By Rachel Langston
When I was growing up, someone that had a job WITH an office meant that they “had a good job”. I don’t know that I, necessarily, aspired to a job with an office, but I have always loved office things. Desks, note pads, pens, pencils, and office equipment are strangely comforting for me. BACK TO SCHOOL is one of my favorite times of the year because of all the new, shiny notebooks and freshly sharpened pencils. You won’t be shocked to learn that I became a teacher. Not exactly the textbook “office job” but certainly a job where I could feed my fetish for office supplies. I spent much of my working life (11+ years) either needing an office, needing a bigger office or changing to a different office.
My first office was a small corner of the computer lab/classroom that I was hired to run. I didn’t have a computer on my desk; I spent a fair amount of time on the phone for technical support calls, but I had to make them from the “teacher phone” in the office; and I shared a printer with anyone/everyone else that used the lab. Next, I had a workspace in the teacher workroom. Again, a shared phone, printer, and computer, but a drawer and a shelf to call my own.
From there, I became the Technology Coordinator for my school. That involved my moving to an actual office. It was a very small space tucked in the very back of the school’s main office, but it was all mine. I had my own phone, my own computer, my own printer, my own desk and a chair for a single visitor. I could lock the door if I wanted to and my phone extension appeared on the master list. I had arrived!
As the Technology Coordinator, I would occupy 2 additional offices in that building. They were each larger than the one before and had benefits that the offices before had not had. One had a built in storage closet that locked; another was just 8 steps from the bathroom (a significant plus for a pregnant woman)! While I was pregnant with my 1st child, I changed offices again (in the summer before he was born in December). I was too pregnant to be of any help during the move, but I loved being in a space that was big enough to hold all the equipment and supplies that I worked with. Literally, one week before my last day, the last work was completed in that office to make it a “technology hub”. I had picked out the furniture and laid out the design for my work area. I had organized the supply area and I had designated a miniature “shipping and receiving” area for equipment that was on its way to or from areas in the school. Then, I left for maternity leave; had a baby; and resigned so I could be a stay at home mother. There went my office!
About 6 months later, we moved to a larger house. The day we looked at the house for the first time, I called dibs on an unfinished room in the basement. It was dark and ugly. There was paneling about 3/4 of the way up one wall, but the other walls were concrete block. The floor was concrete and the ceiling was just the underside of the floor joists for the rooms above. I told my husband that it would be my “project room”. It would be the “laundry-office-gift wrap-craft” room. It would be the place where I could work on something and not have to worry about leaving it out. I could close the door and come and go to my projects at will!
We ended up buying that house and I took over the “project room”. It wasn’t long before I started having ideas about improving the room. Maybe just a little paint on the walls? Maybe paint the concrete floor? Maybe hang a curtain to shield the view of the washer and dryer? Other than occasionally rearranging the mismatched furniture and storage containers, it stayed pretty much the same. Until last fall, that is. We finally had the money to finish the room. We put up real sheet rock walls and a real ceiling with adequate lighting. We had a door put in to close off the laundry area and we reworked the duct system to adequately heat and cool the area. I finally HAD a home office!
This past year, the office has been completed with new furniture, new flooring, a new computer and decorative accents. My husband and I have consolidated various files from throughout the house into a single room. If something happens to either one of us, the other one can be assured that everything they would need is somewhere in that one room. To break it in, I have started my own technology services business and I am working to become a freelance writer. I have a computer that can be a tv, a computer, or an editing device. I have office supplies AND a place to put them. I have labeled containers and storage areas for all the things that I have always had to search for. The children have their own bulletin boards so we can all keep track of family activities and commitments. I can do just about anything I can dream up in my office.
I love my office and everything about it. Now, if I just had a laptop so I could get out of the office!
Copyright, RPL Communications, 2006
