Writing process update

[owlmoose]

I continue to think about how to make time and space for writing while being a work-from-home employee. I've done a fair number of things improve my space for dayjob work -- two full-size monitors, a laptop dock, an adjustable keyboard tray that I talked my employer into buying (and that took some doing) -- but ways to alter the area to make it more conducive to writing when appropriate have been slower in coming. I have made one discovery, though, which pleases me: the application of coffee.

Ever since I got my first laptop, I've had a mental association between writing and coffee. Taking my computer to a cafe is one of my greatest pleasures, and one of the things I most miss from the before times. Sometimes these trips were productive, and sometimes I ended up spending most of my time socializing online, but it was always a mental recharge. And while I haven't quite figured out a way to replicate the entire experience, I can at least make coffee for myself. I need to avoid caffeine after lunch now (stupid aging), so I've taken to keeping homemade decaf cold brew on hand. It's an excellent afternoon treat, and I make a point of saving it until after I'm done with paid work for the day. As with going to the cafe, I don't always manage to write while I'm drinking it, but it still gives me a signal that it's time to switch gears, whether to fiction writing or journal writing (I have a glass right now!) or ladybusiness work or just chatting with folks. A little thing, but it makes me happy. And hey, I have yet to find a cafe that even sells decaf cold brew, so there's even an advantage to making my own.

So that's my new trick for carving out my own space. Any other ideas? What have you tried?

Comments

[havocthecat]

I miss going out to a coffee shop to write. So much. I try to write in a different space than I work, but still. It's rough.

[owlmoose]

I've tried two different spaces: the living room (which has two small tables that are almost regular table height) and the lounge-y chair in my bedroom area. Neither of them is ideal, but I feel like I should give especially the lounge chair more of a shot, since I don't use that chair very often and I could make it "writing chair" without disrupting any other commonly used space. I take my laptop into the living room all the time, but mostly for teleconference socializing, so that's already got a different new association. But yeah, nothing is quite like that coffee shop.

[havocthecat]

I have two or three (or four or five) different spots in my house that I rotate through, but you're absolutely right. NOTHING beats the coffee shop.

[oracne]

A friend is doing "fake cafe" for writing - sitting at a table, with hot drink, outside of usual area.

[owlmoose]

Unfortunately the only table I have that would work for that is our kitchen/dining table, and that feels even less conducive to writing than my work desk. If I had more different rooms in my home, I'd try that for sure.

[zahraa]

Well, one thing I have found is that, as soon as I am done with paid work for the day, I need to get *away* from my desk and go somewhere else. This means that I'm spending a lot of time using my computer in much less ergonomic setups, as I had a nice ergonomic setup at work and a nice one at home, and now I've only got one nice ergonomic setup. It also means that I'm doing all of my photography work on the small laptop monitor rather than my larger one, because I need the larger monitor for my paid work. There are huge benefits to working from home, but some real downsides as well. I sure don't miss 11 hours a week of commuting, that's for sure.

[owlmoose]

I definitely need to take a break, not just from the mental space of working but the physical space. Sometimes I can come back to the desk and sometimes I can't, but even if I can, I need at least half an hour or so to change gears.

[lassarina]

*spies Einaudi in your music listing and squeaks happily*

ahem.

Definitely agree on having a Thing that says "it is time for words now"; I don't do it all year round, but during NaNoWriMo I have a lovely cast iron teapot and I fill it with my favorite green jasmine tea and slowly consume it while I'm writing.

Another possibility is a song you can associate with starting a writing session, or a particular scented oil or candle. I've used both of those.