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TOTD: Tell us about your office!
I'm introducing a new feature here called the Thread of the Day!
This does not mean every day, let's be real. But it does mean FOR today! 😊
You don't have to reply to this thread. You can talk elsewhere in the forums about whatever else you like! But I wanted to create this thread of the day so you can contribute your thoughts, tips, questions, or needs on a topic as a way to get the conversation started.
Today I want to hear about your office.
What are three cool things in your office?
I know it's hard to pick favourites, so it doesn't even have to be the top three! Just tell us about three cool things you have in your office. Bonus points if they would be helpful for other ND folx! Here are mine:
- Yarn and knitting/crochet supplies. You'll often see me making things during lives, coaching calls, workshops, etc to keep my hands busy and help me focus.
- A gaming setup. My work computer is also secretly a sweet gaming PC. I've got two bluetooth controllers, a Razer keyboard, and a sweet sound system hooked up to this liquid-cooled, LED lit masterpiece... And I use it to very occasionally play cozy games like Stardew Valley and Cities Skylines 😂
- Three more computers. These are all computers I got for free from other people who were retiring them (especially my dad, who collects things like this.) One of them runs my Cricut and sewing patterns, one runs a Plex server (like our own Netflix, in our house!), and one... I haven't decided what to do with it yet.
- Bonus! A kitchenette. I have a coffee machine, a small fridge and freezer, a microwave, and a little rice cooker. This allows me to store food and drinks in my office, so I'm not "transitioning" back to life when I need to eat or get something to drink. I can even heat up a frozen lunch! I keep Dawn Powerwash in the basement bathroom to wash my "office dishes" in the sink, so they actually stay down here and I don't have things going back and forth too much. 10/10, highly recommend an office kitchenette, even if it's just a tiny beverage fridge and a small microwave to reheat your lunch. Game changer!
(I also have a secret snack stash box in my office, but my kids have found it, so I started hiding my secret snacks ELSEWHERE too, and now I forget where, so I have hidden snack caches all over my office like a squirrel. 😂)
That's it for me! Tell us about three things in YOUR office?
1. My stickers! I finally decided I was willing to commit to placing my stickers and chose my office furniture as the canvas. So far it's just 3 shelves but I am not opposed to finding other places when I run out of room there. I especially recently started putting stickers for local businesses on the cabinet doors that are most in eye line so that I remember to go to/use them more.
2. Tactile organization. I made all of the lists, checklists, templates and structures I need to keep myself on track in all of the various ways I cycle through them. I also made space next to my computer to hang them, one by one, so I can see them and remember to use them when it suits me. But since they are all physical resources, using them also helps reinforce things in my brain in ways digital sometimes misses.
3. Versatile workspaces. I have so many options and variations for the ways I can work built in so that I can move around and situate in whatever ways suit my needs best in the moment. I have a sit/stand desk, a comfy chair with a lap desk, rolling tables that can be tucked away, and carts and baskets. I prioritized the ways I work most often and then fit in the other options around it. I can make it feel like a whole new office space in a matter of minutes.
I love the versatility piece! That's so important to our brains!!!
Mine is still a work in progress but I adore:
- my sit/stand desk (not that I stand much but I find it helps for recording podcasts or doing talks to be standing when I speak)
- my various pin boards (the decorative one behind me that has everyone commenting during a zoom call, plus the ones you can't see but are in my eye line to help me keep track of monthly tasks, keep things like my words of the year, brand and so on top of mind, and my writing board with all my writing projects on)
- the view from my window (straight out over the mountains and it never fails to give me energy when I can see them on any given day)
Having a good background for calls is SUCH an underrated accessibility piece when you have ND clients. We just discussed this yesterday in our certification program, what an impact it has even when we don't realize.
1. Vibes My office is my inner child's space. When I was young, I wasn't allowed to decorate my own room - my mom's preferred aesthetic was "Easter basket Ethan Allen boutique" and I was more collage/ punk/ maximalist.
So now my office has twilight vibes, star stickers on the walls, the closet is painted like a sunset space scene, there's art everywhere, with rainbow film and prisms by the window where the late afternoon light hits. I'm thinking about painting the ceiling like the night sky but haven't quite decided I want to get on a ladder for that long yet.
2. So many art supplies I paint in here too so it's full of storage furniture filled with supplies, with wall racks for my acrylics and all my works in progress on one wall.
3. That sunset space scene closet. It was part of my summer project where I painted for 47 days in a row to get myself out of a funk. It's going to be my video making corner when I get myself to filming things. I'm making myself a fantasy wonderland to make that as fun as possible (and for a bunch of other strategic reasons too). I've already filmed many sessions of B roll and shot photos in that closet in the past few months... so it's working.
I think that's the thing my office shows that's most true about me. Everything I actually act on lately has to serve a lot of purposes - because I have a lot I'm working on.
I love that your office is what you wished your room could have been. I so get that feeling ❤️