Here at Fast Haul, we do a lot of backyard clear outs for folks who have gardens that have simply become overgrown. Once you’ve reconquered your personal outdoor space, there are lots of things you can do with it, including turning it into a home office. Find out more in this week’s guest post:

You probably think of your garden as somewhere you go mostly to relax, and you are probably focused mainly on making it beautiful as a result – perhaps with some space for the kids to kick a ball around.

But actually gardens don’t just have to be used on the odd occasion that you get time to yourself – you can actually perform many of your regular tasks and activities in the garden, and doing so will actually help you to feel more relaxed more of the time and to boost your health too.

And the holy grail of this must surely be taking your laptop outside and doing your job out there. If you ever bring home work with you, or if you are self-employed, then you will probably spend a lot of your time in a home office working away and might find yourself getting a little stir-crazy from time-to-time as a result. Imagine then being able to take your laptop outside, to kick back with your feet up and soak up some sun with a glass of juice next to you and to enjoy typing away to the sound of birds while everyone else sits in a cramped office.

Well that’s the dream, but actually it’s perfectly possible if you know how to make the most of your tech and your garden space. Read on and we’ll look at how you can work outside and be just as productive as you would inside – only hugely more relaxed and at ease.

Obstacles and Requirements

Before you can think about working outside, there are some minimum requirements that you need to consider. The first of these is of course power: while you might be able to charge your laptop most will only get you four or five hours before you need to plug in so it’s easier just to have a socket outside. The next is WiFi – mostly your broadband should reach your garden, but if it doesn’t then you should look at moving the box or investing in a booster.

Still with these things in place though there are a few issues to consider: dust and dirt getting on your laptop is one issue, as is having a comfortable position to lean, as is combating glare from the sun and not being a slave to the weather.

Office Pods

One way around these is to use something that’s becoming increasingly more popular at the moment: the office pod. This is essentially a small self-contained unit that you can place at the end of your garden. Normally this will utilise a minimalist design and a lot of glass so that you can enjoy the convenience of an office while at the same time feel as though you’re outside and away from the clutter and stress of your actual office.

Of course though not everyone can afford to build an ‘office pod’ in their garden unfortunately, so you might have to look into other options…

Approximations

So how do you build an office pod without building an office pod? Well one answer is to use a pop-up shelter which is much cheaper and more versatile but can still give you protection from outside while letting you keep the doors open either end.

Of course whether you are under shelter or not, you will also want a table to lean on and a chair so that you are at a comfortable height. Additionally you should invest in some kind of light for working when it’s dark, and perhaps a heater to warm you up.

If you don’t use a shelter then you might still have an issue with glare, in which case you may be able to use a glare protector (or just buy a device with a great anti-glare screen built in). In the future though you will be able to use an e-ink display for most of your tasks. E-ink tablets and smartphones running Android are already being developed, and once hooked up to a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse they should let you do most of the work you would normally do on a computer.

Finally, add a few finishing touches such as a water feature or a fish tank and you can make this a truly serene and relaxing place to get your work done.

Today’s guest author, Robert Jenkins, is a part of the team at Rhino Shelter, a company dealing in temporary shelters. He is a complete movie buff and he enjoys watching the latest releases with his family when he gets free from work.