We meet Martine De Luna and the way she creates her workspace with energy and purpose in mind.
But before we do, here are some key aspects of having a workspace.
Have you thought of it?
This pandemic is taking much longer than we want it to be, and many of us have worked from home as early as March 2020. With the new normal of working at home, have you thought about your workspace? Many of us were suddenly thrown into ‘work from home’ directive due to the quarantine and lockdown requirements. We may have just occupied an empty table or desk at home and claimed it as our workspace. Most likely it was the closest to the wifi modem for strong internet connection. Worse, we’re starting to have aching and sore back muscles from using the dining chair practically all day.
Where and how you set up the home workspace plays an important role in your focus and productivity. As mothers, we know and value a designated place for our children to study where they can focus and where learning is optimal. So FYFG would like to tackle this environment topic. Have you put thought on your workspace?
What experts say
Find a Designated area for Study/ Work. This purposeful act of finding a spot in your home and claiming it for study or work already puts a behavior in your brain. It’s a conditioning behavior. Finding the perfect spot can have many other factors involved, but just actively seeking it triggers that conditioning behavior.
Consistent Workspace induces focus. Imagine having to keep migrating from a table one day, to the kitchen counter the next. Imagine all the ‘new’ images the ‘new’ environment visually brings you. There will be some areas that will have more distractions than other places. “Using consistency helps the brain pick up on the environment to determine where to focus”, as J. Kwik of Medium.com puts it in his article: Create A Designated Work Space — Your Brain Needs It
And then there was Light. Natural Light plays an important role in your workspace. It also affects your health — eye health and your mental wellbeing. Sunlight plays a major role in our body’s mood, productivity, motivation, and Vitamin D content. Situate your workspace where natural sources of light get you to bathe in the happy hormone, inducing Vitamin D.
Keep it simple and inviting. “By making a room or space feel welcoming means we are automatically going to want to spend time there”, says J. Kwik of Medium.com. Having it organized and clutter-free will minimize distractions, plus helps increase productivity and efficiency. Include a few items that make you feel relaxed, maybe a potted plant, or a family photo. You’ll likely feel more stressed with clutter, and cortisol that adds to work stress isn’t a good thing.
Meet Martine Deluna and her workspace
Martine De Luna is a young mother of 2 young children, ages 5 and 10. She’s an Unschooler mom for 10 years now, and a business entrepreneur herself. She is a life coach, Martine De Luna Coaching, and a wellness advocate.
I 100% believe in my own free will, autonomy and ability to create exactly the kind of life that resonates with me, according to me and not to ideals and conditions of society on what success and fulfillment look like.
Her Workspace
Do you work from home and do you have your own workspace? Share with us what benefits you in having your own workspace. I’ve been working from home since 2010, and have loved the setup. Like I mentioned, I am a visual person and energy-sensitive, so having a purposeful, well-appointed and functionally beautiful workspace is what keeps me productive and result-driven.
What resources did you read or watch to get you started? — Mostly blogs and Instagram accounts, like Goop and Well & Good. I also learn from a lot of teachers in the field of energetics and epigenetics.
What is one thing you choose to do every day to keep organized? — Put everything in its place.
What challenges did you overcome in building this habit? — Clutter used to be a challenge for me until I learned the energetics behind it and made it my belief that I live by.
Keeping an organized home
What inspires you to keep your home clutter-free and organized? Vibration. Everything is indeed energy, and so supporting my being a homemaker and a working mom is crucial. That’s why I place thoughtfully-designed elements in our home and make sure our storage is functional and easy on the eyes.
You have young active-minded children, where naturally things can get messy. How do you get your family to cooperate? — We have an agreed-upon time to clean up at 6 PM each day; they have to fix their play areas and bedroom before dinner.
How has getting an organized home or space changed your everyday home life? — It’s helped me to manage the stressors and visual triggers that upset my sense of order. Every day is more doable and “clean-able” now that the family knows that we want a feeling of freedom and breathability in our home, in all rooms.
Martine’s Top 3 Workspace Tips
1) Agree as a family about how you all want to FEEL in your home and create ideas to support this.
2) Make organizing and decluttering a part of the family’s lifestyle and habit; have a week in a month to intentionally do the decluttering and have a time in the day to put everything back in its place.
3) Keep your own space sacrosanct to what YOU want to FEEL while you work, and deck it out in purposeful elements that invite both function and beauty
Fun Questions:
- If we took a look around your home, tell us 1-2 things that you will NEVER throw out/ or give away. — My crystals; they are both visually beautiful and energetically-charged… also my large sofa that we had custom made.
- Marie Kondo or Martha Stewart? — Marie. Her philosophy agrees more with me. I’m not about who-made-what and who-designed-this; I’m more about the feeling I want to create when I am at home.
- What could be the worst thing for you to organize? Why? — Laundry after it’s come from being washed — haha! It’s the one thing that still overwhelms me. So what we do is keep the clean laundry in batches for putting away by the (part-time) house help.
A FIERCE Woman is…
“She’s FREE to be unapologetically her, in her values” – Martine De Luna
Imagine if
Imagine you are able to create your own clutter-free workspace, where you feel energized and driven to finish your work and achieve your goals. It’s a space where you are relaxed with a clear mind and a good mood. You’re more productive, creative, and efficient. Imagine just taking a few moments to declutter and reorganize at the end of each day. Would that be something worth doing? Having an organized, well-thought-out workspace can bring amazing results.