By Kaitlin Hurtado

It is no secret that apartments often come with limited space, whether it be due to the addition of roommates or a limited amount of square footage. Oftentimes, living in an apartment means having to compromise on the spaces you are allowed to have or having to make the majority of spaces multifunctional to be able to make the apartment work for your lifestyle. 

With that being said, the pandemic has caused many to rework their living spaces to help them adapt to life changes, such as learning from home or working from home rather than commuting to campus or an office on a daily basis. With two years in, having a “makeshift” work area may no longer be working for you as you find yourself struggling to have a cohesive workspace that allows you to learn or work to the best of your ability. 

via Pexels

Choose a space that makes sense

When you set out to make a dedicated workspace in your apartment, you want to make sure that you are choosing the right space where you can actually get work done. Multiple factors should be considered in your final decision. 

What typically influences your level of productivity? Do you thrive in spaces where there is ample natural lighting and get the majority of your work done during the day? If so, choose a spot in your apartment by a window that provides plenty of natural light throughout the day. If lighting doesn’t impact your productivity, or you tend to work at all hours of the day, you have more options when it comes to choosing a space to work in. 

Other things to consider when choosing a workspace include noise level, internet speed/connectivity, and background. If you live with roommates, choosing a common area may come with a higher noise level. Rather than having a workspace out in the living room, you may want to consider moving it to your personal bedroom to keep potential background noise at a minimum. If your work entails more video calls, you may also want to consider what the background of your workspace would be via video call. 

Invest and equip yourself with what you need 

Having a dedicated workspace in your own apartment can do wonders for your productivity levels. Depending on what you are starting with, you may need to invest some money into building a proper workspace. Start with the absolute basics - a desk with a large enough table to give you the space you need to work and a chair that will allow you to sit for hours comfortably. 

Next, you’ll want to consider what type of equipment you can add that will allow you to increase productivity, such as an extra monitor or two, a monitor/laptop stand, an extra keyboard and mouse, and so on. 

Look into your company’s policies to see if they allow a certain budget for their employees to be reimbursed for purchases made on their home office, like desks, monitors, and so on. If you are looking to protect your budget, you always have secondhand options to consider. 

You will want to keep everything you need within reach of your dedicated workspace - a laptop/phone charger, writing utensils, and so on. If you don’t already have a charger that you can dedicate to your workspace, consider buying an extra one so you don’t have to unplug chargers throughout the day. While you may not want to take a hit to your budget at first, making sure your workspace is properly equipped to keep your productivity up will allow your workspace to actually be functional and help you out in the long run. 

Keep your space tidy

A cluttered workspace can lead to a cluttered mind - keep your dedicated workspace as tidy as possible every day. Things are bound to pile up as the week progresses, from scratch paper to empty coffee mugs - it’s easy to have little things slowly clutter your space. Depending on where your workspace is in your apartment, you may also find that other items are slowly finding their way into your workspace, from spare clothes thrown on your desk chair to random items placed on your desk to be moved “later.” 

One way to avoid clutter build-up is by making an effort to clean up on a daily basis. At the end of every work day, or every study session, make sure you get rid of anything that doesn’t belong in your workspace, from empty wrappers to a spare blanket. Give your space a quick wipe down and leave it as a blank slate for your next work session. 

Creating a dedicated workspace in your apartment can help you excel in your career and studies as you allow yourself a space to be solely productive. Keep these tips in mind as you transform your workspace into a solid one.