How organised is your home-office workspace?

: Image by Matt Brett via Flickr (NB: NOT my workspace)

You know it’s time to do some tidying in your home office when the towers of books and papers are high enough to topple over and possibly smother a small child.

My first stop for a motivation kick in this area is the Lifehacker Coolest Workspace Contest, where readers are invited to submit pictures of specific aspects of their home-integrated workspaces, for example their monitor set-up, walls, how they make best use of space, etc. The winner is by popular vote – in other words, never my favourite – but the quality of entries overall is usually high enough to glean some good ideas.

If you think you can do better, Lifehacker have a show and tell pool of workspaces on Flickr, with over 500 images at the time of posting. And if you think you’d never be able to reduce your working tools to that degree, I can personally attest to the fact that Jed Schmidt’s tips on abstracting away the physical infrastructure of a translator’s office is both realistic and achievable.

Of course, sometimes it’s hard to feel any spark of motivation around the nagging thought that you should be more organised. This is when Jennifer Hofmann’s approach will calm your nerves and soothe your soul…

So who’s prepared to share their image of a professional translator’s home office*?!

* Sorry, “home office” snaps featuring beaches, swimming pools, cocktails or any kind of weather requiring sunglasses don’t count. Why? Because we can all play that game 😉

About Sarah Dillon

Sarah Dillon is an Irish cailín in Brisbane, Australia. She arrived Down Under via Germany, France, Spain, Ireland, and the UK, having originally trained as a professional translator. Sarah has been involved in the start-up phases of several international small businesses as a founder, advisor and director, and has worked for companies such as Apple Computers, Audi AG and Bain and Company. She is currently pursuing a PhD in international entrepreneurship. Read more about Sarah here.

Comments

Sarah M Dillon says

2 March, 2009 at 11:17 am

@Jill I loved your office pic. Thanks for sharing, I left a comment over there.

@Judy Hope Vienna’s going well. I have a picture of my desk on Flickr (http://tinyurl.com/badntc) which is the closest I have to a picture of my office (BTW I don’t normally look that fierce – I don’t think 🙂 ). I’ve since re-arranged things and added my keyboard, tilted docking station, etc. so I keep meaning to take another picture, but I just haven’t had time to tidy the office properly first 🙂

@Jennifer Thanks for dropping by!
Sarah M Dillon says

2 March, 2009 at 11:17 am

@Jill I loved your office pic. Thanks for sharing, I left a comment over there.

@Judy Hope Vienna’s going well. I have a picture of my desk on Flickr (http://tinyurl.com/badntc) which is the closest I have to a picture of my office (BTW I don’t normally look that fierce – I don’t think 🙂 ). I’ve since re-arranged things and added my keyboard, tilted docking station, etc. so I keep meaning to take another picture, but I just haven’t had time to tidy the office properly first 🙂

@Jennifer Thanks for dropping by!
Jennifer Hofmann says

26 February, 2009 at 2:31 am

Wow, Sarah – thank you for the praise about my approach to organizing. People have so many “shoulds” about what organizing is – and many of them are restrictive and impossible to maintain. Whew! No wonder so many give up!

I posted these two pictures of my office before and after my monthly Office Spa Day… What a difference an hour makes! http://twitpic.com/photos/inspiredjen#

Thanks again for the mention!
Jennifer Hofmann says

26 February, 2009 at 2:31 am

Wow, Sarah – thank you for the praise about my approach to organizing. People have so many “shoulds” about what organizing is – and many of them are restrictive and impossible to maintain. Whew! No wonder so many give up!

I posted these two pictures of my office before and after my monthly Office Spa Day… What a difference an hour makes! http://twitpic.com/photos/inspiredjen#

Thanks again for the mention!
Judy Jenner says

23 February, 2009 at 8:38 pm

Very cool — I am always intrigued by other people’s workspaces! I am working remotely from Vienna now, so my workspace is now temporarly set up in my twin’s large office — 3 people, 4 computers– but I will share one of my real Vegas workspace as soon as I return! Now, Sarah, will you share a pic of your workspace? 🙂 BTW, loved the converted shed in “Coolest Work Place”.

Judy Jenner´s last blog post… The Business of Integrity
Judy Jenner says

23 February, 2009 at 8:38 pm

Very cool — I am always intrigued by other people’s workspaces! I am working remotely from Vienna now, so my workspace is now temporarly set up in my twin’s large office — 3 people, 4 computers– but I will share one of my real Vegas workspace as soon as I return! Now, Sarah, will you share a pic of your workspace? 🙂 BTW, loved the converted shed in “Coolest Work Place”.

Judy Jenner´s last blog post… The Business of Integrity
Jill says

23 February, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Hi Sarah, it’s definitely an interesting topic. I have a photo of my office in my blog post on ergonomics.

Jill´s last blog post… TGIF: Scout and Paws
Jill says

23 February, 2009 at 1:30 pm

Hi Sarah, it’s definitely an interesting topic. I have a photo of my office in my blog post on ergonomics.

Jill´s last blog post… TGIF: Scout and Paws