I've thought a lot more about my workspace lately. Since moving into the new place especially. And it's something that I'm thinking of bringing more into my blog... maybe the trials and tribulations of life as a freelancer? As I'm sure you'll have noticed from my recent post about planning the perfect office space. And I guess it's weird because in my old flat, I rarely gave my workspace a second thought. Sofa, bed, kitchen table. It didn't really make that much difference to me or how productive I was feeling. I'd quite happily work from bed one day and switch to the sofa the next. But actually since I've moved to my new place, it's been much more important for me to try and keep the places I work from and my relaxation space separate.
Since I went self-employed last year, I've been fortunate enough to not have to work many weekends. But this weekend was different and since my workload meant I had to sacrifice a little of my Saturday, I holed myself up in the office and got to work. And it was sitting tapping away at the desk that I started to think about how much of a huge difference to an office fitout can make to your productivity levels.
For starters, I want to say that our office is less than perfect. But we've got a nice desk, a few bookshelves and even just having the right kind of layout, makes me feel more in the right frame of mind for work. Sure, there's still a few boxes of things that could do with being organised - or thrown away. And maybe it could use a lick of paint (since it's the only room we didn't give a fresh coat to when we moved in), but the overall feel of the place is calm and orderly. Not so calm that you're tempted to take a nap though... which is an important lesson to be learned from why not to work from bed! I wouldn't say it's my favourite room in the house, yet, in a way I guess it shouldn't be. It's much better for me to see it kind of as a serious room. Somewhere I go to be productive, focus on work and gather my thoughts. And it keeps the other rooms in my house more of a neutral zone where I can get away from work and escape the overwhelm of keeping my head in client issues all the time.