Despite inflation and high gas prices, I am currently preparing to go on vacation. It will be the first week-long venture I’ve taken in nearly a year and a half, and I am looking forward to having some quiet time to relax and recharge in the mountains. I’ve written before in this blog about how I use such vacations to get some work done on creative endeavors, and this time around will be no exception. I’ll be taking my laptop along with me as well as my DSLR camera and some art supplies. I have plenty I hope to accomplish during the week, but also, I will be looking for inspiration for projects I won’t be able to work on until I get back home again.

Last week I wrote about how atmosphere can help or hamper our productivity, particularly when it comes to the people around us and whether or not they support our goals. One of my projects I intend to take on when I get back from vacation is meant to help capture some of the atmosphere I find in the mountains and also set up some workspace boundaries meant to keep people who hamper me out of my creative zone. I’m not sure exactly what this workspace will look like yet (I have several options I can choose from), but after two years of no productivity on any of my personal projects, I do know it is needed.

Setting aside or setting up personal space should not be a struggle. Unfortunately, my family is not known for keeping things tidy, and their clutter tends to overflow into the spaces I try to open up for working on projects. With my limited free time, losing 20-30 minutes cleaning up this clutter before I can set up materials for an art or crafted project can cost me several hours per week of needed worktime. So now I am considering ways which I can completely separate my workspace from any space to which my family has easy access. This may mean setting up a shed, a RV, or even renting a space.

Obviously, not everyone has enough money to go to such lengths to claim personal workspace, especially with current inflation levels. There’s also an issue of people not having enough space to install another building on their property to create separate space. I am lucky to have both at this time. But if I am to invest this sort of area and money into such a space, then I need to ensure that it is respected for the workspace that it is. It will not become storage for random supplies that my family “thinks” I may be able to use. It needs to be kept clean. Supplies, tools, and equipment unrelated to my projects will not be permitted to pass through its doors, even if my family may think it convenient to store such things inside. (Even if they think it looks like a garden shed, it will not be a garden shed!) If I have to, I will keep the doors locked to keep them out when I’m not using it. I have struggled for years to carve out my personal workspace, and I have not been successful so far. But this time, with this space, I will refuse to give even an inch to anything other than what I need.

Hezzie