LEADS at home - Stuart Purcell
What is your setup?
Like many of my colleagues, my desk is set up right beside my window. There’s several reasons for this: combined with my carefully positioned plant, it allows me to pretend that I’m basically outside, even while I’m spending many, many more hours in front of a screen (read: ‘screens’) than I did pre-pandemic; it means I can see the park across the street and therefore also dogs; and, quite honestly, it’s also the only space where it’ll actually fit in my living room. There are downsides to this window-side position, however, as I’ve found I do need to shut the curtains when I’m in a Zoom meeting, lest I look like Mr. Burns after his longevity treatment.
As you’ll be able to tell from the pictures of my desk set-up, I’m not a huge fan of clutter. You can ask my colleagues – this is always how my desk looks, and I promise I haven’t tidied up as if Architectural Digest was coming round for a visit. While it’s obviously a personal preference, keeping my workspace clean and tidy really helps me stay organised and be as productive as possible while working from home: having a desk tidy means that I can always reach a pen, Post-It, or page marker when I need them, and having an additional monitor alongside my laptop means I can read or take notes while I’m in a Zoom meeting or teaching online.
What are your tips for working from home?
Again, like many of my colleagues and, I’m sure, like many students, working from home has made it much more difficult for me to separate ‘work’ from ‘not-work’ time, especially given my living room is now also my office. I’ve been trying to be much stricter with what my ‘working hours’ are and what my ‘not working hours’ are, but this is especially challenging when we’re so busy trying to do what we normally do while also adapting to ‘the new abnormal’ and working entirely online.
One thing that I’ve found particularly useful, though, is setting ‘Do Not Disturb’ hours/days so I don’t get push notifications from my most frequently used work apps (Outlook, Teams, etc.) during evenings and weekends. This way, I’m less tempted to ‘just quickly check something’ and find myself still sitting at the laptop at 22:47.
Another thing that I’ve found helpful is making sure I actually get outside at least once a day, even just for a walk around the block or for a short sit in the sunshine (when there is sunshine) and that I exercise as often as possible. For me, ‘exercise’ currently means getting out for a run or a cycle, which at the very least helps get me away from my desk and phone for a little while. But, at the same time, what with how busy we are at the moment and considering we’re also in the middle of a pandemic, I’m also trying to remind myself that it’s all right not to feel like going outside all of the time and that just lying on the couch and watching a film is still an all right thing to do.
What would you change about your setup, if you could?
Having a(nother) room in my flat that could be a dedicated office space would really help with the aforementioned difficulties in separating ‘work’ and ‘not work’ time. Otherwise, I really can’t complain. I’m fortunate to have the space for a proper and permanent desk, an additional monitor, and to have such a nice view – I know not everyone is so lucky.
What’s the one thing you can’t live without?
Coffee. Since we’ve been working from home, one of my ‘treat yo’ self’ investments has been to get good coffee delivered once a week and making coffee has become a (sadly) important and enjoyable part of my daily routine: going through the whole rigmarole of making a really good cup of coffee from as close to scratch as I’m able is probably about as close to meditation as I will personally ever get. In fact, coffee has (again, sadly) become such an important part of my lockdown life that I’ve convinced my colleagues to let me write a whole blog post about it. So look out for that being published in the coming weeks, if indeed you do want to read more about my lockdown coffee routine.
But, if I’m allowed to pick another ‘one thing’ I can’t live without when working from home, it’s my reading rest. When I look back on all the years I spent as a student, trying to wedge a stubborn library book open using another library book, a laptop, a spare hand, a knee, or whatever reasonably heavy object was within reaching distance as I attempted to type out a quotation or read while taking notes, I can’t believe I didn’t invest in one sooner. Don’t make the same mistake I did – invest in a reading rest and let it change your life for the better*.
*at least the bit of your life that involves holding books open.
Written by Stuart Purcell, Effective Learning Adviser for Arts