Leigh was a single mother with a stressful job and two young children. After attending Making a Living Without a Job, she knew that self-employment was the answer for her. She quit her job, purchased a vending machine route and tripled its sales within two months. Once that was in order, she started her next profit center, buying and renovating houses. Not only did she find that she was spending more time with her kids, she also got them involved in her business as much as possible.
One day Leigh and her children went to visit a friend who had moved into a large new house. The friend took them on a room-by-room tour of the house proudly showing off each room. When the tour ended, Leigh’s 5-year-old daughter looked at her quizzically and said, “Mom, where’s the office?”
Leigh’s daughter is not the only one who assumes that a home should have an office. Glossy magazines now feature layouts of slick home offices. Builders of upscale homes are including an office in their plans. Trendspotters tell us that this work-at-home lifestyle is not a passing fad. (For some home office inspiration, check out these photos from the LA Times.)
Whether your work space is a studio, a rented office or a card table set up in a corner of your bedroom, efficiency is only one of the requirements. Your working space needs to be inviting, a place where you function easily surrounded by things you love and find inspiring.
It’s obvious that most of us do not duplicate the corporate cubicle look when we set out to design our personal working space.Gray and gloomy may be an appropriate backdrop for corporate workers, but home workers like to spice things up a bit. Color, personal objects, music, incense, fountains, and toys are apt to be part of the new entrepreneur’s decorating style.
Chances are, you’re reading this on your office computer. So take a look around. Does your office reflect your power and vision, or does it resemble a junk room with a desk? Are there objects, pictures and words that lift your soul? Is it easy to find things or do you waste precious time going through piles of papers?
Does entering your office make you smile? It should, you know. This is your laboratory, your creation center, your idea place. So listen to Vivaldi, light some incense, get a fountain, paint the walls terra cotta, hang a poster from your favorite movie, or do whatever brings you joy. It’s a one-of-a-kind creation and you’re the beneficiary. Make it both beautiful and useful.
You and I have within us the creative intelligence to recognize the conditions that support our growth towards self-actualization, and we have the wherewithal to place ourselves in such an environment. ~ Stewart Emery
Hi Barbara,
The timing of this post is uncanny. I’ve been in a bit of stalemate with my office of late – and was still inspired by your January post on home offices and feng shui believe it or not. But I was wishing for a small miracle to get me out of this rut until a friend came to visit. He was enamored with my office and studio – he couldn’t get enough of it and was amazed at all the eye candy that I have around.
Just seeing my space through his eyes has re-inspired me to make peace with my space – but I’m still going to make it prettier too! Thanks for all your inspiration – yet again!
Joyfully & Joblessly Yours,
Janit
Oh, another pair of eyes can be so helpful! I also just read your Tweet about your flood of orders. Yeah, springtime!
Barbara,
I agree what a difference making your office inviting can make! I used to have my walls painted faux painted in an “interesting” but dark, cave like brown. My desk faced the wall and I hated going in there. I would always bring my work into the other rooms of the house and spread it around. I painted the walls yellow, took the window coverings off, faced the desk to look outside from our living room and put some beautiful red fabric on the desks with glass over it. It feels so much better and energizing. What a difference! Now if someone could just stop putting all those piles of paper on my desk!
We should have an office makeover contest. And I have the same issue with paper piles. What I know is that “out of sight, out of mind” and so conventional filing doesn’t work in all instances.