A room of one’s own

For six years, like most other students, I slept, ate, watched movies, had guests and worked in the same room.

It means you never get away from work, or you are never working seriously in that room. Therefore, I have loved my other work spaces. First of all, the library, with its silence, the other concentrated students, the books, the high ceiling, and the clean, empty tables ready for you.

When the library became too serious and too silent or working just was too hard, I went to a café to trick myself into believing I was not working, to read for the pleasure of reading, to enjoy the atmosphere and the coffee. Or I went to the park, believing I could read in the sun without falling to sleep.

I have had many great work spaces, but still, I have always wished I had a place where I could leave my books and my notes on the table until the next day. It has been a dream of a room filled with my own ideas, plans and notes and all the books that inspires me, a room where I can be alone, and, not to forget, a room I can leave when I am tired of work. Therefore, when my boyfriend and I were going to find a place to live in Oslo, I had one criterion: I wanted a place with an extra room.

For a week now I have had a room in my apartment only for working.

I have an office; which means a desk I don’t need to clean when I’m done for the day, a door to shut, and space to organise my papers, my books, my binders and my notebooks. It helps on the self-esteem when you are starting a life as self-employed to have somewhere where you are at work. I am going to my job in the mornings, and returning to my living room at dinnertime. It structures the day and makes me more concentrated.

The fulfilment of my dream of an office of my own won’t last long though. In some days, my boyfriend returns from a trip to Copenhagen. As he is writing his master’s thesis this spring, I don’t think he will let me have this luxury alone. I should prepare to be part of an open-plan office. However, the coffee breaks might be more fun, and I can still leave my mess over night and close the door after me.

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