was not the only change I made, I implemented a few other factors into my non-workspace workspace situation.

How to Work From Home Without an Office: 

1. Get a Laptop: This is obvious, but having a laptop (I have this EXACT model with this Pink Marble protective skin, but as for your laptop it doesn’t matter the brand, as long as it gets the job done) offers you the flexibility to work anywhere-your dining room table, your couch, your bed, the bathroom, hotel rooms, Starbucks
2. Speaking of Starbucks: Consider going to a coffeeshop like Starbucks to get work done. I haven’t done this yet, but If you work better outside of home, think about going to a free local public space-buy a drink or pastry item while you’re there though.
3. Get Noise Cancelling Headphones: I didn’t realize how amazing these things were until I got a pair of Beats Studio Headphones-you legit Can’t hear ANY noise outside of the headphones!! Being a mom to 4 little ones mean that there is a lot going on in my house! Some evenings my husband takes over bath time and bed time routines while I get a head start on work, so using noise cancelling headphones, I’m able to focus on my work without the loud chaos of mom of 4 life. Having these headphones will also come on handy for working in a public space, like Starbucks.
4. File everything in Microsoft One Note: THIS THIS THIS!! Every contract I sign, every invoice I send, every link I share is in my One Note. It’s my virtual filing cabinet. If you don’t have Microsoft Office, buy it now! By using One Note, I’m able to keep every file organized and in its proper place, make notes on them, add PDF files, add reminders per file, whatever. I work with brands for a living, so I need to be able to quickly pull up a contract and review campaign information whenever and quickly! If I had an office, I’d probably keep hard copies in a filing cabinet, but since that’s not an option, I file everything in One Note!
5. Have a work bag: This is where I keep everything-My laptop, Mirrorless Camera, Beats Headphones, and planner. This work bag acts as my “desk”. It holds everything I would’ve kept in or on top my desk. I chose THIS bag from Freshly Picked because it offers EX-ACT-LY what I need. There is enough space to hold all my gadgets, chargers for those gadgets, planner my business cards and media cards. It also has a travel strap so it can go on top of your suitcase, and my favorite feature…an exterior cellphone pocket!! My favorite part about this bag is that it’s still super stylish (see below).

   

   

So those are my 5 tips for working from home without an office. It can be a little tricky, but it is definitely do-able. If you’re reading this because you don’t have an extra room, or extra space for a home office…don’t be discouraged. You don’t have to have a designated work space, you just need a laptop and lots of dedication!

Hope this post helped you out, or inspired you to start that blog that you were scared to start simply because of not having an office! If you loved this post, please share it on Pinterest, Twitter or Facebook, and leave a comment below!