Since Darius was born I have always worked from home for a portion of my 40+ hour work week. Working from home is not easy. It is not for the faint of heart. You have to be dedicated and self-disciplined to be able to do it successfully.
In these four years of having a flexible work schedule, I have never had a home office. The entire house was my office. I have worked on my laptop on the couch and in the kitchen. From my bed and, yes there was even once, from the bathroom. I have worked in my pajamas. I have worked from home in nothing but my birthday suit. I have worked from home with a newborn on my breast, a baby on my lap, then a toddler by my side, and now a four year old boy playing beside me.
After four years of consistently working from home at least one day a week or more, I've decided to create a home office. I place that I can easily push away from at 5pm to start dinner. A place where I can leave my work. A boundary that keeps my working life separate from the rest of my home.
We don't have a ton of space in this little house. 1500 square feet doesn't go far with three adults and a four year old. We had already "converted" the family room into Darius' playroom by giving up any formal spaces in the house. The formal dining room? Yeah, we eat on that fancy table every night. The formal living room? It has two lived-in sofas, a coffee table that has seen better days, and our big TV.
I didn't have much choice as to where I would place my office. Okay, so it isn't really an office. It is my dad's old kitchen table which was once used as a changing table for Darius. It's not fancy. It's well lived in. And somehow it seems fitting.
After all, the work I do puts food on the table. And I've dealt with many crappy situations at work. Kitchen table + changing table = my new desk.
There is no place like a home office.
