Changing Spaces

Changing Spaces

When I was in college I would rearrange the furniture in my dorm room every 6-10 weeks. Why? I am not sure. I like the change. I would get an idea for a cool set up and then I would go for it.

Occasionally, I would have a roommate that would (or wouldn’t) be on board, and we would rearrange everything together. I've had beds bunked, beds at a regular height, even mattresses on the floor.

Side story: I once had my mattress underneath the bed frame, sat one couch on the bed frame (they were solid boards), sat another couch against the bed frame to create theater-style tiered seating and I had the tiniest little cubby hole to sleep in. Whenever I would roll over my shoulders would brush the bottom of the bed frame. I had to climb in from the foot of the bed to get into bed at night. I LOVED IT!

When I moved out of college, got married, and moved in with my wife I realized that she, much to my confusion, was not okay with constantly rearranging whole rooms and, as it turns out, it was kinda weird I did. Plus, I was working in a warehouse office so my work environment was entirely sterile and couldn't ever be moved around.

Recently, I have been thinking that another reason I enjoyed rearranging my furniture all the time is because it made me look at my room in a new way, created opportunities for me to imagine how things could be, and when I sat at my desk I would have a completely fresh view. Honestly, that was a huge reason why I enjoyed it so much.

At my most recent position, my office sat with the same layout for nearly two full years. I decided it was time to reassess.

Lemme tell ya, it made a huge difference in how I work, how I interact with people who came into my office, and even how I thought about going into work.

Then, when quarantine hit and we all became remote workers, I had to come up with a space to be my "home office." It ended up being under the stairs in the basement. I have played around with the space to optimize my creativity and have thoroughly enjoyed being able to think outside the box to make the space work for me!

While I was working primarily with students things were always changing. In student culture things are moving really, REALLY quickly all the time. If you work with students, then you are probably constantly learning something new, discovering new trends, or maybe you are the one trying to pick up on new trends before they even become trends (look at you, you little hipster trend-setter you).

However, when it comes to the spaces where we sit down to knock out our work which has nothing to do with interacting with people, like working on lesson plans, responding to emails, or work on disciplinary procedures our space can stay exactly the same because we are so busy doing everything else.

A change of space can become a change of perspective.

This sets you up to create and work with renewed energy and bring new ideas for the same old problems. Take the time every once in a while to change up your space, even if you are in small spaces or offices or working from your home. If you can’t change your space, then try working once in a while in a different space. These small tweaks can lead to some much needed inspiration!

Changing spaces in the days of trying to work from home can go a long way to make your life a little bit easier and keep those creative juices flowing. If you need something buzzing in your ear to ramp up the creative process, then I'd recommend checking this out, too!

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I am a freelance writer with a background in Ministry and experience everywhere from technical document writing to copy writing to creative writing. I have interests and knowledge in Ministry, Marketing, Parenting, Leadership, and Technology. If you are looking for someone to work with and like what you see, then email me at [email protected] or check out my portfolio at dylmill.contently.com.