Finding the Right Place for a Home Office

featured in New York Times by Ronda Kaysen

When working from home, where you work is often an afterthought. But it shouldn’t be.

Earlier this year, I faced a conundrum that many of us who work from home know well: Where in the house can I actually work?

Unless you’re blessed with a home large enough for a dedicated office, or are a truly nomadic worker and able to set up shop on a sofa with nothing more than a cup of tea and your laptop, you’re inevitably going to have to carve out space in a room that isn’t naturally intended for work.

Any spot you choose has the potential to diminish what you had before. Set up camp in your bedroom, and you’re left staring down your desk when you’re trying to get to sleep, all those unanswered emails calling to you as you lie awake at 4 a.m. Move to the kitchen or dining room, and snack time becomes an endless loop. (Why work when you could sample that fresh salsa from the farmers market?) Steal a corner of the living room, and suddenly your prime social area feels like some weird break room outside an office cubicle.

These were my options when I relinquished my airy bedroom office to my son when he outgrew the room he had long shared with his sister. I knew this day would come, and yet, when it did, I still didn’t have a good answer for where to go.

So I went to the place where all objects with no obvious home inevitably end up: the basement.

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

Dive deeper into feng shui to transform your life!

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Create sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com

5 Ways to Make Over Your Desk So It Inspires Creativity

featured on MindBodyGreen by Emma Loewe

Your outer landscape has a direct impact on your inner one, whether you realize it or not. When it comes to decorating your home or office, there's real power in designing a space that speaks to your goals and intentions.

Plant-based athlete, author, and mbg Collective member Rich Rollsaid it best in a recent Instagram post about his at-home office scene: a converted shipping container filled with books, notepads, a skateboard, and other trinkets he finds inspiring. "The more fertile the space, the more fertile the mind," its caption reads. "Put intention into your personal space. Create the environment to create."

While research has found that some things are beneficial for nearly every work environment (adding a plant to your desk can increase productivity by 15%; sitting near a window while you work can improve sleep and boost energy levels), it's largely personal. So for inspiration, we asked some of the creative, design-oriented people in our world about how they invite productivity and inspiration into their workspaces. Here are some of their favorite strategies you can emulate in your office or home:

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If you’d like to learn more about feng shui check out the Mindful Design Feng Shui certification program. Laura Morris and I launched our program in September 2018. To get on the list about it, sign up at: www.mindfuldesignschool.com.

Dive deeper into feng shui to transform your life!

Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Create sacred spaces that support, and nourish.

Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com

House to Home: Your Perfect Workspace

featured on telegram.com by Debbie Travis

Dear Debbie: When is working at home a bad idea? I find it a real struggle to put aside home tasks and unrelated phone calls and get down to concentrating on my paying job as an accountant. Should I rent office space? — Anna

Dear Anna: For many people, working at home solves myriad challenges, including time lost traveling and food expenses. Also, cutting down on sick days is easier when you don’t have to venture out. Having a home office can be ideal with today’s computer connections, but it also depends on your career choice. Many accountants work from home, so consider how you can better situate yourself so that you can close out home distractions and concentrate on your clients.

In her recent book “Holistic Spaces, 108 Ways to Create a Mindful and Peaceful Home,” the author, interior architect Anjie Cho, lays out how to create holistic spaces using many disciplines. She thinks of feng shui as the original “green” design and looks at how the environment affects us on an energetic level, as well as how we affect the environment.

The philosophy of where to situate furniture in relation to doors and windows, what should or should not be in a room and how we can benefit by following these rules is an ancient one, and not often thought about in western societies. Because so many of Cho’s rules and so much of her guidance is backed by a combination of common sense and tested theories, it is a valuable companion, especially if you are struggling with home anxieties.

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Mindful Design is a new way to learn feng shui. Our unique training program takes an holistic approach to learning the art of feng shui design. Mindful design is about becoming aware, and attentive, to the energy around you: both inner and outer qi. It is about promoting a better way of living and creating sacred spaces that support, and nourish. Visit us at mindfuldesignschool.com.