Gentle plans for the autumn season and 7 tips for wellbeing at your workstation.
What does your writing desk really look like? Truth is... I don't have one!
"And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt."
— Sylvia Plath
I’m Claire and I write and here. I am a mum to two and live under dark skies in Northumberland with my family. I’m a slow lived entrepreneur and ALL of my work is in service to creatives. Here at Creatively Conscious I talk about whole hearted living and share behind the scenes of my ‘slow lived’ business for my members.
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Hi Petals,
I’m settling into the ‘back to school routine’ and wanted to follow up from my husband
‘ brilliant post the other week about taking care of yourself at your workstation. It’s here incase you missed it;How’s the start of September and the new term going for you?
I’m writing this from the sofa in my PJs, the house is quiet, everyone is asleep and it’s when I get a lot of my best writing done. I mainly work from home now. I used to work from cafes a lot and I’ve done my fair share of office hours and huge round table meetings!! 1
We don’t have an aesthetically pleasing desk set up at home. I have had them in the past but now I have kids and a home that also functions as a yoga studio and err well kids… comfort is so important to me while working and I realised that in all honesty that means different things for different pieces of work…
We do have a range of desk options though including a standing desk where our printer lives, a floor cushion set up and a temporary desk in our yoga studio but I often work on the sofa or at the kitchen table. It’s nice to be able to mix it up. I’m working on a podcasting desk too and by that I mean utilising a cupboard to record better sound in.
What does your ‘desk’ set up look like? Do you have one? Perhaps it’s your kitchen table or your favourite cafe? Where do YOU do your best work?
On office environments
I think office environments can quite often be lovely hubs of support and community but on the flip side they can sometimes feel quite toxic. This is also true of online environments which we ALWAYS have full permission to curate!
I’ve swapped office chit chat for connecting online and for the most part it’s better but there are things I miss and things I struggle with too.
I have some wellbeing goals for feeling calm, centred and nourished as we head back into our routines as a family this September.
Anchors to productivity and staying on track if you will….
I thought you might like to read them and join me in setting your own or an over arching intent for this next period of time?
My intent for September is;
Leaning into Autumnal transitions…
7 tips to focus on your own wellness at your workstation to make for a more positive environment (even if you do have to go into the office)…
Body… mind and soul…
Make and take lunch from home – for a more nutritious and filling meal with no waste. It takes a little bit more organisation but it’s so much more satisfying and cheaper too! I take left overs from dinner a lot. I try to keep lunches simple if I’m home me and my husband always eat together and often outdoors.
Make time for water to hydrate and banish toxins – Lots of offices have water filters so you can make the most of the opportunity to tot up your 8 glasses a day! I take my steel water bottle everywhere. I often get de-hydrated and I’ve just wrapped up weaning my daughter so I feel less like I need to drink a full lake these days.
Step away from the computer at regular intervals to stretch and definitely at lunch time – perhaps walk for 20 mins or if you’re near a yoga studio, why not take a class? Run a few errands, soak up some vitamin d, breathe in some fresh oxygen and reset your brain. Our home is so lovely and light but I am terrible for not going outside until it’s time for the school run in Autumn/ Winter so this year I am setting an alarm on my phone to remind me to go see our chickens and tend to the garden a little.
Cafe working (pre-pandemic). I crave silence while I work but as my husband’s clients arrive for their appointments, I purposefully break off to make tea, tidy the kitchen and chat. Some of his clients have been in our lives as long as we’ve been together so they are like family. In cafes, I’ve had many free coffee top-ups and even a sarnie once just for being a regular.
Make lists in a notepad/ pretty journal – ahhh stationary! I find it helpful to look away from the screen and have a system where I write a list of tasks for the day ahead each day ticking off those from the day before. I’ve used lots of planners in the past with this too intention too… what are your favourites? On that, I LOVED this piece from
on writers notebooks! She wrote out lots of my thoughts on bringing pen to the page here!Work to your strengths – I am a morning person, I have far more creativity and will before 2pm so I tend to plan my working day’s tasks and meetings around this. Afternoon tasks are more menial and far less taxing.
Surround yourself with inspiration – a favourite quote, photo of your children, partner or pet, posters or postcards of faraway places on your notice board, your favourite fun quote on a mug – positive stuff for a positively influenced you! If you are working in a city - perhaps you can nip into a gallery or try that new tea house with a friend you’ve not caught up with for months?
Add a plant or two or perhaps some crystals or stones from your favourite beach – this really follows on to the point above – plants make us feel good! And they freshen our air up too! Crystals connect us to so so much that it bigger, more ancient and outside of ourselves - get yourself down a crystal rabbit hole, you won’t regret it! My fave is Rose Quartz.
What tips do you have for feeling good in your office environment or perhaps you have thoughts on managing your work and your sense of wellbeing as one?
SPECIAL OFFER and more on making friends online
Writer
was one of the first pals I made here on Substack.I adore her publications and
is EVERYTHING we need the read on how money works and the stories we all carry about it. Keris and I are trying something new and offering 3 months free to readers of each other’s publications.If you would like to join Keris’ community and read all of her brilliant interviews with creatives and writers about money just click this link and your gift will be applied. 2
She is doing SUCH wonderful work and I highly recommend staying connected to her posts especially if you’re self employed or if you want to connect with other women and the way they feel about money; earning it, keeping it, investing it. Ever grateful for the conversations she makes happen!
Have you used a co-working space?
I’ve set up three free co-working spaces in Northumberland in theatre spaces and they work so well. I go to one every single month and I’ve made the most beautiful connections. I’m tired of networking and learning in person this year and I’m craving solitude after a busy summer but I know it’s great for my business so I’ll probably do one more session this Autumn in the city at some point and team it with a gallery visit.
There are also some fab networking and co-working spaces popping up in the city centres now - let me know if you’d like any tips on how to make one come to life in your local area? It’s really easy to do.
You can make it something that is lead from your values for work and wellbeing and it’s a wonderful addition to working from home in my opinion.
Would love to hear from you in the comments in what will be a REGULAR Thursday post series from me here on all things whole hearted living and slow lived entrepreneurialism.
Claire x
PS - If you’re craving some company online I run twice monthly coffee and creativity sessions over at
for my members. We are usually focussed on how we are organising and growing our Substacks and the next one is on cadence, content pillars and community on 11th September at lunch time. More details and dates here.Don’t forget paid members here at Creatively Conscious get 3 months free access to
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Read also - count the shoulder pads… I learnt a lot from women in positions of power early on in my career at the top of their game and decided not to be one…
x3 free months to all subs of Creatively Conscious to Ladybird Purse - expires December ‘23 where you can pay to stay or hop off.
Just drop me an email and I’ll add you in there until end of December ‘23.
I don’t have a desk either. I mostly write from a particular spot on the sofa with a cat always trying to sit on my laptop 😂
I bought a small, old Victorian school desk a few years ago and I absolutely love it. It has a pop up lid, a space for an ink well, and it has all of the graffiti etched into it. It’s beautiful in my opinion, my husband doesn’t quite see it 🤣