5 Signs It’s Time to Step Out of Your Home Office
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Running a home business is the perfect career for busy moms. It’s certainly the thing that makes it easier to juggle all the balls without continually dropping them. In those early days, when little hands were tugging at you between Zoom calls and snack prep, it was a lifesaver to have a flexible working arrangement that bent around your family’s needs. You’re managing the chaos and still getting the job done. What could be better?
However, as your business grows and your kids become more independent, that once-perfect setup might be holding you back more than helping you forward. That doesn’t mean giving up your home office entirely—far from it. But sometimes, stepping outside your familiar four walls, even just a few hours a week, can breathe new life into your work, your mindset, and your motivation. Here are five signs it might be time to break free from your home office at least occasionally.
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5 Signs It’s Time to Step Out of Your Home Office
01) You’re Feeling Uninspired Staring at the Same Four Walls
When you began working from home, you probably created a home office that, in theory, ticked all your working boxes. Unfortunately, the best office design doesn’t make up for the fact that, after a few years, staring at the same four walls daily could leave you feeling a little uninspired. This is especially true when there’s no break between your home life and your working setup.
Getting your ideas firing again and refreshing your working outlook requires changing the scenery. Something as simple as investing in a garden office could work for this, as it will technically get you out of the house without requiring you to travel too far afield. Equally, making a regular effort to spend occasional afternoons at a local cafe or library could help kickstart your ideas.
02) Your Network is Shrinking
When you began working from home, you probably had some kind of network. The right connections are essential for branching out on your own or finding at-home work opportunities. Initially, you might have relied on connections you made during in-office employment or industry events.
You’re a time-strapped mom who travels between childcare duties and a home office setup. Your network may be shrinking quickly, and it’s natural to worry about how to stop it when you simply don’t get out in the industry like you used to. Luckily, coworking spaces now offer a flexible, part-time way to build your network even when you don’t have an office to go to. Even something as simple as getting into a regular hot-desking habit once a week or so could see you meeting the same professionals each time you head to a space like this. Many coworking offices also host networking events, which can lead to connections with a wide range of professionals who are also looking to expand their networks in key ways.
03) You Need to Host Clients
Technically speaking, you can host clients at home, especially if they’re other small business owners or you have a separate entrance for your office. Honestly, though, this isn’t always the best business move. As well as potentially looking unprofessional, bringing clients into your family home means running the risk of making your children feel uncomfortable.
Of course, video calls can help you do a lot of your business nowadays, and they offer a fantastic way around this issue. However, if your client base is growing to include big company deals, it’s only fair for clients to expect a meeting in person. And, you’ll need to ensure a more professional setting when that time comes, complete with a corporate address, car park, grand entrance with staircases and sleek commercial railing systems, and fully-kitted meeting rooms.
Luckily, many coworking offices also provide these benefits, so that’s always an option. Alternatively, if you expect to host multiple meetings a week, renting a small office in a shared building might be worth renting, which will also grant you access to meeting rooms that you can easily pop into at a client’s request.
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04) Your House is Feeling Crowded
Depending on your business model, working from home can see you needing to find space for countless company supplies, which might include:
Products
Stationary
Branded merchandise
Marketing materials
And much more
Considering you also share this space with your family, things could soon get a little overcrowded as your business grows. When you’re stumbling over boxes just to get to the kitchen, it’s probably worth looking at alternative solutions, which, most obviously, could include renting a dedicated storage facility or warehouse space.
Storage facilities are especially great for this purpose when your business is still in its infancy, as they’re an affordable, pay-as-you-go way to keep everything safe and out of the way. Choosing an option close to home also means you can easily head here a few mornings or afternoons a week to pack orders. Many storage facilities also have units of varying sizes, which means that, up to a point, this is a fully scalable solution.
As things continue to grow, you may find that even the largest storage unit isn’t big enough to handle your stock volumes. When this happens, don’t hesitate to invest in a warehouse rental. This outlay probably isn’t as big as you would expect, and it provides you with a reliable, dedicated storage space that’s plenty big enough for everything you need to hold onto. What’s more, the ability to get down to the warehouse on a slow home working day could kickstart your energy more than you might imagine.
05) Your Kids Are Becoming More Self-Sufficient
When you have young kids at home, the lure of a home office is undeniable. This way, you can be on hand for everything from feeding sessions to pickup times and sickness. Yet, as your kids get older, your ties to your home office will also start to loosen. This is especially true if your children can now walk home alone and let themselves in – why not make the most of these new freedoms by taking yourself out of the home office sometimes?
Whether you co-work or take up a regular table at a coffee shop a little further from home, branching out with your business setup will surely see you shaking things up in the best possible way. As your kids grow older still, you could consider things like business retreats that see you refreshing your business outlook through an extended stay. Or, along those same lines, why not head off on a work course that takes you away from the office and helps you see key areas where you could improve your processes as they stand? If it helps your business, then it’s probably a step worth taking!
Final Takeaway
Your home office once gave you the freedom to work on your terms, but it can also become a mental and physical constraint if you never leave it. When you start feeling stuck, uninspired, isolated, or cramped, it’s a clear signal to explore new environments that support your evolving needs.
You don’t need to ditch your home office entirely. But adding variety to your workweek—through coworking, networking, or a simple change of scenery—can help you fall back in love with working from home.
What’s one way you could experiment with stepping outside your home office this month—and what do you think might change if you did?
Whether you work from home or have an office, there are ways to make the most of your small space without breaking the bank. From clever storage tricks to creative DIY projects and frugal furniture hacks, there are so many ways to decorate your office on a budget. Here are five easy ideas for decorating your office on a budget that doesn’t require much investment but will yield impressive results.