Working where you live means – on occasion – you need to change up your routine to keep from going stale.
Most days, I can be found in my home office. I love my office space. It has gets natural light morning and afternoon, and the windows look out over trees and sidewalks, so I can see people – and the ever-present squirrels – passing by, and feel like a part of the world without actually having to leave my work. I have two work-levels, with plenty of room to spread out, if I’m working on the laptop, or a manuscrpt, or something that needs the larger monitor.  And if occasionally a siren or heavy truck wails past… well, I live in NYC, after all. It becomes white noise, after a while.
Sometimes, cabin fever overtakes me, though. The beloved walls close in, I can’t focus, and it’s far too easy to think “I’ll just do X, instead,” or wander into the kitchen and start cooking something, or spend too much time playing/cuddling with the cats.
That’s when I head for the alterna-office. Or, as other people call it, the New York Public Library.
Yeah – some people go to Starbucks. But when you’re serious about needing to focus, the quiet rooms in the NYPL*, where they provide you with light, air, a table, and an outlet – and an occasionally iffy internet connection you should not rely on – can’t be beat. It’s got a definite “do your homework” vibe… but there’s also the sense of Deep Research, of a community of scholars, however amateur some of us may be. Unlike Starbucks, there is a feeling that you come here, not to while away an hour or so, but to spend the day. Pack a lunch. Get in deep.
And then there are days….
Like today. I am so very very tired – after a five day run of 8+ hour workdays – of being at my desk. And yet… the walls are comfortable, and I know I’ll be out and about later this week, so I have no need to escape. I am working on things that require only the laptop, not manuscripts or the larger monitor. And that is why I have moved to my third desk…aka “the sofa.”
No, it is not my desk because it’s the sofa – a chair or another desk would do as well, so long as I had my work in front of me, ready to go. It’s my third desk because it is across the space from my office, because it looks out different windows, has a different scene. Without leaving home,** I am still able to shake up the pattern, disrupt the rut, so my brain has to keep up. A brain that’s working is a brain that’s creating.
And that’s why I have three desks. Because stale is no way to work.
*I go either to my local branch, or the main building, in Manhattan
** or the cats.
The public library sounds lovely. I have to admit, I have wondered what it was like in there ever since I moved to NYC, but I’ve never actually been in. I’ll have to go hole up there one of these days!
The inside is lovely, and in nicer weather, the park out back (Bryant Park) has tables perfect for a laptop, and free wifi….