Karl Oscar Weber

You need your own Space to effectively work from home

You need your own Space to effectively work from home

Today my wife and I decided to reorganize our little room. It's five of us in a 12x12 foot square. Three beds in one room proved to be too much, So we decided to put our 2 year old's bed into storage. Children are obedient to their parents, our little boy was not angry, but a little sad to see his bed disassembled and put into storage.

After Cleaning up the room and putting everything in it's place our son was happy to see that his bed was nestled next to his toy box in a new part of the room. "MY BED!" he exclaimed. Overjoyed to see his bed in it's proper place again He immediately layed there to hug his stuffed animals, A big soft elephant, and two identical ikea bears that he's named Dabu. His mood was immediately improved to find that he had his own space again.

If my little boy could immediately recognize the value in having a place that was his alone, then surely there must be something of great value there. Children have a skill of recognizing the really important things in life. Let me share what I believe a space needs to be effective when working from.

Personal.

Whether it be a desk, a room, a bed, or a couch, whatever you choose to be your space needs to be controlled and maintained by you. Choose your own chair and desk. Decide where to put your furniture, what your furniture is, and exactly how it's organized. By maintaining a sense of control over your surroundings you'll also feel a sense of stewardship.

Your personal space should be a place that you feel comfortable exploring new ideas. Making it your own is essential to that plan. Sometimes you'll want to take a break, having a good book nearby, and reading it, helps me to be inspired and focused on work.

Respected.

For a short time we had my small desk in our little room. It was a bad idea. It quickly became the dump spot for everything out of place. Nothing is quite as discouraging than to find my desk covered in someone else's stuff.

Your space needs to be respected by your family. Recognized that it's special and that not anybody can just dump there. If you live alone then it is you that must respect your space. It's got to always be a place of thinking, study, and work. By working there and not playing there, you'll always be productive in your spot.

Clean.

They say that cleanliness is next to godliness, and they would be right. Having a clean and organized workspace is distraction free. Working from home is still working, and it doesn't work if we can't work. Having a clean workspace doesn't necessarily mean an uncluttered workspace, but one where everything has a place.

My little desk has a built in drawer. I keep a notebook, a programming book, and a typography book inside. I also have my scriptures. There is a box filled with stickers in there too. From time to time I slap one onto my laptop just for fun. Everything I keep close has its place and has a purpose, and that's how I like to keep it.

I hope that you were inspired to keep your workspace personal at home. Perhaps you have some new ideas, or a renewed vigor to improve your workspace, at least I hope that you remember to respect your space to keep it special.

Cheers.

You need your own Space to effectively work from home.