Imagine you are given the job of cooking 3 meals a day for your family. At first, there you might think this is an easy task. But, price imagine you must now accomplish this everyday without a kitchen. In fact, you have no set space to work. Worse yet, you find not only do you not have a dedicated space to prepare meals, but the tools you need for this task are scattered all over the house! Making a meal for your family now has become a huge chore taking twice as long as it should!
The same scenario holds true when you work from home but don’t create a space for yourself. Many work-at-home moms start out excited about their new job. They set aside dedicated hours to work, oftentimes planning around their children’s schedules. They’re trying to keep life in balance. This often means working while the kids are napping in the afternoon or in the evenings once they are in bed. However, without a dedicated workspace, the first hour is often spent gathering supplies. Having a space allows you to being working right away.
There are many reasons why it’s important to have a dedicated Space for Your Workplace.
It gives you an area to keep everything needed for your job
You can’t do your job effectively or efficiently if you’re wasting time looking for files or items you need. This includes things your family might be tempted to use during the homeschool day as well. It’s frustrating when you have to spend 20 minutes searching for the stapler that someone has used and not put back on your desk. So, if an item is essential to your job make the investment and have one dedicated to your work area. Be sure to label it so everyone in your house knows as well. In doing so, you’ll be teaching your kids a valuable lesson on respecting the property of others.
It helps put you in an environment for work
Having a dedicated space helps you to get into a work-focused mindset. You’ll find you’re more productive, confident, and able to accomplish tasks more efficiently. After all, it’s hard to stay focused on writing an article when you are working from the kitchen table staring at the pile of dirty dishes that need to be washed or cheerios that need to be swept up off the floor.
It’s a signal to your family that Mom is working
We want to be there for our kids and working from home allows us to do just that. It gives us flexibility. However, our children have to learn that Mom does have work hours. Outline your schedule to them. I explained it to my kids this way; it is hard for them to finish a school assignment when I am constantly talking to them and having them stop. Likewise, it is hard for me to do my job if they continually interrupt me with questions that could wait.
Your space can be a desk in an open room or in a dedicated office. Wherever you find your spot and whatever the size, I do encourage you to make a Space for Your Workplace!
The Tadey (Lisa B) says
One of my biggest problems is the kids stealing my stuff to use for school, crafts, or inventions!
Jen says
This is an excellent point! I need to do better about this, thanks for sharing the tips. I can’t tell you how many times we sit down to do school work and no one can find a pencil – same sort of frustration!