Working Tools 16. - Home Office

Since moving to Cyprus, I don’t commute any more. I am lucky enough to have a distinct home-office. It’s a converted carport, connected to the house, yet separate. Now, six months after arriving, I am onto office 3.0.

Desks

This is a desk from Ikea where the height can be adjusted. I bought it with the intention of varying it through the day, sometimes sitting and sometimes standing. Lesson learned. Within days, I stopped adjusting the desk. It was a permanent standing desk, then a permanent sitting desk. Here is where I write letters, and sometimes work. It is not entirely analogue, my iPad Pro lives here and there is a small monitor on the wall. (It’s actually the doorbell, which also functions as an intercom to the kitchen, upstairs.)

Turns out, an Ikea bookshelf makes for a perfectly adequate standing desk. The IT setup is a MacBook Pro with external monitor. The screen riser is a very high-tech solution, namely a ream of printer paper. My podcasting microphone lives on the boom and I have a Mastermind desk pad and Squire from the excellent Baron Fig. The small surface area enforces a minimalist approach, which minimises distraction. Focus is a real benefit of working on my feet and this is only enhanced by the new setup.

Feet Up

Central to my space, I have an armchair, where I meditate, read and nap. Trouble is, it’s a popular spot.

The plan is that having a great workspace allows me to segregate my day. This is important. While Spice was tiny, I took to working in the kitchen, where I could keep an eye on her. While convenient, this very quickly blurred the lines between work time and downtime. Given half a chance, I’ll keep tinkering away for eighteen hours a day. Now, I am more able to switch off when I leave the office.

The next challenge will be the heat. Despite taking its time to arrive this year, summer is hot in Cyprus. Temperatures will reach 40 degrees centigrade (104 F) in the shade, and I’m sure that working on the terrace will seem very attractive. Surely that’s an element of #livingthedream? If it does get too hot, the home-office does have air-conditioning, so it may become a sanctuary.

I’m extremely lucky to have such a fantastic space, so time for me to make the most of it and do some work.