working from home

How to Work from Home #WFH: Be Physically Prepared  

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By Modern-Shed General Manager Tim Vack

Just started or want to start working from home? Check out the first part in our series about Working From Home or read on for tips on preparing your physical surroundings for working from home.

Choosing a physical location at home to set up shop for your “office:”

Typical choices often are:

  • Dining room table
  • Kitchen nook
  • Garage
  • Attic
  • Basement
  • Corner of family room
  • Backyard tool shed
  • Spare room
  • Detached home office space, such as our Modern-Sheds
  • Home addition

The chosen space should:

  • Allow you to focus without major distractions
  • Allow for video conferencing and private phone conversations
  • Have access to natural light
  • Have enough space for your desk/chair/cabinets or shelves as necessary
  • Be customizable to create your space
  • Allow you to “leave” work

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    Leave work whenever you want, and make it home in seconds!

Over the 30-plus years that I have worked from home on and off, I have had my office in my bedroom (twice), in a spare room (twice), in the dining room (twice), in an insulated garage, in an RV and in a basement (obviously I have lived in numerous locations during the past 30 years!). Continue reading →

How to Work From Home #WFH: Be Mentally Prepared 

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By Tim Vack, Modern-Shed General Manager

Now that many of you have become part of the WFH movement, I thought I could help many of you get started and adjust. I have been working from home on and off since becoming an entrepreneur in 1987, with the latest stint being the past 9 years continuously.

I’ll detail in a series of blog posts my tips on #WFH, starting today with being mentally prepared.

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Be Mentally Prepared

Now that you are either faced with working from home by no choice of your own or are desiring to do so and have never done so before, it’s worth it to examine your thoughts on the subject, both positive and negative. Positive thoughts around WFH might include:

  • No more commuting
  • No more parking hassles
  • No more daily make-up or getting ready for work
  • Saving money on child care, parking, gas, eating out

Or the thoughts might be more subjective such as:

  • I get to wear my pajamas to work
  • I don’t have to see that person at work I don’t get along with
  • I can do laundry or other household chores during the week
  • I don’t have to work in a cubicle or pre-decorated office space of someone else’s choosing

Just as there are happy thoughts, there may also be some not-so-happy thoughts, such as:

  • I won’t see my friends from work anymore
  • I won’t get to eat lunch at those great places near work
  • I enjoyed the “me time” during my commute, by reflecting or listening to music, books or the news.

Continue reading →

Shed with a View

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IMG_1340BAY AREA — When Thorsten and Danielle were looking for a home two-and-a-half years ago, they saw several houses that had backyard sheds and dwelling units on a number of properties.
This was what first sparked the idea about obtaining a type of shed outdoors. When the couple found their dream home, they tucked the idea away in the back of their minds, and also thought of the perfect spot for a shed in their new yard.
“Our house had just the right spot,” Thorsten recalled. “The previous owners had a dilapidated play structure that we tore down. We had motivation to build something there, especially since I was already working one or two days a week at home and my wife, Danielle, works at home.”
Thorsten works in the technology department of a luxury automobile company, while Danielle works in the couture women’s retail industry.
IMG_1434Thorsten commutes about 50 miles to work three to four days a week, while Danielle works from home a few weeks at a time, then travels throughout the country visiting her brand’s stores a week or more at a time each month.
They both wanted dedicated home office space at home.
“When you work remotely, you like the notion of leaving your living space,” Thorsten said. “It takes 15 seconds to get to my office and then I’m not far if I need to go back to my personal space.”
Thorsten found the process to be smooth and simple with Modern-Shed’s design professionals and installation partners.
In light of the COVID-19 epidemic in the United States, the home office has proved even more useful.
“Right now, we’re being encouraged to work from home because of the virus situation,” Thorsten said. “I like having a work space that’s not my dining room table.”

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A Modern Aesthetic

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GREATER SAN DIEGO – With young children afoot, it can be hard to get work done in the house.

J, a real estate developer from Las Vegas, spends his summers with his family at their vacation home in the greater San Diego area, but when it comes to work, he needs a quiet place away from the kids.
“Young children, they scream and yell, so there’s no possible way I can be in the house and work,” J said. “I used to rent a small office nearby, and it was pretty inefficient, having to leave the house all the time. With Modern-Shed, I can just step into my backyard and get to work.”
J had seen Modern-Shed in a Dwell advertisement years ago, but he tucked away the thought until he bought a new house in San Diego. He started the process about seven months ago to build a Modern-Shed in his backyard.
“I wanted to put an accessory structure up as an office, and when I had the need, I remembered Modern-Shed,” he said. “This was a way to take a prolonged vacation with my family without having to go to a coworking space or go to an office.”
J encountered a smooth process working with our Modern-Shed design professional, Jeff Bergerson, and moved forward with purchasing a 10′ by 12′ Modern-Shed with electricity and other bells and whistles.
He gravitated toward Modern-Shed because of the mid-century modern aesthetic that matched his new house, which itself has been featured in Dwell.
“The process was very good and it was very professional,” he said. “I would recommend it and I would buy another one. Jeff, once we connected, was super knowledgeable about the product and that was all good.”
Find a design pro near you at www.modern-shed.com.

The ideal commute

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PORTLAND — Within the first year that Steve started his consulting business, he knew he needed to find a space to work outside of his house.

Steve and his wife, Michelle, and two daughters live in a three-bedroom Portland home built in 1912.

Steve works in accessory and product design, with his hands on everything from watches and eyewear to other wearable technologies for brands like Nike and Timex, while Michelle designs and creates handbags and clothing. 

“I was working in our finished basement, which is a nice basement, but there was a lack of light and still, it’s in the basement and it’s in the house,” Steve recalls. “I started looking at renting spaces or doing a prefab build. My goal was to get a modular system I could build myself.”IMG_4034 Continue reading →

Quality, quickly: An on-island solution

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island get awayisland retreatisland get away-2San Juan Island — In an ideal world, Tom wouldn’t have purchased a Modern-Shed.

The Portland-based attorney loves to build things and enjoys having his hands on a project, so when he began considering building a home office on his family’s property on San Juan Island in Washington, he would have ideally liked to build the office himself.

But, we don’t live in an ideal world, and Modern-Shed helps our customers wisely and efficiently use their time so they can have the types of spaces they’ve always dreamed of.

“I really like building things, but I don’t have the time,” Tom admits. “I wanted a quality product that could assemble very quickly. That was the key criteria.”

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Tom’s 12′ by 14′ Modern-Shed office on San Juan Island

Continue reading →

Modern-Shed Tips: Working from Home

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At least one in five people work from home, and the number will only increase in the next few years. And who can blame them? More jobs than ever allow employees to work from home, especially if your job involves heavy online work. Working from home can be rewarding; I work from home, and I find I get more work done than I did in traditional work environments. Plus, I save money on gas and other work-related expenses.

Continue reading →