I’ve been thinking a lot about space, this week. What comes up for you when you think of space? Where do you feel you have lots of it, and how does it make you feel when you don’t have enough? For me, the two areas where I definitely need more space, is my physical space and in my content.

Physical space.

Lockdown has changed the way most of us work, permanently.  I love the flexibility and not having to spend 2 hours a day travelling.  I love the (mostly) better work-life balance and being there for my daughter after school rather than bedtime. In order for me to WFH and accommodate this new way of working, I also had to make my bedroom, my office and living room, a space where I could work, create, relax and sleep.

I’ve been really happy with this set-up for 3 years, but recently a new feeling has started to creep in. My haven, my bedroom/office/living room, is starting to make me feel hemmed in and claustrophobic.  It’s starting to feel like I’ve got no space at all, trying to do everything within the same four walls, with my family walking in, any time they please.  I feel like I want to scream every time someone walks in, and clearly that’s not healthy or about them. I’ve  realised I need a new environment, an injection of new faces, new energies in my life, that I need to separate the key areas of my life because right now its all merged into one, and its starting to impact my relationships.

I’ve recently come across a beautiful space called The Birch, a members club and co-working space, located on beautiful grounds, from where I can work, and also have fun and relax.  I think this is exactly what I need and it couldn’t be coming at a better time.

Content creation

I like to look back at my previous posts, as a way of observing my blogging journey. From not having had a clue where to start, to starting, then figuring out along the way, how to write copy which I hope is helpful, instructive and interesting, I feel like I’ve already learned a lot. I’ve read and re-read these posts many times, so I was surprised when I looked back at the same posts last week, and realised how little space there was on the page. There were just blocks and streams of copy. Each post reading like a book and I know enough to know, that a blog shouldn’t read like a book. It should have space around it, with short, snappy, engaging paragraphs broken up by sub-headings. No-one wants to read an essay, unless it is one.  So I went through all the posts, deleted a lot of copy, leaving a lot more space around it, for the copy to breathe. It looks so much better and certainly reads a lot better.

It feels so good to get some space, or to be making choices which will give me more of it.  How do you work and navigate the times when you are feeling boxed in and what has been the impact of that, on your work, creativity and productivity? I would love to know.

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