Today’s assignment is quite easy: What I want you to do is to just write out and share some of your initial thoughts about your “optimal” writing environment.
Well to be perfectly honest, my initial thoughts were…
“I have never really given it ANY consideration!”
…which, if I really consider it may be a little shortsighted of me. Leading a rather hectic lifestyle as I do, I just snatch moments of time between working and that can be in a multitude of places and using a plethora of different devices. Quite crazy really. I spend my days as a Technical Consultant explaining to clients how important it is for THEM to consider their environment, it is just as important a part of their infrastructure refresh. Perhaps, it’s even more important than the decisions they are pondering regarding the particular hardware they are purchasing.
Touché…
I guess it is time to practice what I preach.
I am going to make a conscious effort to give some careful consideration to my writing environment and more importantly, I am going to free up some time to dedicate to my writing efforts, free of distractions, whenever possible.
I have a perfectly suitable home office space, which I do find myself spending a lot of time in. I have a wide range of Computer equipment available to me. Over 2 years ago, I made the conscious decision to move my personal computing environment to Apple, the constant updates and issues that surround Microsoft products were just too much to bear, combined with the ever-increasing Malware and Virus problems, enough was enough and I have never looked back.
My equipment now includes a Mid 2011, 27” iMac, 15” Macbook Pro with Retina Display (Work Laptop), iPad (3rd Generation), iPhone 6, iPhone 5S (Work Phone), plus a multitude of accessories.
I took some time to read John’s interesting posts, detailing the various transition’s of his writing environment, and I love the idea of having a standing desk. I was recently visiting one of my clients, and found that they had completely refurbished their IT department. ALL of the Support personnel now have motorised desks, which can be raised to afford them the ability to work whilst standing, or lowered to facilitate sitting in an office chair. This was the first time I had experienced a standing desk and I remember thinking that this was an absolutely marvellous idea. I remember wishing that we could implement them in our offices.
Unfortunately, I am not sure that I could justify the cost of a motorised desk for my home office, but I am going to investigate the possibility of creating a space where I can work vertically.
I do believe that an environment devoid of clutter and mess, breeds a better work habit and I think this probably translates to what is required whilst writing. During my normal work day, I will be swapping between multiple Desktops and applications, which I can manage quite well, however, I do not believe that this is the case whilst writing.
After spending a considerable amount of time and effort to find a suitable blogging application for my Mac, I eventually found John Saddington’s “Desk” app, which, I am slowly getting used to and I know, will become a big part of my future blogging activity. I love the fact that I can maximise the app and have a screen that just resembles a large canvas without any distractions.
Well, I think my “Writing Environment” is going to be an ongoing project and I will be sure to update you all on my progress, so for now I am going to close this post, which incidentally I have been writing from my Sofa! (perhaps not the ideal environment).
I’m gonna work on it. (…no, not the Sofa). Promise!
