Where do I work in my house?
So, I have 3 spots in my house where I get work done. I know there are rules of thumb when picking a space to write and do work; you’re never to do homework in bed. It builds anxiety in a place where anxiety should be absent. And it should be in a place away from electronics and diversions, because any diversion will divert you—even at 22, I still get easily distracted and those distractions don’t have to be too outlandish. Just a children’s cartoon on Nickelodeon can pull my focus. And I don’t see that changing any time soon. Which is why doing my work in the television room is so ironic, most likely the reason nothing gets done.
When I have to read, I have to get as far away from the television. Even if it’s not on, I need to be in my living room. I need either the curtains open and sunlight swimming in, or I need all the lights on and the curtains closed (late at night). Otherwise, nothing will be read, or if it is read, nothing will be retained. More often than not, it’s the latter—nothing gets retained. Everything drains from my head. This is probably my most productive spot in my house.
The last spot I do my work is on my bed. I crawl up to the bedroom, set my pillow between me and the wall, and get to work. Typically, I’m on a zoom call or other video call on my bed and stay there to do work when the call has ended. But that goes against the cardinal rule, don’t do work where you sleep. Also, little gets done there. And I’ve tried to avoid doing work there, but sometimes it just happens.
Usually, I have a cup of iced tea with me as I crackdown on my keyboard and push past pages. I’m always trying to work, I’m always trying to get to work. I’m always pretending to work. I get so distracted by youtube and other things.
Prior to having to remote learning—not being on campus because of the pandemic—I was having a discussion with a life coach and we touched upon why it’s so hard for me to get to work and stay working. I realized that I don’t do work when I am alone. But, when I was living in my apartment and my roommates were playing video games in the common space, I’d sit with them and get work done. And at the library, when people are around me, I get things done. But when I’m isolated, when I’m on an island, when I’m alone at sea, I cannot function. Which is weird, because electronics can be on but I can still focus when writing (not when reading).
And now we’re in a world with a thing called social distancing, as if the universe wanted to play on my kryptonite to force me to learn to focus. I wish my local library was still open. I wish I could work outside. I wish things were more built to me, but nothing is. So. I’m glad my semester is ending. I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up.
But now, I have to think about where I’ll be doing work for my summer courses. I need a change of scenery, bad. May I’ll hunker down in my dad’s old office space. That’ll make me feel pretty good. Like a king! Honestly, I haven’t really touched my dad’s workspace since he passed away, but that’d be a good utilization of the space! And he has a second computer monitor to expand the digital workspace! That actually sounds like a great idea. Back when my sister was still living in this house she tried to claim his spot for herself. She’s gone so I guess it’s all mine now.
So, I have a game plan now! I’m going to test out my dad’s old desk as a place to do my work. Makes sense since I’m the man of the house, that I’d take his workspace. He was a chemical engineer and did all his best work at that desk. And he also had a tiny TV next to his two monitor screens. He’d watch Smallville there—actually, an aside, I was watching Smallville tonight. The episode with the Justice Society of America! It was incredible to see characters from the 1940s on the small screen! I got all the references—and he also watched Everybody Loves Raymond, that was a favorite. Toward the end, he was watching The Flash. We watched a few episodes together. It got really good after he passed away at the beginning of 2015. But we would have loved watching that together! Especially the Earth 2 episodes. Man, everything would have been different if he was here for all of my 2 years at DeVry University. Anyway, that’s enough of that tangent.
Where is everyone doing their work? Got any suggestions for staying focused (dear god, this blog is a testament to how easily distracted I get).
Writing, Research, and Technology 