A Homeschool Mom’s Workspace

Have you ever read something that completely changed your perspective on how you do things?  I just did.  It was an old post on Homeschool Village that woke me up.  Here is the part that grabbed me:

“Imagine you are given the job of cooking 3 meals a day for your family. At first, you might think this is an easy task. But, imagine you must now accomplish this everyday without a kitchen… Worse yet, you find not only do you not have a dedicated space to prepare meals, but the tools you need for this task are scattered all over the house! Making a meal for your family now has become a huge chore taking twice as long as it should! The same scenario holds true when you work from home but don’t create a space for yourself.”

Ooh! That’s me!

As a homeschooling mom, my job is to plan interesting lessons for my kids, but I am trying to do that with my hands tied. I have no home for my own materials. The kids’ books are organized, the science supplies have a home, and even the zillion-and-one math manipulatives are tidy; but me? Well, I am a mess.

You can usually find me planning lessons curled up with a blanket on the couch. On one side of me is my laptop, and on the other, a cup of coffee. Aah, cozy snuggly warm comfort… BUT

• Soon, I have to hop up to find my long term planning binder, then again, to get a pencil.
• Quickly I realize that I need the papers from last week, so I go over to collect them.
• Then, I drag the coffee-table closer so I can spread out my papers, co-op receipts or project folders.
• My husband wanders in and turns on the television, shattering my concentration.
• Finally, just to add the icing to the cake, the laptop battery starts to die, so I have to scramble all around the house searching for the cord, muttering in frustration the entire time.

This certainly isn’t the relaxing couch time I envisioned, and I haven’t even mentioned having to clean up after these weekly planning disasters yet. Why do I do this to myself? How can I expect to do my job well if I don’t grant myself permission to create a work space with easy access to all of my planning materials?

Things need to change around here. Redecorating. Rearranging. Something.  I’m not exactly sure how I want my space to look yet, but I’m looking forward to thinking it through and making a space that works for me. Stay tuned for before and after pictures!

Do you have your own workspace? If so, please share – I need inspiration for my Homeschool Mom’s Workspace board on Pinterest.