One workplace for two people
At home we have 2 bedrooms, the smaller room is designed as an office with a big desk, a docking station for the laptop, connected with 2 big screens and a printer. There is enough room for the keyboard, mouse etc, and even enough space to write down notes if you want to. I never had a workplace as ergonomically as this one in my life.
My boyfriend is used to having these tools available from working at the office and when he had his own business in the past. I never really thought about the fact that having two screens would be convenient. It just never crossed my mind until he brought that up. For a while, we used two different screens in the office, because they were both gifted to us, knowing two other identical ones would be placed months later. It was not ideal, but it was doable.
The office is first meant for my boyfriend's work, and whenever he doesn't need to sit there because a job isn't remote or he isn't working, I can use the office for my work.
It's not ideal having only one workplace for the both of us
I've thought about the fact that I could create another workplace in the other bedroom for myself, but then I'd have to buy a docking station, two screens, a mouse and keyboard as well, on top of that, my boyfriend would first have to pass on his current laptop to me because mine doesn't even fit on a docking station. Read: this is all way too expensive as the desk and chair needed aren't even taken into consideration. I could use the old screens we still have, saving costs, but when you think about the fact that we will be moving countries next year, it just doesn't make much sense and adds to the things I need to arrange (selling stuff/see if we can take it with us).
Out of office
I always get happy whenever he unexpectedly tells me honey, I'm out of office so you can sit there. It's so much better sitting in a decent position, having a very decent keyboard and two (big) screens in front of you. Especially if you're like me and doing several things at once quite often, you can just do the typing on one screen, and keep an eye on the other using the other screen. Ideal!
Normally, when a day goes smooth, and no weird things happen, at the end of the afternoon, I can use the office for my work, and some days it's a bit later in the evening. Usually, as soon as he's done he goes inside focusing on the little lady who wants his attention, so that I can work in peace in the office. As I can plan my own time, and are not bound to office hours, this is fine and usually works great. Yes, I admit, I would prefer being able to sit in the office during kindergarten hours over sitting at the dinner table with my laptop in a not so great position, BUT at least I have a place to sit, it's just not meant for many hours as my back will kill me at some point.
Friday I got lucky
My boyfriend was planning on starting later on Friday because he finished working late at night. It was a good moment to deal with a little issue he got with the health insurance, they rejected his request to pay for the health insurance himself (long story). We know this means, being sent back and forward probably 10x if not more. You need a long breathe, and stay calm to get things done here. He decided to go and get this done today, meaning I had the office to myself!
I didn't expect him to be away for more than two hours as I knew the first office he went to was opened in the morning only today. So I immediately started writing the article I wanted to publish that day. At one point, I was done, and there was no sign of him returning, so I continued writing. This one really needed to be written in the office as I would need to find images and as it's a long read, a bigger screen is preferred anyway to be able to see the layout and not miss anything while making edits. This took me quite some time to finish, but I was surprised to read that he was at office number 4 and counting, so I knew I could still continue working in the office.
I even forgot to eat breakfast
When I'm in the flow, it feels so nice and I totally forget that I was supposed to eat breakfast, discovering this at lunchtime when I felt low on energy. So no breakfast for me, I was going to prep lunch instead. I put a few potatoes in the oven so that I could continue working, and cooked some veggies when the potatoes were almost done. This way I could maximize my time in the office. By the time my lunch was ready, I finished article number 3 and decided that I'd publish that one first because it was in another community than the first one of the day.
Lunch
At 1 pm I ate my lunch and by that time I heard that things were coming to an end, he was almost done and it was probably fixed by the time he left there. Glad he got it all sorted out, nice job just before the weekend! He said he'd have lunch there in the area, which was perfect for me as it gave me an extra hour probably before he returned home. In that hour, I managed to write article number 4, later that evening, I managed to write the next one for the biggest part as well. With that added, it must have been the most productive day of the year for me.
A good workplace is getting me in the flow
Not only does a good workplace mean that I'm working at a desk, sitting in a chair at a good height, meaning my body is thankful for that, it also means that the environment is triggering me to be productive. There are not many moments that I'm sitting here and just browsing online or watching Youtube, while at my own laptop, it happens daily that I realize that I'm consuming once again rather than producing. And whenever that happens, I feel stupid and dumb, for wasting my own precious time! I get caught in the flow of non-productivity because of the environment and things around me that trigger me so easily. It's a shame because after Friday, I once realize that I can move mountains, and that I CAN actually get a lot of stuff done that I planned, I just need a little bit of help by the right environment to start with.
How to proceed from here?
Instead of trying to write articles in the living room sitting at the dinner table, I will now see if I can manage to force myself to NOT do that anymore, and only use that place to sit down and have a chat with someone, browse online when I need to find something, or comment on some articles I read. I will try to use that time I normally waste for creative purposes, so that when my boyfriend is done in the office at the end of that day, I can switch to writers-mode and do my work in a decent work environment instead.
After all, there is still so much creative work to do for me, as I'm working on a few gifts for example, and maybe just may, this time can also be used to allow myself to draw digitally in Krita again. I almost forgot that I was learning about this software as I got caught up in other things, that it's actually a shame I never touched my drawing tablet again. I do need peace and quiet around me for creative projects, so when thinking about this, I realize that using the kindergarten time is actually perfect for me to work on creative things as I have no distractions around me from my daughter (or boyfriend, lol).
Conclusion
With the end of this article about the need for a decent workplace, I even came to other realizations, which is great! It confirms once again that it truly helps my mind to be productive and see things clearly when sitting in the right environment.
Sometimes it's not possible to have a decent workplace, due to little space in your home, or other reasons. I know all about it, trust me! I've had worse places to work on as well, and I remember having constant neck and back aches. My tip to you when you do have the option to create a better work environment is, do it! Your body will be grateful if you do. For years, I had no back and neck aches and was laughing when my boyfriend told me this is not good for you, sitting like this, until years later, I started to have continuous pains in my neck and back. I even had eye migraines (didn't know that was a thing until I had it).
Be good for your body by allowing yourself to have a good ergonomic workplace if you can, and hopefully you can enjoy it as much as I can!
Do you have your own office at home (in case of office work)? And have you made sure it's a good environment to be productive? Or maybe you don't have such thing or don't think you need it? Please leave a comment, I'm curious about your personal situation regarding work.