Hundreds of pencils and a six-inch stack of paper were both staring back at me. I had accumulated a lot of stuff in my office. March 2020, I went home to work. COVID created a new work from home reality. I had to let my work office invade my home office without putting up any fight. I just needed to get to work.

Fast forward six months and most of the world is still working remotely, including me. The honeymoon phase is over, and it is turning into a grind. Add to this the family stress and uncertainty on if my son is going back to school or learning virtually. We both needed a change. On top of that, the days are all running together. My son is always asking, what day is it.

I am fortunate in that I have a few empty bedrooms and an office that my son and I can use as either bedrooms or offices. He had moved into my office as his bedroom, and I took over one of the bedrooms as command central of John Hayes Inc. We both need a change.

My designated office was filled with essentials and other office type stuff, and it was time to do something about all of it. My son and I agreed that a change of location was necessary. I didn't realize how much this change of location or state, was going to improve my mood, energy level, organization and purging, and motivation. This change of state/location jump-started a marked level of improvement for my son and me.

Packing up and moving everything out of my office was the trigger I needed for change. I was able to purge all the unnecessary stuff I had accumulated; manuals, papers, office supplies (enough staples for all of the 21st century, and wow the binder clips). I was able to move the cool table I was using as a desk to the basement and purchase a new adjustable standing desk. I moved the keepsakes I was storing into a keepsake bid and stored it out of my office.

I took the time to decide what was necessary, what was just stuff I had accumulated for " I might need it someday" and, even what artwork I wanted on the walls. On top of that, I had all the stuff I brought home from my late mother's home that was packed in the closet—no closet in my new office. I needed to balance between keepsakes and what was critical to my home/work office. Time to decide; what do I use daily, what can be stored, and what needs to go.

In my work office over time, my workspace evolved into what I needed to be effective; small tweaks and changes helped optimized the office into what worked. It was a single purpose, just what I needed to work effectively, nothing more. I needed that same focus with my home office. The office in my home needed a single purpose: what I needed to be effective.

Time to change your state. Only you control how you are reacting to the world these days. This means you control improving your mood, energy level, motivation, no one else. No matter how small or constraining your workspace, it is time to change. Organize differently, move the work table to a different area of the room, do something that requires you to review each item, consciously decide on keep vs. toss and change it up. Making this seemingly small change will improve your mood, energy, and motivation. This is going to last way longer than we thought. - Control what you can control and improve your state. Oh, and I found a place for all those pencils. They live another day.

Time for all of us to make a change

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