Work has been relegated to home. For many people, this would be an easy transition. However, I am a teacher, and right now the federal and state governments have our hands tied in student equity laws. Meanwhile, I am attempting to find a comfortable place to set up my quasi office/classroom.Folks -- It's just not working.
First I set up on the kitchen table, an excellent work space with about as much room as my school desk. I can spread out all over the place, but that is part of the problem. First of all, I am, indeed, spreading out all over the kitchen: table, counter, breakfast nook, stools, chairs... Secondly, I can hear my next door neighbor, which means that she can hear me, so my early morning video calls and texts and general ranting must be bothersome. Lastly, I am IN the kitchen, too close to food and beverage that is preventing me from fitting into my work pants (yes, I try on a pair this morning and it isn't pretty).So, I set up in my expansive hallway under the staircase and landing, kind of like Harry Potter but with more space and ambiance. This is great, but I am still too close to the kitchen and the food.
Third stop on my office adventure is my actual office/sewing room/den, a large room that has a 270 degree view and four large windows. I set up on my real desk, which is next to my home computer set up. This is great except that when I am working, I am distracted by my home computer, and when I am writing or playing on my home computer, I am distracted by my work computer. They are exactly three feet apart, and I bet if I try hard enough, I could reach between them and type on both at once. I worry again about my neighbor because my personal office is directly above her apartment.
Downstairs I go again, taking my work office into the living room, a dangerous move because the furniture is very, very comfortable. I find quickly that I must sit on a folding chair in order to be productive. This lasts about a week before I get bored trying to relax in my living room after hours. The work computer is right there, and it is soooooo easy to do work instead of sit still.Back to the hallway I go, a different location closer to living room and not to the kitchen. I sit and try to work, but the front door distracts me. I am also directly under the doorbell - a dangerous move for someone as jumpy as am I. Suddenly, my neighbor turns on her television set, and I realize that the hallway is not going to work at all. If I can hear her, then she can hear me.
Okay, so the living room is the farthest away from bothering neighbors on either side, below, above, all around the mulberry bush. But I really, really don't have enough work surface without cluttering the living room and turning it into another den.The den. Damnit. Back we go to the den. Okay, so it's not too bad. I can look out the window into my landlord's office building, and I can see some of the shops uptown as I work at the desk. There's a futon, a daybed, my sewing stuff, a dress form I can talk to if I get lonely, and a television in case I decide to watch old B-horror movies on the Comet channel (because daytime TV totally sucks and there's nothing ... NOTHING ... else on that is worth watching). I have a comfy chair and all of my office supplies are up here; I have enough pens, pencils, and lined paper to open my own school right here.
Damn you, school laptop. It's like you're taunting me. Believe me, I don't want you here any more than you want to be here, you wandering nomad of nuisancery (yes, I just made up that word). Well, at least I am farther from the kitchen, so perhaps my pants will be the biggest winner in this battle.
