Creating a Work Space

I woke up bright and early this morning with pep in my step and a peaceful easy feeling in my heart. I have the privilege of working from home, setting my own pace, getting the work done within the parameters required but doing it in a space that is my own. My office. I love it.

I didn't take those thoughts and immediately step into my work day. Instead, I sat and had coffee with them. I read the archives of my blog and found the recurrent theme I have been writing about ever since I started writing here. Home is where my heart is. Finding a way to work from home and making our house work for me has been my guiding light ever since my youngest was born.

My ventures of working-out-of-our-home since that time have been filled with angst. Opening my daycare and learning how to set boundaries, creating a space conducive to the job at hand and feeling in control of my environment has been my recipe for contentment.

I can go back to my days as a teller at the beginning of my work-life. The year was 1988. The lesson was "your work space mirrors how you think". Create a work space you are comfortable with, have everything you need at hand, keep it organized, free of clutter and you can do your job better. 

That has been my credo since the beginning of my work life. I kept a meticulous teller wicket. I remember the angst I felt when I had to work from someone else's work space. I haven't changed a bit.

When I opened my daycare, I followed the guidelines set out for me as a teller: Create a work space you are comfortable with, have everything you need at hand, keep it organized and free of clutter and you can do your job better. 

This worked like a charm. I organized my house like I organized my teller wicket. I created a space my daycare family was comfortable in, everything I needed to do my job was close at hand, my daycare family assisted in keeping things organized as they soon learned everything had its spot and if we all worked together on it, they would know exactly where to find the toy they were looking for. It was a team effort. And it worked. 

Any time I worked out of the house after that point, I felt like a fish out of water. Working in the attic space doing the book work I had been hired to do out of my home was probably the best scenario of all. I was still in control of my work space. But I lost control of everything else. 

Now, working from home, setting up my work space and creating a place I am comfortable with, having everything I need at hand, organizing it and keeping the clutter to a minimum has reinstated a sense of calm within me. I'm home again.

When working in someone else's work space, I respected the environment they had created. "This is what works for them" was my constant thought. I wouldn't want someone coming in and changing my space. So I respected the boundaries and tried to adapt.

Adapting and making something work depletes me. I did my best. Over and over again. I was doing my best but it wasn't the best I could be. Until now. 

My office space is simply that. An office. It isn't convertible to a guest room. It is a work space with all the tools I need to make that space work for me. It feels as heavenly as a work place can feel. It is awesome.

I must step into my work day and it will be a day filled with things that must be done. The work table is filled to capacity with projects I must tend to. And there is an overflow on my desk. Priorities are in order. There is time and space to do what has to be done. There is SO much to be done. Yet I don't feel overwhelmed. 

I have created a work space I am comfortable with, I have everything I need at hand, it is organized and free of clutter. Now I can do my job better. 

Onward!

My work day awaits