Working For Myself - My Dream Home Office

It's been a while since we caught up around these parts. I've been a busy little bee and have had a lot going on. It has been a very very eventful couple of weeks. Two bereavements in the family made for a difficult end to 2015 and an equally difficult start to 2016. There is some comfort to be taken from the thought of grandparents living well in to their 80's and in many ways living life to the fullest until the end. And really, it's not the end. It's "until we meet again". There is nothing like losing a loved member to instill hope in you about what "else" there is. Nowadays I find myself thinking there has to be more. Somewhere perfect, safe and splendid. I like to think that both grandparents are fitting in nicely around those parts right about now. 

In keeping with all the life changes, I have turned a massive corner in my career also. I am now... wait for it. Self employed. It excites (and terrifies) me to write those words. It's that really surreal type of excitement that comes with accomplishing something you have always wanted. I've made no secret of the fact that my dream is to be a writer. It's what I have always been passionate about. Well call it a mixture of opportunity and fate but the universe is aligning in the right way for me right now. I am making my dream a reality and building my own business. It's incredibly exciting. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't a bit scary. Of course it is. There is a certain amount of comfort to be had when you know your boss is paying you X amount every month. On the other hand it is a feeling of liberation and excitement that I have never experienced before. Paid written work and working for myself is word for word what I have always wished for. I plan on giving it my all, learning a lot and making the absolute most of this opportunity.  I started this blog for the love of writing (and the sound of my own voice, says you) and it has opened up a whole new world for me. I have made so many friends and positive relationships. I sincerely want to thank each and every one of you for supporting me and reading my blog. 

It is quite a big adjustment to go from working in an office to working from home. I've read about this via Andrea from Office Mum. She only this week posted a photograph of her office view. It consisted mostly of pots and pans. Well, now I can relate. There are so many positives to working at home. Firstly, just being home is handy. You don't miss packages, can make lunch according to what you fancy that day and I'd be lying if I said it wasn't handy to be able to throw on a wash in the middle of the day. Lots of positives. On the other hand working at home can be a bit of a strange experience. It can be difficult to separate yourself from your home and really switch off from anything domestic. While it's handy to have access to everything in your house, it's equally important to be able to ignore the housework and completely focus on the work at hand. At the end of the day the goal is to make a living. Whether it's making a product, building a brand or pitching a service to other companies you have to treat it like a job. It is your job. You have to crack the whip and be your own boss. Before you know it the work day is over and you want to feel as though you have been productive with your time. There is nobody telling you to get off social media. Nobody telling you that you have made enough cups of tea. It all comes down to you. Working for yourself means that you have everything to work for because you have everything to lose. It's the ultimate motivator. 

Granted, the above is certainly made easier by a decent work-space. At the moment I am working from the kitchen table which is fine for now. It's a nice room with good light and I have plenty of room for what I need. I do see it as a temporary solution though. It works for now but eventually I would like to have some sort of an office-space. Firstly it's nice to be able to close the door and "leave work" at the end of the day. Switch off and get back in to Mammy mode. Cook the dinner, tidy up and have a shower without seeing bits of my work around the house. That is quite powerful mentally. It has the opposite affect when you open the door. You get in to work mode and forget about the domestic realities that surround you. We are currently in rented accommodation but when I imagine my life many years from now I like to envision us living in a family home, our "forever" home. In that forever home I imagine a time where we might be lucky enough to convert the attic space in to some sort of a loft. I love the idea of having my own office on a different floor entirely away from the bedrooms, bathroom and "home" I suppose. I'd love the opportunity to absolutely go nuts with decorating it. Up until then every element of our home would have been dictated by sensible choices. Making things practical and baby-proof would have always been top of the list. In this dream house I imagine decorating the room in stylish monochrome. I imagine a big white desk and even some sort of irrelevant but slick looking sofa. It will be my office and my space to be creative. I imagine large windows with soft-coloured  roof-blinds. I imagine spending hours scrolling through Pinterest looking for building inspiration and maybe even inspiring people myself.

Until then? A nice desk from IKEA and some fancy stationary will do me just fine.