Not bad.
I’ve been busy enough that the time has flown by, and we’re almost at the one week mark. I’m getting stuff done, which is a cool feeling after how busy the last 5 months have been (sorry little Magpie daughter!)
Your comments were digested after much rumination and were IMMENSELY helpful; the lack of reply was down to my blogging/gaming PC being dismantled since Saturday (more on that later). Now that I have the chance to acknowledge you properly, thank you all. If you’re ever in Sydney I owe you a beer.
SO WHAT ACTUALLY WORKED?
1. Facetime has been excellent
(remind me to write a post about how buying an ipad has been the best reunion with iOS imaginable), allowing my technologically challenged wife and infant daughter to talk / squeak-and-wave-arms at me. It has also been fantastic for my writing, since I also bought a tiny bluetooth keyboard for it.
2. A good night out. Or two. Or three.
I had a pretty good one on Friday, with a late stagger back through the rain, but there were no spirits involved (unless you count soju, which for this one you really shouldn’t: chamisul is only about 20% ABV). The company was true. There was late night snacking.
On the Saturday I LANned at a good mate’s place and we bashed Diablo whilst consuming tasty Korean beef and drinking James Squire.
Monday night I had a bottle of mead with friends over dinner.
I’m beginning to see a pattern emerging…
3. A routine
The simplicity of: get up, get washed, get tea, answer email, walk dog, get coffee, do work, cook rice, etc. etc. This has been great for feeling relaxed, and it doesn’t matter so much what time you start, just so long as you go through the same routine.
So all in all, I’m doing good now. I maybe-just-possibly had one sadface moment when my Tim Minchin Youtube playlist rolled over onto White Wine in the Sun. It was the line about passing the baby girl around the room like a puppy at a preschool. The damn funny-guy caught me off guard.
Ahh well. No plan is perfect.
So, with my new computer parts installed, a new computer desk to put everything on, and finally the problem of where I’m going to do my writing (in a noisy, distracting-ful house) HAS BEEN SOLVED!
TADAAA!
After months of debating whether to de-crapify my garage, build a tiny office-closet under the stairs, put me in the laundry room, get a backyard-office-cube thingy, or even a caravan (really?!), we stumbled upon the most obvious solution of all: move the furniture around in the bedroom, and put a compact desk in there. This is an awesome solution for several reasons:
1. Nobody uses the bedroom during the day anyway.
It’s an empty, unused, lockable and secluded space except during sleeping hours, which makes it perfect for writing.
2. It costs nothing and requires no modifications to anything.
I bought a new IKEA desk, because I didn’t want an old ugly desk in our nice bedroom: I wanted something that hid the cables, was compact, was white like everything else in there, etc. The thing is though, I didn’t have to buy anything, I could have just simply moved my desk and hey-presto, writing lair complete.
3. It forces you to keep a clear and clutter-free workspace
Nothing encourages work like a neat and tidy desk, free from distractions (with the exception of perhaps trinkets and pictures, because I needs my trinkets).
Nothing encourages a neat and tidy desk like your wife having to look at it every morning and judge you, with her judgiest judgement face. It’s a synergistic effect, with guilt feeding into productivity, and synergy is good apparently.
How is your writing space looking for you, and what’s working / what’s not?
Anyhow, that’s me for now. Looking forward to getting a lot of writing done this weekend since I’m locked away in a foreign country (work trip).
Best regards,
D.R.Sylvester
D.R.SYLVESTER FICTION 
Great job! And lovely workspace.
Thanking you kindly! It will no doubt get more cluttered over time, but for the moment it’s a very fresh set up
Looks great! I can almost you reaching a multitude of word count goals here. Ever tried writing via stand-up desk?
Thank you! I’m loving it so far, but only for my work, since my writing/gaming PC is still mid-reformat, and writing on my work laptop is a no-no. Next week or so it will get a good tappy-tapping workout. Writing is ongoing through the ipad though…
As for standing desks: I haven’t tried one, but I was thinking of buying one before I got this. In the end I was worried that the stool/leaning post thingy (for when your legs inevitably get sore) would take up too much of the bedroom, whereas the computer chair tucks away neatly when not in use. It’s still something I’m planning to set up in my workshop in a few weeks (haha, yeah, let’s see if that actually happens…)
What’s your writing space looking like? I remember you liked to rock some vids on a second screen while writing 🙂
Ha, you’re right, the stool/leaning post does take up too much room, though you should be more worried about the Cirque du Soleil-esque posture you’ll adopt if you use it too much. I use a combination of a standup desk and a desk space similar to the one you have. The second monitor is the laptop, which is easily transported between each setup.
If you do get a standup desk, don’t use the stool/leaning post if you can help it. I personally like the standup desk because it quickly gets you in the zone to do some serious work/writing. Just use a cushion you can step on (i.e.: a sofa cushion) and walk around or rest every hour or so.
I LOVE Ikea, haha. The desk is great. Is it enough, length wise, to provide comfortable hand resting while typing and writing down things? Maybe it’s just the picture but it looks a tad short.
I’ve just updated my writing space and like it as well. I have this huge desk that’s more like a little table. Perfect to lay sticky notes and notecards out!
It’s jusssssst big enough, barely. I think the one thing I would change about it is the height: I’d prefer it to be about another ten cm higher up, because at the moment my knees knock on the little shelf at the back of it. I’ll drill some holes and mount little legs when I get around to it. That big desk setup of yours sounds perfect! If only I had the space… Next house maybe *dreams*