On Your Own
May 12, 2020•305 words
358
Remote work is a concept that's been pretty foreign to most of us, until now. Most of us have never known how it feels having total control over the things you're going to do in a day. There were always external requests, calls to answer, etc. Yet, suddenly, it has all reversed, and most of us do have a lot of control over our days.
Deciding what to do from an incredibly large pool of tasks is not easy. Especially considering the fact that different areas of your life; work, family, friends, exercise, entertainment, growth, have all been mashed together into one blob you call your house. Switching between them, and most importantly of all, keeping them separate, has been a demanding task to all of the WFH newcomers.
Thankfully, there is a pretty simple yet effective and proven concept that can save us from total unproductive misery. It's called space compartmentalization. Basically, it's all about separating your space into different categories.
I work, sleep, and relax all in the same room. Yes, it is considerably big - 23 m2, or 248 sq ft. Throughout the three and a half-ish years that I've lived here, I've made many adjustments to my space. I keep four distinct areas:
desk = work and only work
bed = sleep and only sleep
armchair = reading/writing
sofa = relax (sometimes with music)
I try very hard to not cross these boundaries. When I'm clear about what I want to do in a particular moment, I know where to do it. The division is very clear and pretty hard to omit unconsciously.
Separating your tasks within space is the one key ingredient to a good remote work experience. It may make you actually like it more than regular office work.