With portable devices like the tablet PC, iPad and smart phones do we still need a dedicated home office space? A comfortable armchair, a coffee shop, the library - can those be our office? Almost everything we need to work can be carried in our pockets, handbag, or knapsack and used pretty much anywhere, if internet connection isn’t a top priority. And even that it becoming much easier to come by.
I am writing this post on a tablet, a new addition to my office tools. I am a happy owner of a Blackberry Playbook and am getting used to using it for more than an eReader. As a word processor the Playbook looks pretty good, but for any serious work I’d need to add an external keyboard.
Although I just transferred all of my computer files onto an external hard drive, I’ve also been looking into on-line file storage systems like Cloud. I actually don’t work away from home all that often. For what I need to do, with a little preparation I can easily transfer any files I need to work on away from home directly to my Playbook. The main reason for the external hard drive is that my 3-year-old (obsolete?!) laptop is restricting me.
And I have been intrigued reading people’s projects to go laptop free with a tablet, and maybe even office free. I know I will always want to have a printer but my printer is wireless and isn’t even in the same room as I work. It could go anywhere. I just realized that getting my files free from my laptop is a big step towards going office free.
I am not advocating this as The Answer for a feng shui office, or that it is for everyone, but it might make you think twice about your home work space, that the technology is moving towards removing the need for even a desk. Sure, the devices are relatively expensive, but compared to needing another room it is rather cost-effective. I imagine what we’d use that second bedroom for if it weren’t a home office. A dedicated second bedroom, a meditation room, a dance studio! And we could, if we needed to, move to a smaller condo. Right now even thinking about dismantling a room full of computer equipment, books and files is a daunting prospect. It isn’t going to happen in our house anytime soon (my husband is a tower-large flat screen monitor kind of guy) but a girl can dream.
Of course we must recognize that a home office is often more than a place to work. It is also a personal space, sometimes a place of retreat. For adults who share a bedroom, having a room of one’s own can go a long way to creating feng shui harmony.
What I’ve been thinking about lately is looking beyond the feng shui of the room environment to the feng shui of the tools used to work on. If they are not working properly, the most gorgeous decorating, furniture or view isn’t going to make the energy flow in a feng shui sort of way. With my pretty oak desk and lovely view, I was paying attention to my environment but putting up with a clogged up laptop, that at times, barely functioned. And if your computer is overstuffed and you spend more time looking for files than using them, is that a good energy flow? A book I found really helpful for figuring out how to manage my computer files is Sally McGhee’s ”Take Back Your Life: Using Mirosoft Outlook to Get Organized and Stay Organized”. In writing my latest book, the software I was using crashed every five minutes! I don’t know if it was the fault of the software or my PC but now that my computer has all this amazing space I can put it to the test!
I would love to hear your thoughts on portable offices. My feeling is that for most people, the available technology will replace the need for a dedicated home office space, especially those who mainly use their computer for email, calendar and internet. Except when I am writing a book, those are my main needs.
© Deborah Redfern 2011. All rights reserved.
Tags: computer equipment, Feng Shui, playbook, smart phones, word processor, work space
