The majority of my time is spent on the road seeing new towns and cities and the rest of my time is spent in my home office. I am fortunate enough to have one and not have to go into a cubicle and work everyday even though I find the comedy, The Office one of the funniest shows on television. I find it very interesting that my husband does work in one day in and day out and does not find the humor in the show. Never the less, when I have the opportunity to have what we call, ‘an office day’ to get all of the paper work, running around, answering of phone calls, and odds and ends that I otherwise cannot do when I’m on the road completed.
When I started my job in educational publishing my office was set up in the basement. I quickly found out that the damp dreariness of the location did not meet my needs and I would often find myself working on the kitchen table or use a foldable table and work on the couch. With the T.V. on in the background for white noise I could get a lot done.
Finally, after months of nagging my husband about the scary basement and how the lights would give me a headache. We turned the spare bedroom into my office. I loved being able to look out into the front yard from my desk as I plugged away on emails and be able to walk into the kitchen to refill my coffee within seconds. I didn’t feel so faraway from everything. Work was complete…..
One more small problem….I can’t work if someone is in the house! At times my husband’s schedule changes and he has to work at night so he has to sleep during the day and I find that I have to walk on egg shells in my own office. This will not work. This is an interruption in my day, in my work, I find myself getting frustrated. I know he can’t help it. I justify it this way….I don’t go to his job and sleep do I????
I have the perfect solution. Living in a small town in the Mid-West we have a small coffee house in which you can bring your computer and access their free Wi-fi. My neighbor is the manager and I know the owner. I decide to set up my office day at the Coffee House. The bonus for me is in the back of the coffee house is a smoking room so it’s kind of like I’m on the road when I get my smoking room and can sit, work, smoke, not have to stop and take a break to go outside…. To me it’s actually a great thing! I start to feel like one of those writers that use to go to their small town cafe and write and American novel or love story. Now granted I’m just working and not writing anything that will change the world but in my own little bubble I can get a lot done.
The amazing thing about the Coffee House is the customers. People of all walks of life come through its doors. As I sit in the back plugging away at my computer I get to overhear the most interesting conversations. Mostly about politics, relationships, someone just got a job, someone just got laid off, one person is working on flipping a house, and one just buried his wife… The whole little town goes by without missing a beat. I can spend a whole day in there and not notice how long I have been there. It can also get very loud when a meeting may be going on and I have to go into my, “Work Bubble” and tune everyone out. I’m lucky enough to have found such a gem and be able to have a second location to get my work done.
It’s amazing how far we have come with technology. When I completed my degree in education I thought I would just be a teacher and that would be that. I never thought that someday I would have a home office, conduct a webinar, attended conference calls, conduct conference calls, or let alone get to travel and educate the world.
