Spaces are very important to me. I am very impacted by the spaces I am in. If my space is messy or cluttered, I feel messy and cluttered. It’s why I go through phases every so often of feeling like I need to purge everything in my home. I have a hard time separating work from home; especially as I am working from home. If I am trying to work at my desk, in the living room, I’ll notice things that need to be done around the home. Or I’ll think, “Huh, I should start another load of laundry,” or “I should really fold the clothes,” or “Maybe I should just pick up a little bit,” or “I should just do the dishes now.” It’s a mindset problem. I have a hard time working out from home for the same reason. I feel like I need to go to a different space to really focus and get my workout in. Even though we have weights at home and I am literally a personal trainer that knows how to workout from home, I still struggle. I struggle with compartmentalizing my spaces or being able to switch from “Oh this is work time” vs “This is home management time.”
In an ideal world, I would have a home office that is separated from everything. The space that is purely for work. Unfortunately, that is not our situation. I also can’t just pop over to a coffee shop during the day because I have H at home with me. I can’t pop over later in the day because the coffee shops are closed and after the boys wake up from their naps, it’s a rush of getting dinner ready, feeding the kids, and bedtime routines. Plus, I know T is tired after working all day, and when he gets home, we split the duties 50/50. Or, at least we try. Sometimes I check out mentally a bit or sometimes he does, but that’s a different topic.
Spaces, especially since we live in a small space, are very important to me. I am actively working on changing my mentality, but it is hard. T and I are always trying to keep our space clean, and he’s been helping me in this mindset shift. It’s still hard. I definitely need to do some research and reflection on how to change this mentality. Because the truth of the matter is, I need to get work done. I need to make sure work is a priority and have dedicated work time and dedicated home management time. I think separating this will make a huge difference. I think dedicating time to work and projects vs letting home management creep into that time will make a huge difference. How do you do it? How do you manage the separation? How do you dedicate time to work and projects at home without letting home management take over the time? Let me know because I need all the help I can get.