Home Office with Hubby

Good morning – happy Thursday. Did you make it through the snow – if it touched your area? It was kind of crazy just how many people in various states were affected by the storm. I feel like the west and far south were the only people who didn’t get it.

I worked from home yesterday and so did the Hubby. That was certainly interesting.

I started off my day with a 3-minute breakfast cookie made with: oats, protein powder, apple butter, baking powder, walnuts, raisins, vanilla extract and a packet of Truvia. It was really good.

I tried to stay on my normal work schedule and ate lunch right around 1:00 p.m. I had leftover venison and barley soup (now stew).

I also had a Chobani yogurt with Kashi Go Lean.

During the entire day, this was pretty much the view from our window. Snowing like crazy.

Setting up our work at home situation was interesting. We live in a 550-square-foot one bedroom apartment. We have one desk area and both Hubby and I needed to use it. So – I concocted this interesting set up for us.

Here was my work area and our combined work area:

Yes, I sat on the corner of the desk and used a kitchen table chair. I never realized how hard those chairs are until I sat in one for about 3 hours. Then I decided I needed some cushioning – hence the lovely blanket. How do you like our little work from home arrangement!? I thought it was a pretty decent use of our small space. I think NYC residents are the most creative people when it comes to utilizing and maximizing minimal room.

Around 4 p.m. I was ravenous and had a nice little apple snack with peanut butter.

I ended up working till about 5:30 because I was into a writing project and lost track of time. It was kind of strange not to have to travel anywhere to leave the office.

My overall work-from-home thoughts: It was definitely very convenient, but also tougher in some ways.

• I feel like I have such a standard routine at work that I was a bit confused at times as to what to focus on next.
• I’m much better at multi-tasking when I’m actually at work.
• I didn’t have access to all the resources that I have at the office.
• I also realized that I didn’t drink as much water when I was working from home.
• I only had the Hubby to interact with – and while I love him to pieces, sometimes I like chatting with other people too.
• I didn’t experience that “leaving work excitement” when the day is finally done and you are free to focus on stuff you want to do.  
• Without that definitive dividing line, I could very easily see work creeping into home-life.

So that’s my general feedback on working at home. I think it was a very good experiment and was happy to see that I still managed to get quite a bit done. Hubby and I were also very good and didn’t have the t.v. on at all until about 4:00 p.m. I think that certainly helped lessen our distractions.  

What about you – what do you like or dislike about working at home? What tips do you have to stay focused and keep your work and home life separate?

After work was “done” I showered (yup – I was gross and didn’t shower all day) and headed into the kitchen to make dinner. I made an omelet with two eggs, spinach and feta cheese. It was yummy.

And then to further divide the work/home worlds, I baked some Pumpkin Muffins using Megan’s recipe. I saw this recipe on her blog a little while ago and have been wanting to make them ever since then.

The recipe made 12 (one is missing above cuz Hubby ate it). And then after dinner I ate one with my tea.

And then after that I ate another. 🙂 These were really good and very moist. Thanks for sharing a great recipe Megan!!

As you will note, I did not get my 3-mile run in yesterday. I may try to work it into Friday morning or Sunday. I am supposed to run 6-miles today, but did NOT make it to the gym this morning (boo), so I’ll have to take my chances tonight and pray that it’s super slow.

After dinner and muffins Hubby and I watched Blood Diamond. I had seen parts of it before, but finally watched the whole thing. I really liked it, but I’m not sure Hubby was overly impressed.

And that was the end of our work-from-home day. We pretty much spent about 36-hours together in our tiny apartment non-stop. We both said that we don’t know how my parents do it; they own a business together, so they work together all day and then come home together at night. I love Hubby and he loves me, but everyone needs a little space.

Have a great Thursday everyone – it’s almost time for the weekend!