I’ve felt a wrestling in my spirit for a while now. It feels kind of crazy, honestly. Just 3 short months ago, after my rebrand, I was planning for a home office update and picking out paint colors and even bought a few new office goodies. But then two things started happening and filling my thoughts:

1. I started to feel lonely. Honestly, working from home has never bothered me before. I would hear others mention the loneliness that comes with working by yourself, for yourself, and I honestly didn’t get it. I’m an introvert and I love the activity of getting lost in a project in a quiet room all to myself. But all of a sudden, I was feeling it, especially going from parenting to working, and feeling the loneliness of both of those roles. It’s a interesting thing parenting two young children because you’re never alone (seriously, leaving my kids unsupervised is still not a reality in our home with their ages!), yet it can feel entirely lonely. I know my fellow mamas will get it. Then, bouncing to a job where often the only human interactions I have in a day are via text on a screen, made it really hard!
2. A growing vision of what freed up space in our home could be. I started imagining a room crafted for family, fun, and connection and turning the space into a craft/playroom. We live in a small 1,300 square foot home (which we love, especially with young kids–good to always know where they are ;)), and my heart was lit on fire every-time I considered what we could do with free space. Plus, it’s not a secret that Andy and I desire to continue growing our family, so eventually, the need for that extra space is going to be a necessity.

 

All of this wrestling eventually came together as Andy told me about a co-working space down the street from his work that a lot of his friends/peers are a part of, called the Department in downtown. He booked me a tour and together we went to see it. The following week I decided to try it and have not looked back. It’s refreshing to get to see REAL faces every day (still working on making friends! :)) and I find that being out of the home makes it more feasible to want to meet up with friends/vendors for lunch. On top of that, I now have a fantastic space to meet clients from!

My sweet boys. Here they are playing with mommy’s photo tools while attempting to take their picture. Sometimes it just works better if you hand them the equipment and satisfy their curiosity ;). Also, the sweaters are a tell-tale sign that I have not photographed my boys enough this year! Working on that :).

The most exciting and unexpected impact this change has had on my work is that it has made me far more effective and efficient. I would have thought that adding a 30-50 minute (depending on traffic) commute would do the opposite, but instead the need to prep for my day the evening prior with meals and a gym bag has made my work hours so much more effective. I used to spend the first hour of the day getting the boys prepped and off to school, then come home and organize my space and thoughts to finally settle down and start work around 9:30/10AM. Now, I prep the night before, wake up before the boys to get dressed, then spend the morning with them. Once they’re dropped at school I make my commute to work and spend time listening to podcasts or spending time with God and listening to the Bible. Once I arrive, I hit the ground running and do great work for the next hours. Really, it’s been such a great rhythm for my productivity. And the BEST part, I’ve felt way more free to truly spend time away from work on Tuesdays and Thursdays when I’m playing my full-time mom role. It’s still new (I’m in my first month), but I’m excited for the future and to see the impact this has on my work and the heart of our home.

So here’s to new things!