Let’s get real about Your Writing Space

Let’s get real about your Writing/Work Space.

Your surroundings influence your productivity. Distractions lead to delays.

If there is too much going on around the workspace, it becomes an interruption from creating or working. Clutter makes me feel like I need to “put everything away first before I can do X, Y, or Z.” After doing all that, I never got to the thing I went there to do, which was to write! Having minimal décor and larger amounts of desk space works for me, as I can stretch out my notebooks while I write. After working, I reshelve and put away notebooks and such to reset the workspace for next time. Though minimal, I surround myself with color and beauty as seen in the image with the colorful wrist pads.

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Clutter isn’t the only thing that distracts writers. Just coming up with a place to write can. Noah Rue writes, “Daydreaming is rarely a waste of time, but rather than fantasizing about your perfect writing space [just] create it. Your existing space can be adapted to feel more comfortable and inspiring; a place you look forward to spending your time in.”

But once you have a space, train yourself to work in the spot as opposed to gaming, scrolling the internet, or other. This is so that when your body sits in the chair at your workspace, it knows it’s time to get to write/work. Sometimes this can be as simple as the chair itself. Maybe all you have is a dining table to set your laptop down on to write. Then, designate one of the chairs as the work chair while others are the eating chair, the doing bills chair, etc.

~Suzanna Reeves