As I just completed week 13 working remotely from home – a quarter of a year! – and no end of that in sight so far, I’ve decided I need some semblance of an office to work from. My actual home office is just that – mine! Not my job’s. It’s where I write my books, where I doodle notes, where I browse online.
I’ve been doing my day job as managing editor of Gannett Media’s newsroom in Plymouth, Massachusetts, from our dining room table these 13 weeks. And that’s gotten old. Both for me (it’s feels so temporary) and for my wife (I get the distinct feeling she’d like some more her time when home normally alone :). So I’m setting up a work office in the basement. I had intended to make a small summer writing area there anyway. It’s cool and comfortable. It’s next to my little workout area, which hasn’t had much company lately – I’m planning to be inspired to hop on my stationary bike for a break, or stretch those dormant resistance bands. We have the perfect small, tall writing table with the perfect tall, cushioned swivel stool. The one basement window – yes, the one with bars across it – will be to my left, so I will have a view. Sort of. Well, a little light anyway. The main thing is, it won’t be the dining room table.
Change is good, right?
And I love to organize. I’ll set up my little work station just so, which, knowing me, could well inspire me to reorganize further along, even my nearby work bench (how it gains clutter amazes me). Organizing has its own worthy end result, but just the act of organizing makes me feel like I’m doing something useful with my time. It’s relaxing diversion.
My home office, however, remains my creative place, where I write between 4 and 7 in the morning each day (my daily me time, though sometimes I sleep in till 5). Once my wife comes to, and I take her wake-up coffee, I conclude my writing activities, copy files, browse the news, and then shut it down. Time to prepare for that day job. And now that means I’ll give my wife a kiss goodbye and head to the basement. I think that will be a little adventure!