What Engages You? In Life? In Work? At Play?

"The marvelous thing about a good question is that it shapes our identity as much by the asking as it does by the answering."

-David Whyte, Poet

The Rhythm of Your Day

Apartment Therapy

A lot of people think they want to work from home mainly because they dream of working in their pajamas and writing from their laptop in bed while munching on a bag of Doritos and catching up on their Netflix. But take it from me, a work-from-homer: That's a total myth.

I'm not eating Doritos OR watching Netflix!

Seriously, though, who can blame them? Freedom to do what you want on pretty much your own schedule is a pretty enticing concept.

But what those work-from-home dreamers like to ignore is the fact that a) you really do have to get work done and b) there's a whole arsenal of distractions firing at you from all cylinders, trying to impede you from getting that said work done.

For example, here is what I am looking at right now as I type this post:

Cute Dog, looking at me. 
I 'd like to stop and pet her but I won't because I'm working.
Distraction Level: 3

Bits of paper bag pulled out from the recycling bin and strewn about the carpet by Cute Dog,
who chewed it up because she was mad at me when I went running earlier today without her 
(and because it smelled like hamburger.)
Now fighting urge to stop working to vacuum it up and, by the way, 
why won't that rug stain EVER go away?
Distraction Level: 10

Random picture that I took of a flamingo looking at a rock.
Stumbled upon it in my iPhoto Library as I was downloading the dirty carpet and Cute Dog picture. 
Felt compelled to photoshop and share it.
Distraction Level: 7

I could mention more distractions, such as the load of laundry that really should be changed over from the washer to the dryer right now or my closet that needs reorganizing or the frozen chicken breasts that probably should start thawing for dinner tonight or the pitiful looking flowers that desperately need water. But I don't think I need to because you get the point.

No, working from home certainly isn't for everyone, mainly because most people crave already-established boundaries in space and time, and find the parameters between their personal and professional lives in a home office too blurry for their taste. My husband, for instance, telecommutes one day a week and looks forward to it; however, he admits that he doesn't think he could do it two days a week, much less five. 

Now, lest you suspect that I might be the cause of his telecommuting reticence, I can assure you that's certainly not the case. Yes, it's true that I like to bounce my ideas off of him and get his feedback on things and, okay, I might occasionally ask him for a teensy bit of IT help now and then, (he's my tech geek, after all)  I'm generally pretty good at doing my own thing. I think he likes to go into the office because he enjoys being part of a team and gets a kick out of managing and listening and doing all of those things that engage him.

(At least that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

Embrace the Distractions

Even with all of its drawbacks, working from home benefits me tremendously. As long as I build in the distractions in a clever and efficient way, I'm a working machine most days! I'm even going to be so bold as to say that the dynamic structure of the work-from-home model could be applied to work habits in many environments. The key is being able to use your brain in different ways throughout the day, changing the tempo as needed.

Here are my suggestions:

1. Don't Pass on the Little Tasks 

@ Home: On my "official" breaks- the ones that I've earned by doing the necessary work first- I replenish my brain by doing simple activities like folding clothes or washing dishes. These are tasks that can be completed from start to finish quickly and require very little thinking.

A lot of my career education work is on the abstract and creative side and many projects remain open-ended, so it feels good to go in a completely different, close-ended direction from time to time. In fact, it always seems that as I've finished washing the last dish in the sink, I'm usually able to come up with a solution to a problem or drum up a new way of communicating a complex concept.

@ Office: Unless you'd like to come over and do my housework (which you're welcome to, by the way) I'm sure there are some menial tasks that no one would mind you completing at the office. Stapling, organizing the supply closet, sorting papers, filing, stuffing envelopes, or anything that needs doing but takes very little mental energy would do the trick. And you could always earn brownie points by being the clean-up person of the community kitchen.

(No one will suspect your ulterior motives.)

2. You Can't Sit Still Forever!

Remember when you were little? Remember the good teachers who understood that making you sit for hours at a time was a terrible idea for everyone involved? Similarly, when we feel restless from sitting on our bums too long we need to be able to get up and walk around. That necessity to move hasn't really gone away, even though we adults like to pretend it has.

Some remedies for the restless:

@Home: Take a run or brisk walk. Exercise diverts your attention away from problems- and boredom- and those endorphins will put you in a better mood to tackle stuff you don't normally enjoy. Bonus: creative juices often flow better when you get your heart rate up.

@Office: Walk around the office or the block, either alone or with an approachable colleague that's ready for some moving around. Even just standing up and stretching gives your mind and body a break.


3. "If Music be the Food of Love Play On!" -Shakespeare



Music's tonal language of swells and cadences can both stimulate your senses and help relax you. Why not utilize it?

@ Home: I replenish my spirit by playing piano. I like the fact that I can get out of my head and into the keys of the piano. Playing allows me to concentrate on building up muscle memory in my hands. When I'm lost in a song I'm focusing solely on the musical language of notes, rhythm, chords and beats (rather than ideas, numbers and information.)

@ Office: Put on earphones and kick back with some jazz or whatever gets you grooving. It can give you a boost of energy or relax your nerves when colleagues or bosses test your patience.

Street Music: Players Welcome

By the way, what if an office had a music room? How awesome would that be?

4. Play With the Rhythms In Your Work

@ Home and @ Office: Think about how to structure your day in a musically dynamic way. My suggestion is to aim for a steady rhythm of work in the morning when the brain is fresh, churning out the assignments that require longer concentration and getting into a flow. Then perhaps switch it up to something slow and melodic in the afternoon, with bursts of hot jazz thrown in to recharge you periodically.
(By the way, yes, you CAN achieve this without a Starbucks Double Espresso Mocha Frappuccino.)

5. And Please, Don't Torture Yourself.

When you feel as if you've hit a wall in terms of idea generation or solving a problem, don't keep trying the same thing over and over, getting the same results each time. (Some say that's the definition of insanity, by the way.) Instead, create a whole new tempo by doing something you never do. Draw a picture of your dog, read some poetry, or heck, WRITE some poetry. Eat your lunch on a park bench, stare out the window at the birds, ride a bike, watch a short film, or, if things get really dicey, go to the zoo on your lunch break and take a closeup of a flamingo. (See stellar example at right.)


Just don't come back to work and waste your entire afternoon sharing your stunning photograph on social media. Or, if you MUST share it, limit it to Instagram. And maybe Facebook. And perhaps Twitter, Phanfare, SnapChat, Google+, LinkedIn, Blogger, Wordpress, Pinterest, Houzz, Flickr, SmugMug, Photobucket, StumbleUpon, Tumblr, and five other social media outlets that will become popular in the time it's taken you to read this post.

Photo credits: wikimedia

A New Language: Georgia O'Keefe

Laughing, Scheming and Other Ways to Stay Young

"Shelly"

You can go to extremes with impossible schemes.

You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams.

And life gets more exciting with each passing day.

And love is either in your heart, or on it's way.

Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth

To be young at heart.

For as rich as you are, it's much better by far

To be young at heart.

"Young at Heart" 

by Johnny Mercer and 

Robert E. Dolan