It’s incredible how a designated workspace triggers the mind. For years, I had an office. As soon as I sat at my desk — headphones on, music cranked — my mind knew to write.
I imagine many who work from home have a similar routine, and it all comes down to having a designated workspace.
When I moved three weeks ago, I lost my office. It threw me off my game, and I couldn’t fathom why. Had my office contributed that much to my productivity? Or maybe I needed to find a new writing routine.
I tried writing with my MacBook in my lap on the recliner. Squeaked out some words, but nowhere near my daily norm.
I tried the couch. Still didn’t work. My mind kept drifting, my thoughts scattered.
I even tried writing in my bedroom. Still nothing.
As I mentioned, I had an office in my former house. I also had a thinking chair used only for times when I needed to wiggle out of an unexpected plot twist, or how to get from A to B when I zigged instead of zagged. Nature walks aren’t possible during a snowy New England winter, so I couldn’t do that, either.
Not once did I ever use either spot for anything else. I didn’t relax in my office, nor did I unwind in my thinking chair. Separating the two helped my productivity tenfold.
That’s when it hit me—my Ah-ha! moment, if you will.
After thirteen years of the same writing routine, why would I expect the same output when I’d been mashing up my designated spaces? Could I be flexible in how I approach my writing life? Sure, but not before I had a set routine in place.
For me, I needed:
- Designated thinking spot
- Designated workspace
- Designated place for R&R
The above helps to keep me on track and moving forward. Does that mean I can’t write anywhere else once I had a regular writing routine? Of course not. But having a daily routine and designated workspace helps fuel my creativity.
Sure enough, once I separated my writing space, with my wide monitor and headphones in place, the words flowed. Since I can be a bit set in my routine, I also designated a thinking spot in front of a window that faces the woods where wildlife plays.
Am I the only one who needs structure? Do you have a designated workspace? What about a separate thinking spot? Tell us about it in the comments.
***Just FYI: We’re on the tail end of a blizzard, with heavy ice on power lines and trees. I hope we don’t lose power but… who knows?
Hi Sue. I’d be completely thrown if I lost my office. But I wanted to respond to your last comment about losing power. My most recent blog puts the grid’s stability in perspective. It’s a theme in my current WIP. Here’s the blog if you’re curious.
https://geoffreywellsfiction.com/free-radicals-caught-in-the-mesh/
Regards,
Geoffrey.
I was definitely thrown, Geoffrey. Thanks for the link. I’ll check it out.
I moved last year, and for personal reasons my bedroom became my office and had a small desk in it and I wasn’t very productive. I got my office back and I could write more words. I bought the desk at Restore 4-5 years ago for $20. Recently, I thought I might be more productive if I wrote on a Louis XIV desk. I do like bling. I pursued a few examples of this concept but the drawers were wrong. In the end, I updated the knobs on my desk to be blingier and I’m back to writing productively. With rare exception, I cannot write with my laptop on my lap and I need quiet. I feel blessed that I have such a beautiful space to write in.
You are blessed, Alec. “Blingier” cracked me up. Love it!
I like my new writing space, but I do miss my office. But the rest of my new home and environment speaks to me, so I’m happy. 😊
Blingier is my new word.
Sue, you’re not alone. Routines are important to keep me in the writing habit.
My designated work space is the dining room table every morning with coffee. Breaks for walks and zumba are also necessary as R&R and thinking time. While I’m not always thinking at those times, my subconscious is busy and I come back to the computer with new ideas or problems solved.
If I go away for a weekend, I take my laptop but find I rarely get any writing done, except answering emails. That’s probably b/c there’s no established designated workspace in the unfamiliar environment.
Glad you’ve found your routine in your new home! Stay warm, my friend.
Boy, can I relate to walks. In nicer weather, I do my best thinking while walking 3-5 miles a day. February has been so snowy and icy this year. Impossible to walk out there. But I have planned my new walking route. Come on, spring!
I can’t write on vacation, either, though I did find a writing spot on the Massachusetts sea coast where I go for weekend getaways.
In my office, at my desktop with it’s 27 inch screen and a second monitor. Can’t get anything done on my Surface; the keyboard is too small and it messes with my “muscle memory” for typing.
Thinking and R&R can happen just about anywhere.
I can’t use my MacBook keyboard, either, Terry. Too small. I need my full-sized keyboard to really crank out words.
I am a freelancer, so in my study I have one desk for freelance work and a separate desk for “creative” work — i.e., writing. Establishing that separation has been an enormous help. My husband and I have a second home, and I’ve discovered a wonderful library nearby, where I am super productive. I agree full-heartedly, Sue!
You and I are alike, Janet! I had such a difficult time writing true crime/narrative nonfiction in my fiction space. I ended up using a separate desk, and it worked great.
We turned a tiny “formal” dining room into an office for me in our old house. It was right by the front door and the stairs, making for easy distraction. When we downsized to a one-story, we chose a house with 4 bay windows, built-in bookshelves, & an extra bedroom that became my office. I love it so much. We’re out in the country. I sit at my desk & stare out the big windows at a lot filled with trees. Deer occasionally run by. I think, dream, read, and write in this room. My happy, quiet place. As a former newspaper reporter, I can write anywhere and on demand, but this is my nirvana!
I hear you, Kelly! Your office sounds a lot like my old office.
My writing office is also our book room, and the place where I keep a lot of my astro-gear, so it’s a bit of a mad scientist’s lair at the moment.
However, I have a computer hutch with an old flat screen monitor, and my Mac Mini with a blue tooth keyboard and headphones for my music. Above that space is a shelf with various writing and related books, and more in a book case to the right. I have a rollout office desk on the left, and a ninety degree angle to my monitor, which I can swivel in my high-backed gamer chair. It’s where I write in long hand, brainstorm on index cards etc.
The window there faces south, allowing me to see sky and trees over and around the neighbor’s roof.
A crowded space at the moment, but a space to write in.
Having a routine is definitely important to me. I write for an hour before my morning walk with my wife, and then, during the week, an afternoon block of writing time. Saturday and Sunday I write for a couple of hours after breakfast.
Crunch time on a novel is different, of course. Then it’s long hours in the writing room.
Your writing room sounds wonderful, Dale. Chaos is okay as long as it’s organized. My 2c 😂
Your new house sounds wonderful, Sue.
I definitely need structure in my work. I have three laptops, each with its own function. The MacBook Pro is for writing. It has Scrivener loaded on it, and I write in a recliner with the laptop on a laptop stand that fits over my legs and puts everything on the right level.
A second Mac is for our publishing business. It has Vellum loaded on it for books I self-publish. It sits on a slide-out shelf on the left side of my desk.
My Windows laptop sits in the middle of my desk. It’s where I do all the “normal” stuff like emails, social media, etc.
As far as creative thinking, I prefer to be outside, but any kind of aerobic exercise will get my gray cells in motion.
Love that you separate all your tasks, Kay. Thought I was the only one. It helps a lot!
Glad you got your rhythm back, Sue! 🙂
I am blessed with a home office that used to be my mom’s room when she lived with us. We had the area added on to our house for her. Now, it has a loveseat, 3 desks, and also has its own bathroom and closet. I love it. There’s a big window and 3 smaller windows covered with blinds which I rarely open. I like to feel enclosed.
My usual schedule is write in the morning, read in the afternoon, with a walk or two scattered about, and trips to town to see my Dad 3x a week.
Works for me.
Sounds like the perfect routine for you, Deb! And I love that your office used to be your mom’s room. ♥️
I need a dedicated office, and I’m lucky enough to have one with two windows — one with a view of the ocean, the other overlooking the Intracoastal Waterway.
My husband prefers a windowless room for his writing. He says windows are distractions. The system works for both of us.
I need windows, too, Elaine. Nature and wildlife inspire me.
I have an office where I can close out the world, turn on Coffitivity, and write. But I also like to write outside in my backyard. I used to do that with my AlphaSmart, but it finally died. Now I do it on my phone (Google docs) and a wireless keyboard.
It may interest you to know that I’m doing that right now, and in distant tree a murder of crows has gathered. They’re just sitting there. This is the beginning of either a Sue Coletta story, or a Stephen King. I await further developments.
Awww, definitely a Sue Coletta novel! Stephen King, who? 😂😂😂
Love the idea of writing outside, Jim! I’ll have to try it once spring rolls around. Enjoy the murder! 🐦⬛
My only requirement is to be alone, usually in total silence. That said, as soon as it’s warm enough, I’m on my deck with my MacBook., listening to the birds sing.
Weirdly I have a hard time writing at a desk. I think in the back of my mind I associate with when I worked in Corporate America, and writing at my desk always felt like I was breaking a law LOL I am better writing sitting on the couch with my laptop on my lap!
After years balancing the day job and writing space, when I retired, I figured easy-peasy. I’ve got all day to write and nothing to interfere. Except me. I’d established a routine of writing early in the morning, and not I have things I’m doing in the morning. Errands. Places to go. I’ve had to adjust not just my writing place, but my writing time. I managed to do that, but I still struggle when life interferes and I end up going a couple of days without writing. It’s very difficult to get back into routine! (but I’m trying!)
I feel like the resident weirdo here. I lug my laptop around everywhere. I can work anywhere. I don’t even have an office anymore since we moved 7 years ago. I have a corner. I ran away from home a lot when I was a kid and I love to travel. Maybe this is all connected.
When we moved into our West Virginia dream home, we designated the room across from the primary bedroom to be my office. It has a bathroom and direct access to a deck with a view of the forest. I love it.
What I don’t like is my office furniture. I bought it ages ago to accommodate a tower computer. The center desk drawer is actually a keyboard tray. Social media wasn’t a thing yet and I had no need for a webcam and boom microphone.
Now, the laptop I write on resides on that keyboard tray, making it functionally impossible to handwrite something without first closing the screen on the laptop.
Now, I’m the market for a new desk, specially designed for my needs. Elegance is important to me, so that means, in all likelihood, new bookshelves, as well. And, of course, at least two designated sleeping spots for the dog–one of which I used to call *my* soft leather recliner.
I have to have a dedicated writing space. The living room of my 1 bedroom apartment serves as personal home office, work office (for occasional work-from-home days), gynasium & living room. LOL!
I hate using laptops so I have a normal desktop computer hooked up to 2 monitors (I don’t know how I ever survived in the days when you only had 1 monitor). Where my writing computer is situated, I can look out the patio door to take in partial sunrises and sunsets at the right times. I have to have quiet to write.
The only other place I write sometimes is longhand during my lunch breaks at work. If I’m thinking through a story problem, as others have mentioned, taking walks sometimes helps with that.
I’ve tried writing in bookstores or coffee-shop type places but it doesn’t work well for me.
BTW, I agree with others about “blingier” – that should officially be adopted into the dictionary as a new word. 😎