Where you write matters

Are you meeting all your mental and emotional needs in your writing space?

The last few weeks my office has been a hot mess, literally.

We’ve had a heatwave here in the UK so it has been warm in my office all the time, and the combination of my daughter coming back from University, after four years, with all her stuff and us having a clear out, has meant a permanent pile of things that needed to be sold, taken to the charity shop or delivered to friends at one end of my office.

When my office is a mess I really struggle to work in there. I just don’t want to even open the door, especially if it isn’t my mess.

If the mess is mine, I just put on some good music and get it sorted. Since my office is our converted garage, that means we don’t have anywhere to put things when they are on the way out of the house.

Guess where it all ends up?

Does your writing environment really matter though?

Well the short answer is - YES!

I can’t concentrate on writing when there is stuff everywhere, it distracts me from my writing. I glance around the room and before I know it, my brain goes from writing project to “I wish I could do something with all that stuff”.

Did you know that mental interruptions have a huge impact on our productivity? (You can find out all about that, and more information about the importance of your writing environment, in my latest blog).

Ensuring that your writing environment is distraction free is so important.

What can you do to make sure you are writing in the right place?

There is so much more to creating the right writing environment for your needs than just reducing distractions.

Stop and think about your needs:

• Do you need music?

• What temperature suits you best?

• Do you have any physical needs that need to be accommodated?

• Are you sensitive to lighting?

• Do you need to be in a quiet or busy environment?

There are so many factors to take into account. There may be times when your brain needs to overrule your heart too.

Perhaps you love writing in bed, but you have started noticing that you have a back ache after a long writing session.

Maybe you like the idea of writing in a cafe but actually the noise of the coffee machine and the conversations around you are too distracting.

What do you do?

Perhaps sitting more upright with more supportive cushions, and a lap tray, in bed will improve the impact on your back?

Maybe you can work in a cafe, if you wear noise cancelling headphones?

The important thing is that you find a way to enjoy the writing process, while keeping your environment effective and efficient.

Where do you write?

When I was running Calmer Classrooms (my mindfulness for schools business) I had a white IKEA desk. It was perfect and felt right for that work. Within a few months of changing my focus towards writing and writing therapy I knew that I needed a different desk.

I spent weeks writing on our dining table because I needed to work on a real wood table. Soon after, I bought myself a beautiful old teachers desk, and my whole office changed energy. I now love sitting at my desk - apart from during a heatwave when there’s lots of clutter in my office.

Let me know in the comments where you love to write. Have you noticed changes to your process or efficiency when you change your writing location?

If you would like to read more about the reasons your writing environment is so important I have written a blog about it, I would love you to read it and let me know if it has made you think differently about where you write.

Thank you for reading. This publication, and everything I write, comes from my heart, and is my own words, and created without the use of AI.

Hello, I’m Kate - story lover, future author, writing coach, journal therapist and mum, based in the Stafford, UK. You can receive my weekly writing tips and updates, wellbeing reminders and the general life ramblings of a menopausal writer, by subscribing for free.

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