We’ve been talking about productivity on this site quite a bit. Nacie wrote a great post on 18 ways to improve your productivity, AC wrote about evaluating your personal work preferences in terms of environment and work approach, and I previously tackled the time-management matrix. When you’re freelancing, your income is directly dependent on the amount of work you produce. There’s no set salary for you to rely on. And while working from home definitely has its advantages, it can also be really hard to stay focused. Time-management skills are crucial, and so is being aware of your personal work habits and your most productive times of day. But to perform at your personal best, never underestimate the importance of a well-organized, comfortable workspace.
In an effort to figure out what works best for me in terms of work environment, I spent some time this past week playing around with different settings. I was having difficulty focusing in the corner of my bedroom that serves as my office, so I decided to take my boyfriend’s laptop to a café/used book store downtown. The place was very quaint, and at 11:30 in the morning, there were several small groups of senior citizens clustered around the tiny tables. I was having no trouble envisioning myself as a regular there, one of those writers who sit at the coffee shop all day, an endless supply of lattés at their elbows. That fantasy was quickly shattered when I remembered how much I hate working on laptops. I just can’t focus while hunched over a tiny screen with an instrumental version of Rick Springfield’s Don’t Talk to Strangers playing a little too loudly over the sound system.
When that experiment failed, I accepted the fact that I am just going to have to figure out a way to be productive at home. That means somehow crafting an efficient environment out of the space that I have to work with. First, I got rid of all the clutter on my side of the bedroom. I scooted some furniture around to give myself a little more breathing room. I bought some desktop organizers and got all my stuff put away. Then I went out and bought a new desk chair — a vast improvement over the folding-chair-and-lopsided-cushion combination I’d been using. All of these seemingly minor adjustments can make a huge difference. If you aren’t comfortable in your workspace, if you feel disorganized or distracted in any way, your productivity can suffer tremendously.
The bottom line is, I can’t tell you what the perfect workspace is. While I get distracted by background noise, AC said she likes coffee shops, and Nacie likes background music. The trick is to figure out what works for you. And that may be different from what works for you in a traditional office setting. You may need to play around with different elements, and it may take some time to figure things out. But don’t be afraid to try different things — you may be surprised at what you discover.
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Strange as it seems, early morning in my home office is most productive administratively. Sometimes in the mid-afternoon I will get out and take a walk to a nearby restaurant (usually Sizzler) with good old fashioned pen and paper in hand and sit for at least two hours and write. The salad bar is right there energizing the body and then I walk back home with the ideas still energizing the mind. When I get home I input everything I have written and take the time to do any research I need to do and continue writing for another 2 or 3 more hours or whatever it takes to finish what I’m working on.
That schedule sounds absolutely divine! I love writing while out at a restaurant, there is something really unique about it. I think you point speaks to the value of thought food and also exercise. Physical energy is key to optimizing creativity!