Work Your Workspace for Two

Working at home along with your spouse is a new adventure and a fun experience to look forward to. However, even if each of you can give way and compromise, there are going to be instances when you fight, whether it be over work space, the phone, or paperclips. That naturally removes the shine from sharing a home office, so how can you maximize your space to minimize conflict?

One of the best things you can do is create a clutter-free, fight-free workstation by arranging your home office to accommodate two people in a defined and distinctive way. By arranging a carefully thought out plan, you instantly reduce the likelihood that disagreements about “invasion of space” will arise.

Here are some great tips to keep in mind when designing your home office for two…

• Talk to your partner to determine if you both want to share a combined work space or not. Understanding each others’ thoughts and desires up front will help immensely when it comes to satisfying demands and creating a peaceful work environment.
• As much as possible, give each other some space. Even if you’re both sharing one table, create some distance between the two of you to allow for privacy and decreased distraction.
• Set up ample lighting on both sides. Both of you are working on important things, so both of you should be able to see what you’re doing. Instead of, or in addition to, installing a single light source, use desk lighting for both sides.
• Place shared office essentials in a common area. If you are using a landline or fax machine, rather than put it on one person’s desk (and taking up their workspace), bring in an additional small table to put in the middle. That way, even if one of you needs to use the phone or grab a stapler or paperclips, the other person will not be disturbed.
• Create individual storage. This will allow each person to organize in the way they see fit. Some people prefer an extremely organized work space, while others actually feel more productive with papers scattered around their desk. So, don’t start an argument just because one station failed to clean his or her area…you’re in charge of your area.
• Decide if you want to work facing each other, away from each other, or side by side. This will play a large role in determining how you choose to organize your furniture.

Jennifer Fields
Oklahoma City & Edmond Real Estate Agent
405.330.0031