A Sense of Doubt blog post #3454 - Work Spaces - via Warren Ellis

A Sense of Doubt blog post #3454 - Work Spaces - via Warren Ellis



Like Warren Ellis, I am fascinated by work spaces and process. I love seeing where other people work and learning about how they work.

I am fascinated by work space. My work spaces tell a story, and I narrate them below.

Farther down, there's the bit from Warren Ellis' newsletter and a site he shared with views of many people's work spaces.

My current office is in the lower level, in an ADU -- Alternate Dwelling Unit.

For me, work space is combination of functionality, efficiency, and convenience as the space dictates. Some spaces where I have worked have demanded different set ups. I like design, but I am less interested in maintaining some magazine-style set up than I am in creating a space where I can function.

Things I need must be at hand.

Two monitors are essential. (I now have three on two machines).

Music.

Clutter demonstrates either a lack of convenient storage or a very busy work life with little time to deal with and clear the clutter. 

Here's the main desk area with two computers and three screens, The desktop is to the left with pens lined up in front of it. There's a coaster for coffee or water (see the water here) with some decorations, like the Vision bobble head, the baseball, and the Rubik's cubes are covered up. The desk calendar is between the main screen and the keyboard, often covered with to-do lists and my current notebooks: the blue thing with the pens next to the eye glasses. There's bill just past the eyeglasses, propped right in my line of sight so I remember to pay it. See the Snoopy thumb drive at 11 o'clock with the glasses as center? At 10 o'clock is a travel clock with a temperature gauge because I am obsessed with keeping track of time. At 9 o'clock is another Coaster from the King Crimson album In the Court of the Crimson King. 

Next at 8 o'clock, some of the sticky notes. This area get full of sticky notes, and I am trying to keep it somewhat clear as it makes me crazy to have notes there. Left of the sticky notes an eraser and an Einstein thumb drive. The wrist saver for the mouse pad came to me when the previous one's gel disintegrated into a sticky morass. The mouse pad itself is a custom job with my Galactic Monkey Wrench logo. There's an R2D2 thumb drive, unused, in that silver tonight just above the mouse and a charging cord for the phone if I need it.

There's three lights that are visible in all three pictures but not well seen but that's the black pole in the picture above. There's also a wall calendar that is clearly visible.

Some other clutter in notes and things, but it's very functional, and I am very comfortable in this space compared to previous offices.

Trash and recycling under the desk.

To the right, the music set up and the second computer and third screen. Mostly, I play music or videos out of the second computer but sometimes play CDs or vinyl albums just on the stereo. The computer sound also runs into the stereo. The turntable is also hooked up to the computer to digitize vinyl albums, though I have not imported any yet.

NOTE the Underdog toy, the Detroit Tigers Baseball card holder, and the black shelving unit that my Dad made for me after I got married. In the top right corner of the photo, you can see the Nostromo sticker taped to the mirror in the bathroom beyond.

To the left is the TV and a side table (also made by my Dad), the BIG to-do list in the book reader prop is not visible in the picture below but is in the next one down. There's more tables past the door to the patio.

There's another clock on top of the TV -- a Mystery Machine replica -- along with an Amazon Echo, cable box, the red Chinese good fortune cat my Mom had, a DVD player. The computer speakers are split between the TV and the desktop, all of which is why I have not switched to a flat screen because I like being able to set all those things ON the TV. There's a Sleestak and a Robbie the Robot, a fan, and a microphone. And obviously, the Teen Titans poster.

Stacks of comic books and books on the side table.

The three pictures above were taken this week in 2024,  but the pic below was taken September 30th, 2022, which was about six months after we moved in to the Kalama house. There have been some changes since 2022 but not a lot.

Here's two shots of the Blacktail office. Very similar set up left to right. The two computers started here, the laptop is a third one, sort of in front of the TV.

This pic below is right of the main desk are, so behind me in the pic above, and shows to the TO DO list and the calendar. I had room for the page-a-day calendars in this set up. They are in bathroom at Kalama house.

Here's some shots of the office at school (below). I started by wanting to keep track of the magnets, as I bought a new one each time I went to the local comic book store.

Back in Michigan, at the St. Antoine house, I had less space and less storage space as seen below. But I had a standing work station in the foreground bottom left as well as just one desktop and two screens. But I had more stacks of books and papers and things.

These speakers stacked here are in the pictures above in the current office, hooked up to the stereo. My friend John Grevers made these for me in college about 40 years ago.

More close ups of my stacks, which are mostly gone in the current office.

Here's left of the main desk with a good view of the big TO DO list, lower right of the photo in the clipboard.

Right of the main desk area as the calendar used to be propped up. More phones back then, more pictures around the desk area.

from

Post-Midsummer Orbital Operations for 7 July 2024

OPERATIONS

WORK DESIGN

I got a cover in on July 4 that I so wish I could show you, but we have a plan and I need to stick to it. But my god, that piece made my day all on its own.

In full flow over here. I have six or seven things in train, while maintaining some space in case anything else interesting presents itself.

This is where work design comes into play.

Insane office desk, right? Who’d do that? But here’s the thing: Danielle Steel has written close to 200 novels. This space clearly works for her.

I’ve worked for thirty years in the same tiny back room, on a second-hand desk, sitting on an old wooden dining chair with a cushion on it, facing a 21-inch screen with whiteboards hung on the wall behind it. It works for me. I have everything I need within reach. CDs and films are easy to access. I like sound when I’m working, and I can bring up music, podcasts, tv and radio with just a couple of gestures. Going into deep work requires only muted video on the big screen and music played over the top. I work with my back to the window.

You need to design your space so it works for you. Even if it’s a cubbyhole or just a little desk in your living room. If you’re not happy in your work space, you won’t get much work done in it. It needs to be comfortable and it needs to give you pleasure to be there.

Take a look today at the place where you do your creative work. Do you like it? How could you make it better? The whiteboards and the gooseneck holder for the phone were game changers for me.

But seriously: the least friction possible between the work and you doing it. That’s the thing.

Bonus round: Ray Bradbury’s office was insane.

(I sat at Arthur Conan Doyle’s remote writing desk in Kent once and wrote a note there, just to feel that connection.)

https://www.workspaces.xyz/

ace ->

past editions

440 - Dinesh Dave

439 - Adam Noffsinger

438 - Helin Kıl

437 - Daniel Klopper

436 - Isaac French

435 - Mark Gilroy

434 - Arthur Kim

433 - Mason Watson

432 - That Virtual Boy

431 - Rishad Amarkhel

430 - Nick Levesque

429 - Juanjo Valiño

428 - Mattia Giannattasio

427 - Can Uludag

426 - Austin Blake

425 - Metehan Kaya

424 - Easlo

423 - Benedict Neo

422 - Carlos Cuesta

421 - Silvia Sguotti

420 - Kevin Twohy

419 - Tobias Reich

418 - Sval Itsutora

417 - Mine Canan Göldaf

416 - Totte Annerbrink

415 - Japheth Crawford

414 - Neville Medhora

413 - Michael Flarup

412 - Mateus Almeida

411 - Anton Sten

410 - Alvar Sans

409 - Ivan Nedyalkov

408 - Rishi Kar

407 - Matthew Suff

406 - Olivier Konan

405 - Grace Clarke

404 - Federico Storai

403 - Maitreyee Kalaskar

402 - Thomas Williams

401 - David Bustos

400 - Paulo Shishido

399 - Nick Smet

398 - Fabio Monzani

397 - David Tyler

396 - Matt Webb

395 - Housseynou Fall

394 - Sean Woolsey

393 - Luca Defreitas-Hansen

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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2408.02 - 10:10

- Days ago = 3318 days ago

- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.