Work where you work, and not where you don’t.

I recently moved, and now have a dedicated office in my home where I work on a daily basis. My laptop sits on my desk and rarely moves from it. Everything I need to get my work done is there.

As long as I’ve been working from home I’ve always had a dedicated space in the house that serves as my “office”. In some houses it was a spare bedroom, in others it was a desk in the corner of the basement. It really never mattered, though. You see, I would always take my laptop with me, away from my workspace, to wherever I wanted to work around the house. This essentially meant that my entire house was both my workspace, and my non workspace. It was cool to be able to work from the couch, from bed, from the kitchen table, but the problem was that I was always working. Or at least it felt that way.

Now, with a dedicated office, that’s where I work. When I’m in there, I’m working. When I’m not in there, I’m not working. And I’ve only on a few rare occasions broken this rule, which always seems to result in a mediocre work session anyway. I don’t bring my laptop to the couch to work while watching TV with my wife in the evening. I don’t bring my laptop to the kitchen to squeeze in a few emails while preparing dinner. I just don’t.

Not everyone may be as lucky as me to have a dedicated office in their home, but it doesn’t matter. What matters is picking a place where you work and working there. For you it could be your kitchen table. It could be your favorite chair in your living room. It could be the Starbucks down the street. Whatever the place is, make that your workspace, and where you’re there, work. When you’re not there, don’t.