What Are The Benefits of a Garden Office When Working From Home

Many of us have been working from home throughout the pandemic and whilst some of us are now returning to our offices, others are choosing to continue with remote working. A recent study found that 37% of millennial and Gen Z workers are struggling to maintain a work-life balance. If that sounds familiar, then a garden office could help massively to reduce the pressure and help you keep work separate from home. If you’re considering a garden office, then have a look at our great garden office ideas.

The ideal solution for a permanent switch to remote working could be a garden office. Recent stats show that many home workers are now retreating to the garden, transforming their outdoor spaces to include a vibrant workspace. But what are the benefits of a garden office as opposed to an office inside the home?

A garden office will likely be better for your mental health as well as your productivity. It will also keep the work clutter outside of your house and give you back some space inside. A garden office also usually adds value to your home. Let’s take a closer look at some of these benefits so that you can decide if it’s worth adding a garden office to your outdoor space.

1. Bring Back the Commute

This sounds crazy, because I don’t think the commute is something that anyone missed over the course of lockdown! But a Microsoft report suggests that our lack of commute has actually had a negative impact from us. They state that the commute provides blocks of uninterrupted time, which we use to mentally transition to and from work. This is an important aspect of wellbeing and productivity. Without a routine for ramping up for work and then winding down, people are finding that they’re emotionally exhausted at the end of the day.

So how could a garden office help with that exhaustion? Having a garden office means that even though you might not have a long way to go, you’re still making yourself physically step out of your house to start work. If you just extend your living room or spare room, you’re likely to stay in them after 5pm comes around, which makes it harder to switch off. A garden office is your own workspace, meaning the distractions of family life don’t enter it either.

2. Nature is Good for Mental Health

You should make sure your garden office has large windows giving you a beautiful view of your garden. We all get distracted during the workday at times. It’s far better, mentally speaking, to look out of a window and enjoy the natural views than to reach for our phone to check on our social media. This will probably encourage you to keep your garden well maintained too – double win! Keeping your office outside of the house means you won’t be distracted by doing chores like the laundry and washing up too.

Whether you’re in town or country, there’s always some form of nature that can be enjoyed in our gardens, and the mindfulness and tranquillity that nature brings can play a huge part in our day-to-day wellbeing. As a result, we can feel less stressed by the everyday pressures of work.

3. It Adds Value to Your Home

Depending on where you are and the nature of your garden office you could add significant resale value to your property. A garden office is usually less expensive than a typical extension on your home, as well as being far less invasive work to undertake. You could add around 5-10% onto the total value of your property with a well-constructed garden room. Which in the end far outweighs the cost of the installation? You don’t usually require planning permission for a garden office either (depending on size) so that takes a lot of the hassle out the process. You can download a planning permission guide but most authorities are not too restrictive and most standard size garden offices are fine.

So, does a garden office sound like a good solution for you?

Written by Justin Williams, Director of Nordic Garden Buildings a trading style of Modplan Ltd.