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Life at the cottage doesn’t need to wait for vacation time or retirement. Remote working has quickly become a popular option for many working professionals. This number will likely continue to grow, with Forbes estimating 70% of the workforce working at least partially remote by 2025.
With the option to work from home becoming more of a reality, many workers find themselves weighing the pros and cons of life beyond the city limits. By removing the need to commute daily, suddenly, with just some internet access, you can perform your tasks from the comfort of your home office.
Swapping out the fast pace of the city for the cottage can be a life-changing experience, and Muskoka is one of the most popular places to buy cottages in Ontario. But if you’re considering making the jump to working from the cottage, here are some tips on how to set up your remote workplace.
While the cottage is a great place to relax and unwind, you’ll still be working. As those who already work from home may attest, it can become easy to find yourself distracted. Dedicating a workspace within your secondary home or cottage can help keep your focus. Preferably this space should be a dedicated room such as an office or spare bedroom. By doing so, you won’t be constantly reminded of work once you clock out and to help resist the urge to relax a little too much when working.
While your workplace should be separate from your home, that doesn’t mean you square yourself away in a dark corner or basement. After all, you’re likely going to spend most of your weekdays stationed at your desk, so you might as well enjoy the views. Thankfully, having access to beautiful scenery is not a rarity in this region. Having a great view paired with access to the most incredible outdoor environment has been proven to improve your focus, mood, short-term memory, and inspiration. This is known as biophilia and is recognized by many large-scale companies like Google, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, who all now incorporate the outdoors into their office architectures due to the proven results.
Whether your view is trees, a lake, golf course, or pool, having a room with a view of the natural landscape will allow you to enjoy your workspace and seek inspiration while you sip your coffee in between conference calls.
To avoid distractions, when setting up your cottage home office, be mindful of sounds. The cottage life is often about peace and quiet, but the busy summer season can become lively, especially if your cottage is on the lakefront where boating, waterskiing, and other fun and activities can be present during the day.
Sounds can travel through your home as well, so choosing a room that is separate from the main living area can be wise. If possible, adding soundproofing to your walls can add sound privacy when that is not an option. In addition, avoiding noise distractions such as laundry machines buzzers or the sound of cartoons from the living room is likely to improve your productivity and lessen disturbances from other rooms.
Carpeting the space and surrounding rooms and halls with rugs and runners can help to absorb travelling sounds, as can other cottage office furniture like fabric chairs and couches.
Soundproof paint is a modern product that helps reduce the travelling of sound both in and out of your cottage office space.
Regarding outside noise, updating your windows, or even just the insulation and stripping around them for more modern and effective ones, can help to cancel out any outside sound.
Finally, one of the most cost-effective ways to provide soundproofing to your cottage home office is to use sound masking to your advantage. Try masking external sounds with ambient noises such as soft music, white noise machines, or nature sounds like rivers or forests to match the theme of your cottage lifestyle.
Arguably the most important requirement of working remotely if you are going to plan a move up north this year is a stable internet connection. After all, if you’re going to connect with your online office, you need to be online! Therefore, it is important to consider all internet options in your area to get the quickest speeds for a better experience.
A good connection can be harder to come by in a more remote cottage location, so it’s a great idea to research which internet providers service the area to ensure your wi-fi and cell service are reliable and not causing a drop in connection during important meetings.
Having a backup power supply available is also something to consider among your cottage office ideas. Inevitably you will encounter some harsher weather conditions in Muskoka which have potential to cause power outages, leaving you disconnected from your workplace.
If you’re looking for a cottage for sale in Muskoka, you’re not alone! Since the pandemic, Muskoka has become even more of a popular destination for those from the city to seek cottage living. By July of last year, the region had already seen an increase of 30% YTD since the start of 2021. And there’s a good reason for this! The Muskoka region offers many neighbourhoods that offer peace natural beauty and is located only a few hours north of Toronto which makes it an easy commute if necessary.
If you’re considering moving to the Muskoka region, whether it’s for retirement, vacation homes, or to find a more inspiring remote workplace, we’ve got you covered.
Our team of Muskoka realtors can help you find your dream property, whatever your needs may be.
Contact us today to begin your adventure cottage living in the beautiful Muskoka region.