Everyone has ideal work conditions, even creatives like writers, musicians, and artists. Some can work in complete chaos and use it as background or white noise to keep their focus on the work. Others need complete silence.
I tend to fall into the latter category. If you see my screen and one of my novels or short stories is the main window, please save the conversation for later if you can. I’m currently at the height of my creativity for the day and I really need to get these words written before I lose them. Forever.
I’ve never had the greatest memory, so if I don’t say something or write something down now it will be lost in the back of my mind until something, possibly years later, jogs the memory. You see the light bulb go on over my head as I run to my computer, or even grab my phone out of my pocket or purse to jot the item down before I forget again.
Having quiet doesn’t guarantee I’ll remember a silly comment or passing idea, but it gives me the focus I need to make sure everything I want gets down on paper. If you enter my workspace when it’s just me, the only things you’re likely to hear is the hum of my computer tower and the clicking of my mechanical keyboard as I type. That’s how I like it.
However. I share the space with my husband. A man who is vice president of a company he will one day take over and be president/CEO. He has a number of other tasks that require constant communication with other people – the ones out in the field making things happen. It means a second set of keyboard keys clicking along, with the added disturbance of periodic, yet frequent and long, phone calls or online meetings.
He talks while others listen. He listens while others talk. He speaks loudly and suddenly sometimes, startling me out of my ‘zone,’ causing me to start over to some extent. He finishes a call, only to pick up another.
Our son comes home from school. He needs help with homework, or wants to tell me about something cool that happened during his day. It’s only 12:30 p.m., so after he talks to me, he goes into the kitchen to make lunch. Cupboards and drawers open, the fridge maybe. If it needs heading up, the microwave opens, buttons that make digital noises are pressed and the hum of cooking starts, followed by the blast of beeping that alerts him the food is done. Another open and close of the door.
When they’re both gone, or asleep, there is blissful silence and I fly through page upon page, sometimes completing an entire chapter or more. Even working in a quiet, public place like a library or the lounge at my apartment complex has some bit of noise to distract. This is not to say I don’t love them and want them around, I just work better in the silence.
Another disturbance: color. We’ve lived in apartments for several years, where the ability to paint is limited, and so we keep the ‘apartment white’ or ‘apartment gray’ that exists when we move in. Which is fine. There’s no splashy or vibrant color to distract from my singular focus. There are rules about making holes in the walls, keeping us from hanging many photos or artwork. Again, fine. I’d get caught up in staring at them, processing the memory rather than focusing on work.
What’s your ideal work environment? Quiet? Noisy? Something in between? Do you work from home? Let’s talk on Facebook!