Greetings, from my workspace! This week, I thought it would be fun to include a video tour of my office! You can also click below to hear my voiceover if you aren’t in the mood to read.
Today’s newsletter isn’t just for people who work from home. Do you have a space you pay your bills, or do paperwork, or just to think in peace or for inspiration? This can apply to you.
Comment or send me a message about your favorite feature in your workspace. Mine is my slider that gives me an amazing view of the outside world when I’m inside in writing mode.
Not to brag, but these four walls in my home office have gotten a lot of action.
I’ve worked in here for approximately 2,000 hours. Communication hours logged is probably at the hundreds, with a mix of conference calls, video calls, and thousands of emails and chat messages. One job actually required me to have a landline in here so this office saw more 3-way calls than gossiping teenage girls in the 90s. I also pumped roughly 1 million ounces of breastmilk while at this desk. Just kidding… but it damn well felt like it.
On my little brown couch, I’ve read hundreds of books to my kids during breaks. And this workspace is where I’ve brainstormed, wrote, wrote some more, napped, laughed, screamed, cried, and even quarantined.
My office is my home away from home, even though it’s actually located in my home.
I started working remotely in 2011, long before much of the world was forced to work where we live because of a global virus. In 2020, I watched everyone commit the same work-from-home rookie mistakes I was guilty of a decade prior. Like never getting out of your stretchy pants, or sitting hunched over in your squishy couch for way too long, and eating lunch at your desk.
Real talk though. I am still guilty of all of the above.
But just because I’m a WFH veteran, I still get in a rut. I often change what’s in my office, or need to revamp my habits for better focus and, more importantly, more contentment and motivation. In my longing for a workspace re-do, I decided to ask a couple of experts when it comes to redesign.
Lisa Kavanaugh is the founder of REBELxLABS and cofounder of Surf Your Soul retreats. We worked together many moons ago when she was a CTO of a software company. I remember when she left her executive position to backpack around the world with her husband for a year and I wondered if she’d ever come back (spoiler alert: she did not). It was in this time, her stress-induced ulcers healed and she found what suited her life and needs. She’s now a leadership coach who helps clients redesign their lives and was a digital nomad way before it got super trendy.
“When you sit down to your workspace it should remind you of what you're really up to,” Lisa wrote to me in an email. “I have a client who is passionate about reproductive rights policy and we've been working on how she names the time blocks on her calendar so that when the time comes for that work she is reconnected with her sense of purpose and impact she is making in the world. Shifting your mindset shifts your energy about the tasks, even if you’re sitting doing taxes or some mundane backoffice assignment.”
Lisa splits her time between countries throughout the year but still has a way to feel at home, wherever she goes. She adds:
“For those of us living a more nomadic life it can be a challenge to stay grounded when the environment is constantly changing. I like to keep a small set of things that always travel with me and get unpacked in whatever work space I am in. For me it's my favorite colored markers & pens, my notebook, my essential oils, bach remedies and my favorite teas. No matter where I am I have these things that are ‘my workspace’.”
Lola Archer Pickett founded Catalyzt.co, where she helps clients design their space, style, and mindset. You’ll find her creating visionary space designs, foster mindset alignment and hosting wellness retreats.
Lola’s design approach for workspaces is to think of all the senses. While these may help you stay focused and productive, I believe adjustments to our work spaces can lead to us feeling gratitude for our work. Some of us are in our offices for a long time and now that travel is much more commonplace now, others are working on the go and still need to stay connected.
We need to make our space, no matter where that is, to make us feel good, am I right?!
Here’s a few tips from Lola, some of which I’ve incorporated in my own space.
Include houseplants to help keep the air clear and refreshed.
Use essential oil diffusers or soy-based candles to create a specific aromatherapy scent that triggers your brain to go into work mode. Lola’s faves: rosemary and palo Santo help her stay focused and grounded.
Place a vision board or an inspiration board near your computer for extra motivation on the days when you need a boost or reminder of why you’re working so hard.
Set reminders on your Apple Watch or computer to get up and move, preferably once per hour.
Place a warming coaster for coffee or tea so it stays hot when you get in the groove.
Wearing AirPods or noise cancelling headphones can help with focus, even if you aren’t listening to anything on them. Typically, songs without lyrics are supportive for staying on task. Some of Lola’s favorites from Spotify are Focus House, Aesthetic Lofi, and This is Lofi Fruits Music.
Be at a comfortable temperature, so incorporate a space heater, mini-split, or cozy blankets as needed.
“For me, what goes beyond the physical space is how I design my digital spaces so that I can be effective and efficient both at home and on the go,” Lola
said. “For example: saving and organizing my work files on google drive so that I can access them from anywhere and quickly and easily find them, across devices. Sometimes I use my laptop, sometimes I’m on my iPad or even my phone. I make sure that everything I do is either through iCloud or Google, so that my workflow is seamless and speedy.”
Need more inspiration for great workspaces and desks? Check out where the magic happens with these Substack writers.
Emma Gannon had a great (paid) thread on desk inspo. She’s a great resource on the false notion of productivity and on writing. Free subscribers still get access to some good content:
Katrien is researching our “physical working environment and how that affects our way of collaborating, focussing and our quality of work.” This post made me clean my crumb-filled desk and put away 1/3 of the random items on it that served no purpose in my work.
Two designers share WFH tweaks for better mindset and motivation