Working from home is hard. Don't get me wrong, it's so nice to walk into the next room to "go to work" and spend most (if not all) your day in your PJs. But it's hard to stay on-task, to treat it like a "real" job. Sometimes working for yourself has the drawback of not having strictly outlined goals for your days - especially if you are an artist. Spend more time creating?? Sure. But what if I'm not inspired? What if nothing's selling? It's hard to think about making more product if no one seems to want the product you already have available.
Working for yourself is also overwhelming. Facebook, Twitter, blogging, updating the website, posting items in my online stores, marketing, marketing, marketing... AGH!! I'm just so bad at so much of the marketing stuff. Some of those problems are handled with "to-do" lists. I am a great advocate for "to-do" lists. They save me from wasting hours wandering aimlessly through my days without a clue as to what I need to be doing next. I have such mundane tasks like "Eat Breakfast" and "Take Vitamin" or "Take Shower" (yes, unfortunately, I have to remind myself to bathe and eat every once in a while - although personal hygiene is also something you can put on the back burner if you spend most of your days alone in your house and your body will eventually remind you that you are hungry and should really have lunch sometime soon). Anyway... where was I... ? Ah! "To-do" lists. The main problem with those lists is that it's easy to simply move something you don't feel like tackling at the moment to tomorrow's list and then to tomorow's list and ... well, you get the idea. So I end up with items that have an eternal spot on the list and never get done. What I am starting to finally learn is that those undone items cause me an awful lot of stress. Why don't I just do them and get them over with?? They aren't life threatening or anything - just stuff. This is where I think having a more enjoyable workspace will help.
I have been on a quest lately to streamline my days and my workspace. You can see some of my improvements I made to my studio (aka closet) space
here. Now I'm on to my actual desk/computer space (aka changing table gotten second-hand from friends - but, hey, whatever works!). I have tried several furniture arrangements, organizational methods and the like. I finally spent the last two days rethinking and setting up my desk space. Maybe my marketing strategies would work better if I had a desk space I actually ENJOYED sitting at. So here is my new space - it's still in development (like everything in my life!). I have a beautiful McCoy pottery planter waiting for the right plant (preferably something which doesn't need a lot of sun and will produce some pretty flowers every once in a while) and there is a big box of vintage fabric that I need to get posted in my
vintage shop so it can go to new homes and quit cluttering up mine!
I really like my new space - it's not something you would see in the pages of "Studios" or "Where Women Create" magazines, but I like it because it's mine and filled with things I love. Hanging in the windows are 2 stained glass windows I made several years ago, a beachglass and shell mosaic made from treaures I picked up on the beaches of Dominica, a crystal suncatcher which was a birthday gift from my friend and polymer clay artist Susan Louise. Filling the little bit of wall space to the left of my desk are pieces of art which I enjoy: a pastel of a gerbera daisy by Barb Schmidt (a Christmas present from my husband), a print from
Amariah Rouscher, another piece of polymer art from Susan Louise and a sweet collage from
Andrew Thornton. Squirrels play in the trees across the street, I have plans to hang a bird feeder so I can enjoy it from my perch and I finally found someplace to hang the pretty lace curtains which have been in my stash for a few years. I know they are actually valances but I don't really care - they are pretty and interesting to look at and can be moved aside when I want a better view out the window.
