Mortgage Monday: Needing Separation

While I have a home office, I have yet to use it as much as I would like. In fact, I have used the kitchen more than any other place in the house to get work done and it has actually worked out well so far. While it may not be the optimal place to get projects done, it allows for greater flexibility to switch from work to family. Again, not the optimal work conditions but I can’t help it.

To be honest, the space I am currently using to get work done is more because of the fact that there are a few projects still incomplete around the house. Namely the organization of my office which at one point was pretty close but it now a bit disheveled. However, the biggest thing preventing me from using the space is the simple fact of noise. My office is currently open to the main entrance of the house and the stairs to the second floor. Any work that I do in the office could wake up our son.

This is just one of many projects (which have all been discussed previously) that have to be completed. I consider this one to be an essential change to improve the functionality of the space. And that it important to note… we have the space. This is a luxury that we have to work with… we don’t have to move things around or have multipurpose rooms. We have the space to separate everything and our goal is to separate work from the family.

That strong divide is something that I would like to reestablish sooner rather than later. Not only am I able to be more efficient and productive but I can keep the piles of papers and my computer out of the family space of the house. We all need that divide between work and home whether it is a long drive or simply a door between rooms. Of course, the nice thing is that my wife and I both have our own spaces which we can make our own because, again, we have the space to do it. But this will also take a little time.

It just goes to show that things still need to be figured out over time even though you may have found the perfect home for your family. There are always going to be projects that have to be done to fine tune the house to fit your needs. This is because of the simple reality that a perfect home is going to be an imperfect house.  

I Didn’t Like Working From Home…

Every year, I am given ten work from home days to use as I see fit. However, even though I have been given the option to do so I have rarely used more than a couple out of necessity. I have never been a fan of working from home. This has not been a secret and there are a multitude of reasons for my dislike of this arrangement. What it really comes down to is the simple fact that I am not as productive at home as I am at the office. And that is all about the focus that I lack when there are so many distractions around the house.

However, in the few weeks that we have been in our new home, that stance is beginning to waver and, with the office arrangement that I have, I seem to be maintaining my focus better than I have been in the past. On some days it is even better than at the office. While I don’t believe it is one specific thing that has helped me I do know that it is a much more comfortable arrangement.

In the past, my office has either been upstairs or in the basement far removed from anything else in the house. Theoretically, this seems like a good arrangement but in reality it created, over time, an atmosphere that wasn’t conducive to getting work done. Over time I would use these spaces less and less until they eventually remained relatively unused and my laptop and work documents overtook the kitchen table. It proved to be quite the vicious cycle.

The only time that I had an office on the main floor was in our apartment in Bala Cynwyd. It actually worked well for a little while but because of the odd hours I kept, the close proximity to the bedroom which prevented me from typing too loud, and the maintenance issues that proceeded to drip all over the carpet, this too was a short lived arrangement. Of course, it also didn’t help that my wife and I shared the office space and we have completely different ways of working.

Now we have separate spaces on the main floor of the house. While there is still some work that needs to be done so that I can use the space on a more regular basis (i.e. doors put in so the sound doesn’t travel up the stairs at night and wake up our son), it is already proving to be an excellent place to get things done. I think I have completed more projects in this office over the past month than I did sitting in the basement in our last rental. So, now working from home might not be so bad which is a good thing because the roads might not be as friendly in our current location.

Can You Smell The Hamentashen?

I just realized earlier today as I was thinking about this post that I haven’t written about Purim for a few years. The last time I wrote about this joyous Jewish holiday was at a completely different point in my life as my wife and I were in the midst of the Aliyah process. Obviously there were different things on my mind and events surrounding our life but much of the post remains relevant even with things having changed so drastically over the years.

In fact, it is rather poignant given the speech that we heard yesterday and what is happening in the region as I write these words. So instead of trying to write the same thing over again, I am simply going to include most of that blog content below. After all, we still need to make some noise!

The joyous, and sometimes raucous, celebration is a community act. No one acts alone. Everyone works together and supports each other, to turn the voices of many into one to make one collective noise.

However, beyond these community gatherings of support and joy, the voice of the Jewish people is shattered. I am not talking about the differences between the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, etc. communities but of a more fundamental and deeper chasm… supporting Israel.

Purim is a time when we should recognize what we can do as a people. We can’t just sit around and stuff ourselves with Hamentashen, we must rally to support our homeland, we must speak with one voice, we must stomp our feel and blot out the accusations being made against our home. Whether it is by writing, by praying, by making Aliyah, make your voice heard!

We all need to regularly show our admiration for those who live in the land that G-d has granted to us, support for those in the IDF who protect us and defend our right to exist as a people and our right to a homeland, and respect for the holy men who pray for us all and carry on the traditions that many take for granted.

We live many different kinds of lives but we are one people with one home. We all want peace and we will all fight for peace because no one should live in a home being torn apart by conflict or partitions. We must ensure that we will not be cast out into the Diaspora again to be gripped with the longing to return and the inability to do so. We need to ensure that we and all our future generations have a place to call home! We need to make some noise!

Attempting To Find Space…

Not much space left.

Usually as some point during any given day there is a time when I just need a little space. Not just physical space but separation from the noises of the world. Definitely something harder to do than to simple ponder about. Sometimes I can even go all day and have to setting for those meager moments of slumber to escape the world and get some alone time. When I say this, many people see this as a bad thing, like I am trying to get away from people or some people get offended like I am trying to get away from them. This couldn’t be further from the truth. Everything requires some space in one form or another. When there is no space things can tend to run together and just seem to blur into a solid brick, much like this post. Sometimesthesimplespacebetweenwordscanmakeallthediffernceintheworldwhentryingtocomprehendwhatisrightinfrontofyou. Even the commute back and forth to work is filled with a lack of space from the cars on the road crowding the lanes to the constant connection maintained with my cell phone. Space is more than just a physical proximity. Space is that single moment of nothing that we all need in our day. That moment when everything around us stops, the phone is silent, and the computer hibernates. It is those times when you step out of the office for a minute, forgetting your cell phone, and feeling glad that you don’t have it flipped out in your palm as you scan the screen or pick up a call. Space, in many respects, is the most precious and healthiest part of the day when you are as even keeled as you can possibly be. But, with work, home, lodge, and all the other activities that fill my calendar, the necessity of space has quickly become a luxury. I guess it is just harder for some of us than others especially those of us that have a mind that doesn’t seem to want to stop. The damn thing just keeps on working jumping from one thought to another without taking that moment to enjoy the microscopic space between the neurons. Sometimes the best time in my day is when I am trying to think of something, finally recall the information, and stop caring about it as soon as the information is retrieved. It is a split second of mental silence after that moment of forgetfulness that can be the most peaceful time in the day. It is a moment of relief that is rarely experienced and one that I can’t seem to find often enough. It is this time of completely blocking out the rest of the world when the mind and body simultaneously relax. It is for this same reason that many of us enjoy one sport or another in our free time. It is the repetition and focus needed that blocks out the rest of the world. You are in your own space focused on the singular experience. That is the time when we have all the space we need. I need to find more moments like that during my everyday life when I can enjoy life. I just have to find the space.