Working from home for an extended period of time is a new experience for me. Thankfully, I have our guest/craft room at the front of the house to work from, so I have a nice window with natural daylight. I love working at my grandfather’s old wooden desk and the wooden office chair that is only slightly younger, and I think my posture is much better than when I work at my desk in our home office!
Since I spend so much time in this room, I try to make my space as clean and cheerful as I can. I am clearing out things that were temporarily stored here (“temporarily”, three years?), gave the room a good cleaning, and hung some artwork on the walls that had be stashed in the closet. I put a cushion on the sewing machine in the front window and the cats take turns watching birds and squirrels from there. When I take a break I’ve been sorting through my craft supplies (which is long overdue!) and minimize my visual clutter. Hubby and I check in on each other regularly, and sometimes he comes and lies on the couch to read when he’s taking a break, which I really like. :} I might hand some white lights in the front window, just because!
I do catch myself walking around the house with my wireless headphones on- I’m so glad I stopped by work to pick up some equipment, they are so comfortable! I keep forgetting I have them on, especially since I can get all the way to the kitchen from the front bedroom and can still hear what’s on my computer. I did take my work clothes out of regular rotation and hung them up in the closet. If I need to dress nicer for a webmeeting I can still put on a pretty tunic, but most days I just wear comfy work polos or t-shirts and shorts.
I figure I get back between 1-2 hours a day from not commuting and finding parking. That time is mostly going toward extra rest, and being able to sleep an extra hour in the morning is a huge help! I am also unsubscribing for a number of work listservs so I can focus my inbox and my work time better. The rate of incoming messages is slowing down a bit now that folks are getting used to being online, and that is much less stressful. I am still working a little overtime every week, but starting next week I should be back to a regular 40-hour schedule, which I’m looking forward to!
As for non-work stuff:
Since I’m not going out for a few weeks (other than yardwork or to pick up the mail), we ordered some books from Amazon, next in the various series that hubby and I are reading. I have been trying to avoid ordering anything online, but fresh reading material is a must. I am also considering gifting myself a new puzzle *shifty look*.
I also have stacks of boxes of items to donate, as well as a load of electronic waste piling up to take to the recycling center. I don’t know when I’ll be able to get those out of the house, and right now they’re all stacked near the front door, which isn’t great. I may see if the local Vets might want to pick the donation items. There are two boxes of books I want to bring to our local library, but that will have to wait as well. Since I can’t do anything of these things right now, hubby and I made a donation to our local food bank, which is overwhelmed with requests from so many people working fewer hours or who are laid off entirely (college town and lots of students work in food service, which is greatly reduced now). It made me really happy to find something that I can do remotely to help.
I’ve been watching a lot of YouTube for cleaning/organising inspiration, and it’s helping! I choose one target area (ie., a drawer), and go through it. A month or so later, I go through it a second time, and usually find other things that shouldn’t be stored there or that I can donate. We have been talking about moving for, oh, probably five years now? I would have to do this anyway to get ready to move, so hopefully being proactive now will make it an easier transition later.
For example, yesterday I cleaned out my “tech” drawer, untangling wires and throwing out old phone cables. Why do we have so many phone cables?! And some old software CDs. VERY old software. 2008? 2007? Yeah, okay. 2000? !1999?! Yeah, those can go! The drawer is now organised and I know which cables go with what. Sorting out that drawer was long overdue!
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