AD – This is a paid advertorial but all thoughts are my own
So… I have some exciting news. I’M GETTING AN OFFICE! A real, proper, office. With walls and heating and a desk and EVERYTHING. To put it into perspective a bit about how excited I really am: I’ve been working for myself, from home, for a number of years now. I live in a not particularly big house with 3 other people. I don’t have a “space” to work, other than my bed (where I’m writing this from now). I’ve given myself permanent back pain from it.
Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash
So having an actual office which is mine and only mine is an actual dream come true for me. It’s going to positively benefit me and my work life so much that I can’t even fathom it right now. At the time of writing, I have a quote for the price and I’m just waiting for our builders to give us a date that they can come round and make a start.
It’s been a pretty long process already and the main bulk of the work hasn’t even started yet. The office will be a garden room, with heating, electricity, windows and doors – the whole works. So there’s a lot involved to get the building actually up and safe for me to use.
There are definitely things we could have done ourselves. But without the time collectively as a family and the proper resources, it was always easier to get someone to do EVERYTHING for us. Including tearing up bushes and landscaping the area. Although we have one group of people who are doing everything for us, you can always hire a professional landscaper to clear your bushes if you don’t want to lose a weekend doing it yourself!
So, it’s safe to same my office can’t come quick enough! Here’s how having my very own garden office will improve my work life:
Photo by Ella Jardim on Unsplash
No distractions
This is always my main problem with how I work at the moment and that’s there’s just so many distractions all the time. Of course not all of them can be helped but it’s very much got to a point now where I can’t cope with it anymore. Having my Dad ask me to come and walk the dog. Having my Mum ask me to do chores around the house. The dog barking. The doorbell going. It’s constant.
Being taken more seriously
That girl you know who works from home? She’s still at HER JOB in the middle of the day. Which is something I would quite like to get tattooed on my forehead. Because I’m working in such a casual environment, I don’t think people take me seriously. That could be why I get so many distractions throughout the day. But by having an actual office, I’ll be able to physically go into my “place” of work and not have those distractions.
No clutter and decorated how I like it
My boyfriend and I share a bedroom. I don’t like clutter. He does. So my bedroom definitely ISN’T a place I find entirely relaxing and calming anymore. Especially as I work in there too. My office will be totally mine. Decorated exactly how I want it. Calming colours, no clutter and extremely organized. Exactly how I like it.
It’ll give me a better work/life balance
Another one I REALLY struggle with and that’s the ol’ work/life balance chestnut. The line between my work life and personal life is EXTREMELY blurred. I work where I sleep. I work where I play games. I work where I chill out and watch Netflix. And my laptop is ALWAYS accessible for me to whip out at any given time to do more work. Having my office will allow me to literally be able to lock up for the night and create a much more stable work/life balance.
It’ll help me work more efficiently
This ties in with the no distractions one but it’ll definitely help with efficiency too. Due to the distractions and everything else, it takes me 3x as long to do everything sometimes. My mind is constantly somewhere else because there’s so much going on around me. So I think by having this office, I won’t only work more efficiently but I’ll also produce higher quality work.
Do you have a home office? Did you build it yourself or hire someone to do it for you? If you work from home, what are your main obstacles?
