DIY Builds
DIY Builds
Photo: Céline
They have been known to increase a house's value by as much as 5-7% assuming they are in a good state of repair, which means that you could probably make a profit on your backyard office shed assuming that you do not spend five-figures on building it!
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Many people find that having their own dedicated office in their backyard is a really positive thing: one which boosts their productivity whilst eliminating their crappy commute! And there certainly are many advantages to it, as we explore in this article. However before you spend thousands of dollars on a fancy backyard office shed, it is worth being aware of some of the flaws of working in one too. No commute: one of the most obvious advantages is that there is no commute: well, unless you count the 30 second walk from your backdoor to your backyard office! The average American commute is 26 minutes each way, amounting to almost 4.5 hours each week. Being able to eliminate this completely is a big benefit in terms of your time, but also your health and bills because you will not be sat in traffic burning gasoline and breathing in other vehicle’s exhaust fumes! This will also lower your stress levels because lengthy commutes and being stuck in traffic is a big cause of stress. Just what you want/need: you can design and build your backyard office in the way that delivers exactly what you want from it (within standard zoning codes, though, of course!). Ever fancied a dedicated sensory room? Bam, you can have it! Or a soundproofed room for conferences (or simply listening to music when taking a break)? You can naturally build what you want, unlike in a big shared office where you are constrained by whatever has been built already. Similarly, you can buy and install the exact technology and IT equipment that you need without needing to fill in a bunch of forms asking for permission to add a server to the office’s network. Being able to build your office how you like it, and install the technology you require, will ultimately help your business to grow and expand faster. Complete focus/higher productivity: we have all worked in noisy, crowded offices where no matter how hard you try to concentrate, someone’s voice seems to rise above all the other noise and interrupt you (even with headphones on!). This is a big annoyance (and yet another cause of work-related stress), and so having your own dedicated office will seem like a utopia in comparison. Being able to completely focus on your work will lead to higher productivity and increase the quality of your work as well. Much cheaper: as we explore in our ‘how much will a custom backyard office cost?’ article, you can get a good quality backyard office for $3,000 or less (sometimes a lot less). Shared (colocated) office space is often $200-300, meaning that the pay-off time for a backyard office can be a matter of months instead of years. This compares very favourably to many big business investments ( CAPEX ) which often has a pay-off time into the years – or sometimes decades! So building a backyard office can often be good business sense, in addition to all the other benefits that it brings. Multi-purpose: an office shed is a great place to be 100% dedicated to your work, due to it being quiet, warm/cool (whichever you prefer) and having all the equipment you need – which probably includes a computer and a big TV. Well, when you take a step back, you have just described the ideal games room as well! A place where your children (…let’s be honest, and you!) can go to chill out and play video games or watch TV in the evenings and on weekends. Aside from a games room, a backyard office is a well-built building, so there is no reason why you cannot have a fold out couch bed which can turn your office into a guest room when required: especially if you install a toilet in your office shed. More flexibility during the day: a big benefit of working from home (be it inside your home, or in your office) is that you can have more flexibility throughout the day. Need to go to the strip mall to collect some items? No problem. Need to organize an all-day delivery, or a contractor to come and do some work on your house? No problem. This is a very useful feature of working form your own property, since it is much better than having to take vacation or personal days to accommodate small errands which sometimes can only be arranged for weekdays. Another benefit is that if you are having an unproductive hour (or an unproductive day!), you can always go for a walk and switch off. This will actually help your subconscious mind to work through any work problems or writers-block issues you are having, and you will often be able to go back to work refreshed and more efficient than if you did not get away from your desk. Climate can be whatever you prefer: some people always seem too cold, some are always too warm. This is a big problem in a shared office: whatever temperature they set it to, at least some people will complain! With your own dedicated office shed, you are fully in control of the internal climate and temperature. Firstly you can build it with the level of insulation you would prefer, but then you can choose when to put on any heating or air conditioning as required. Plus if you want to open a window… you can! Whilst that might sound like a really minor thing, some people in shared offices seem to hate windows being open and complain when people do this. In short, you can be entirely comfortable in your own office shed by having full control of the climate. Less pollution: something not often discussed is that a lot of offices are positioned in busy areas (to be near public transport stops, and in areas where there are lots of car parks). But the downside of this is that there can be lots of noise pollution from these busy areas, along with tailpipe emissions causing pollution from the thousands of vehicles driving past each hour. Research by the MIT in 2013 has said that 200,000 early deaths are caused by air pollution each year. In short, escaping a shared office in a busy location into the sanctuary of your backyard office will lead to you experiencing less noise nuisance and potentially harmful pollution. Be inspired by nature: as we touched on earlier, going for a walk during the day (be it before, after or during ‘work time’) can be a brilliant thing because it allows you to become inspired by nature. Simply stepping away from your desk and experiencing nature can actually benefit your work, too, because any work challenges will still be ticking over in the back of your mind. Having a nice walk and being mindful of the nature around you can also improve your health (both due to the physical benefits, but also your mental health). In short, being stuck behind a desk for 8-10 hours is worse than working 6-8 hours and going for a few walks and experiencing nature! If there are not many nice walking routes near where you live, consider putting up some nature videos on your television. Easier to ‘switch off’ than with home working: some people find that when they are home working (in a room inside their actual house), they can find it hard to switch off from work because they will see that room/area (full of their work) all night and weekend. There is a psychological factor with this, and just seeing work documents can increase people’s stress levels. Having a physical separation between your work and home ‘life’ can really help people to switch off from their work, and start relaxing in their home without seeing work documents everywhere. Increase your home’s value: everyone likes a shed, and a fancy shed which can be used as an office is the same. They have been known to increase a house’s value by as much as 5-7% assuming they are in a good state of repair, which means that you could probably make a profit on your backyard office shed assuming that you do not spend five-figures on building it! Even if the backyard office only increases the value of your property by just 2%, this should cover the build cost of your office (assuming a $200,000 property which would increase in value by $4,000). Prevents house getting cramped: unless you have a large, purpose built house, a home office is usually based in the smallest bedroom or a small downstairs room. The downside of such rooms is that it is very easy for it to become a random storage room, with all those lovely household items which are not used frequently ending up in there! Plus if guests come to stay, you might find your ‘home office’ being converted into a temporary sleeping area. Either way, a dedicated backyard office is harder to turn into an impromptu storage or sleeping area. Wear what you want: this is a general benefit of working from home, although you can naturally wear what you want when working in your backyard office. If you feel cold and fancy wearing a Pokémon onesie, you can (although you might get some weird looks if you have to answer the door of your house)! Or to use a more realistic example, if you tend to be warm, then wearing shorts and sandals will cause no issues – whereas it can sometimes raise some eyebrows in an office environment. Can be self-sufficient: you have complete control over how your backyard office is built, which means that you could always make it eco-friendly. You can use sustainable building materials where possibly, along with putting solar panels on the roof which can store up energy in a battery which your electrical equipment can then run-off (at least partially). You could also add guttering and capture the rain water, and use this for watering your garden. A purpose built office block is very unlikely to be eco-friendly or self-sufficient, so by having a backyard office you are helping to do your bit for the environment.
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