Make your work space work for you
We spend so much time in our work areas, they need to be functional and give us those productive, take over the world kind of vibes. If your work area leaves you feeling bored, tired, closed in, or any other of the number of negative feelings, it's time to make a change! You need a work area that makes you feel like the magical creative genius that you are!
When looking for a new desk, I couldn’t find something that fit in my space and worked in the way to fit my specific needs. Recently I’ve completely renovated my office space, including building my own desk and work table. I share the office with my husband when he is at home, so I needed something functional and pretty. In the end, designing and building my work areas inspired me to get things done. When your office is in a shared room and you spend as many hours as I do at my desk, it needs to not only look great, but make you feel great, too!
When designing these areas led to a lot of thinking about what I really want (and quite the mess in my house and garage for a few days). I needed a functional area that wasn't ugly, but that didn't make me feel like I was working in a cubicle, either. I have my desk for my graphic design business, it doesn't take up too much space and it's fairly easy to organize my must-have-in-arms-reach items. But I am also a creative at heart with a plethora of crafting supplies. Having to make the most of the area that I had led me to use some of my supplies as decorations. Now, not only are things organized, but displayed in a way that inspires me to create new works of art.
Here are some things that I had to ask myself to find out what I wanted in a workspace:
How much room do I have? - take measurements of your area and your furniture. Don't forget wall space, too. This can help you later. You can make a to-scale paper cut out of your area and furniture and move things around on paper instead of lugging around heavy furniture. This helps a lot with time, too. If you do the paper moving first, you don't spend the time moving and re-moving furniture. Don't forget a safe place for your favorite coffee mug.
What do I need in my work area? This is tricky. Our brain tells us often that we need ALL THE THINGS, but we don't, really. What is more important here is that we have the necessities, but don't overcrowd our area, impeding the workflow process. So, along with this question goes, "What can I do without?" I have ADHD, so I need to reduce distractions. This is a personal choice, but one I have found to be quite helpful. I have a few sentimental items on my desk that I keep as reminders of WHY I'm working my tuckus off. Other than that, though, I try to be minimalistic.
Where can I put this where it will be most easily accessed? This too, is a personal preference and a big one. I can't tell you what will work best for you, but maybe I can help you think about it. But when organizing my furniture, I thought about it in great detail. The power button for my printer is on the left side. So it needed to go to the right of my desk so that I could easily reach it. The Dymo sits on a shelf above my monitors so that I can reach it, but it isn't taking up valuable desk space. The desk and my button table sit in an L so that I can easily move from one work space to the other. I have a hook on the side of my desk that holds my headphones/mic. I have plastic file holders screwed in to the right side of my desk so that the current files can be "slid" off, but still right there when I need them. The goal here being that I need to keep a tidy (looking) desk and still have access to the things I need the most. The printer sits on a filing cabinet so that even old files aren't too far away (I keep home files in the top drawer and business files in the bottom). Being my home office, this area just isn't for work, it is for home stuff, too. That makes things tricky sometimes, but we can manage.
Don't forget the feel good stuff! Use your wall space and "wasted" space to decorate. The parts of the wall that aren't used for bulletin boards, calendars, or otherwise make great space to put the decorations that make you feel awesome. Feeling awesome in your space is part of what makes you awesome!
We've talked about space, distractions, and personal preferences, but when it comes down to it, it's all about what works best for you. Your work area may not be a desk and table. You could have tons of precious stones that need to be organized, 5 different sewing machines to use, a plethora of paint to sort, or piles scrap metal waiting to be morphed into the sculpture that changes the world. Whatever your challenges are, you can get a good head start on your area with these three questions. Organize your tools the best that you can. I have a love affair with organizational products and always try not to spend a ton of money on "new" organizing tools - better to work with what I already own, first. Sometimes this means repurposing and sometimes it serves as a means of sorting stuff for a truck load of donations.
Remember, this space is YOURS! You can make it functional, gorgeous, practical and amazing. Even if you don't get it right the first time, rearranging is always an option! What are some tips you can give others to help make the most of their space?