Finding Working Conditions to Suit Your Personality
Everyone has optimal conditions under which they are their most productive, and in the case of many of us, most creative too. Unfortunately, while working for other people in offices and job sites, under external guidelines and deadlines, it’s difficult to achieve optimum results. When you aren’t in control of when or where you work, or the order in which tasks get done, you end up forcing yourself into a mold not of your making.
That isn’t to say there are those who work best under someone else’s direction, but those people rarely, if ever choose entrepreneurship. In all fairness, the world would come to a screeching, grinding halt if there weren’t plenty of people who lack the desire or the tenacity to venture out on their own. Thankfully, there’s an element of balance, even in the way people prefer to work.
Those who are brave, creative, and stubborn enough to venture out on their own don’t usually have their work habits as the primary motivator. Instead, it’s more of a bonus for taking a certain level of risk upon themselves. Often, the self-motivated are less inclined to follow someone else’s rules and schedules anyway.
Working in Organized Chaos
When I was working for others, I found the days I had the opportunity to work from home were 
the most productive of all, despite taking longer breaks to meditate and such. I got more done in four hours at home than I did in eight hours at work. Part of the reason was lack of distractions, but a lot of it was being able to work on my projects in an order which fit my own brain, and not someone else’s. Perhaps part of it wasn’t sharing a bathroom either. Who knows?
I also work better in a kind of organized chaos which makes people who prefer order entirely nuts. They don’t understand how I can find anything when my desk and drawers aren’t either completely clean of anything but my current project, or at least in neat piles with carefully labelled folders. Don’t get me wrong. I do put things in labelled folders eventually, unless I deem them ready for the trash bin.
The reality is, I’m rarely working on one project at the same time, and need the ability to jump from one to the other without the aggravation of gathering up the pieces of one and putting it away before I can pull out another. I often stop in the middle of something because I’m stuck, and need to shift gears for awhile before returning to the project at hand. It isn’t that I’m disorganized. My brain needs variety, and if I don’t give it the variety it needs, I’ll struggle to focus on anything.
Letting ADD Brain Have Its Way
I also don’t think in a linear fashion. My mind goes in a series of concentric circles or even spirals. I have to follow one until it either crosses another, or has bisected itself so many times as to get boring. When that happens, I either have to take a break entirely, or move on to something completely different.
I know I’m not alone in my seemingly haphazard work habits as it reflects itself in my conversational skills. The fact that many of my friends keep up with, and even appreciate a rapid-fire change of topic tells me they think and work in a similar fashion—assuming their own work situation and environment allow it.
Like me, many people are stuck in a work environment that chafes and rubs for a long time before they either can make the change, or are forced to. Many people have been working at home because of COVID. Some are thriving, while others miss the ebb and flow of an office full of people. Their work is still directed by someone else, and they’re still working the same hours and days, but they neither have someone looking over their shoulder, nor a readily available person to answer questions as they arise.
Working From Home vs Working in an Office Full of People
I have to wonder how many have been thriving with the new semi-freedom of working from 
home, and how many are itching to get back to a place where they’re less accountable; less responsible for their own productivity. It isn’t for everyone. I know that simply from people I had working under me in offices. Some could be given minimal instruction and sent on their way, while others seemed to be in my office every five minutes, never retaining anything I’d taught them. In a couple of cases, I think they needed the attention, but it drove me batty.
I’m not sure when I realized I’m best left alone to work for long stretches, or even to daydream for a little while. When left to my own devices, I truly am a super-producer. I know lately, it takes me 20-30 minutes to write about 1500 words because without distractions, I get lost in the task at hand. It doesn’t matter whether that task is writing, editing, financial work, or anything else. Once I’m in my “zone”, little else gets my attention, much less, distracts me.
Of course, there are times when the “zone” is unreachable too. Days when I have to give the job up as a lost cause and go on to something else. The beauty in having long periods when reams of work flow from my fingers is I can afford those lulls when I simply have to accept nothing productive will get done. At those times, I’ll read a book, do laundry, de-fur furniture, or hack away at the weeds in my yard. In it’s own way, it’s productive too.
What’s Productivity Anyway?
Thinking about those things I’ve just deemed “unproductive”, I’m reminded of one of my favorite quotes by Stephen King:
If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.
In truth, I learn a lot from reading the work of others, and sometimes, it’s even what not to do. In fact, I’ve been noticing plot holes in the work of some of my favorite writers lately, and it’s frustrating as noticing them takes me out of an otherwise perfectly good story. But noticing them in the work of others means I’m becoming more conscious of them, and will be more likely to notice them in my own.
Things like yard work and chores are, I’m discovering more than just a distraction as well. Staying home all the time has limited my physical activity, so they serve an important purpose in getting me off my butt while accomplishing necessary tasks as well. Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not one who does well in a place that’s filthy and cluttered. I need some kind of order (and clean clothes) in order to continue writing as much as I do.
Some Things Are Non-Negotiable
I’ve learned if my kitchen is a mess for days, if I wear the same clothes twice in a row, or if I fail 
to brush my teeth, wash my face, and take my supplements, I’ll be distracted by my mind telling me it’s lacking some of what it needs. Those nagging little voices keep me from going on until I’ve satisfied basic needs, and given myself some healthy fuel. Of course, that morning cup of coffee is also non-negotiable, so I have to both make it, and clean the pot every couple of days, at least.
All in all, I think most of us have a little bit of compulsive, and a little bit of slob in our makeup even if we lean further towards one than the other. Choosing to set off on our own instead of punching someone else’s clock every day gives us the choices and opportunities to listen to our own inner voices, and keep all the gremlins within satisfied in their own space and time.
About the Author
Sheri Conaway is a Holistic Ghostwriter, and an advocate for cats and mental health. Sheri 
believes in the Laws of Attraction, but only if you are a participant rather than just an observer. Her mission is to Make Vulnerable Beautiful and help entrepreneurs touch the souls of their readers and clients so they can increase their impact and their income. If you’d like to have her write for you, please visit her Hire Me page for more information. You can also find her on Facebook Sheri Levenstein-Conaway Author. And check out her new group, Putting Your Whole Heart Forward.
Be sure to watch this space for news of the upcoming releases of ” Rebuilding After Suicide” and “Sasha’s Journey”.
