Career Advice: Updating Office Space
For me cultivating a relaxing, serene office space is an integral part to providing me the focus needed to complete and execute the tasks at hand.
Truthfully, I was diagnosed ADHD, so my attention span leaves much to be desired. For me, I need a clean and tidy space to allow my brain the calm to proceed. If not, the chaos in my brain will spill out and lead to 2 hours of zero progress.
You might ask what that translates to in real life.
I keep very few items on my desk, as each added object is one more distraction to steal my attention. Typically, my desk has my diffuser, phone/air pod mag safe charger, office phone, calculator, and scanner. Depending on the day, stragglers make their appearance too such as my journal, water cup, and coffee cup.
I cultivate a serene atmosphere in my workspace by utilizing both sight and smell. I have paintings and smell that provide me a sense of calm and happiness. I showcase pictures of my husband and daughter to provide me the reason to go on, especially on the hard days.
I clean my desk daily including a quick vaccum and wipe down of surface. My sister in laws, who work for me, laugh that they know I am trying to focus, when I close the door and they can hear the handheld vaccum turn on. Futhermore, similar to people suggesting putting your house to bed, I try to put my desk to bed each day before I leave. This means, the only papers would be important for the next day for either myself or staff.
I work with as little paper as possible. I scan receipts daily, then put them in shred box. When reviewing client provided document or work by my staff, I opt for PDF. The highlighter function is just as satisfying as in real life.
Recently, I transitioned this philosophy to my home office as well. As a birthday present to myself, I customized our home office with the help of a handyman/client. Our previous set up was a combination of a bookcase set and our previous home's dining table which we transitioned to a desk. However, the table took over a massive amount of space in the room, making it difficult to increase the sleeping spaces when we have multiple guests. As instead of adding a foldable queen bed, a twin was a better fit. Plus, my favorite reading chair was taking up too much space in the cramped room. Making the room feel cramped even with a minimal furniture item amount. To accomplish my goal of a serene atmosphere, we cut down the table to a true desk size, allowing us the middle of the room free, while still providing enough space for a reading chair to full swin without hitting any items. Also, I changed the book case decor to be more simplistic, and not occupying every square inch. Finally, I picked the perfect light blue for the bookcase refresh that truly drove the point home. Now, I have a customized built in office that is the space of my dreams. Whether I need to work into the night, or read in the morning, I can accomplish it all without distractions in tranquility.
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