A nice quiet place to get some work done.
Every few weeks my cleaning lady come by to clean my place and she is here for about 4 hours. She does a really great job and I try to stay out of the way as much as possible. Now that I work at home this isn’t so easy because, well, I’m at home.
A while back I was thinking of ways I could get out of the house and still get some work done. There are so many places I could go and so many things I could do for those few hours, but not many options that also would allow me to get work done, especially given my cleaning lady shows up at 8:30 AM. I finally settled on going to the local branch library that is a few blocks from my place and I’m sure glad I did.
I remember spending hours and hours in the library in high school and college, but once school was done I just got out of the habit. Where I live in LA, near Santa Monica, there are several options for libraries including those at UCLA, but since it is so convenient I just go to the local public library. It isn’t the best library and the chairs aren’t very comfortable. The computers have really small screens and the wireless connection is really slow, but I usually take my Mac Book Pro and it meets my needs.
What I have found is that I am amazingly productive when I am at the library. It is a quiet place with very few distractions. No phones, no T V, no refrigerator and no noisy neighbors. It is also unlikely that anybody else will bother you so you can focus on what you need to do and nothing else.
When I go, I make sure I have enough work planned that it can keep me busy for at least 5 or 6 hours and is of high value without really needing a computer, phone or much of anything accept paper, something to write with and of course reading material. I take my laptop most of the time, but don’t use it all the time.
Now that there is so much online it is kind of sad the libraries aren’t used as much. Sure you can order that book or movie from Amazon.com, but you can probably check it out from the library for free if you don’t need it long term. They also have reading hours for kids and other great programs. One of my sisters volunteers to help teach english to a lady from Mexico and my sister learns a bit of spanish and Mexican culture in the process. And like me there are lots of people who go to the library to do research and get away from all the distractions and interruptions of everyday life.
Have you checked out your library lately? You may be surprised at how valuable the library can
