The library – solution to home working woes!

International home worker Kaitlyn Hatch has solved a problem not currently affecting us here in the UK – excessive heat!

In her guest post she explains how the local library is good for many other home working woes as well:

Life circumstances have taken me to Sydney, Australia, where I’ll be until early May, shortly after the launch of my Publishizer campaign to publish my first fiction book.

My days are full of things to do, from blog writing to networking to setting up a contract with an editor. I am, for the first time in my life, truly doing what I am driven to do as a writer. 

My Any Do app is full of tasks and my daily planner is full to the brim with deadlines for each step of this project – something you may be familiar with. Setting up a routine and being as productive as possible is essential. 

Despite being autumn in this hemisphere, the temperature has been reaching 30+ degrees almost every day since I arrived at the beginning of March. This sort of weather is wonderful if you’re on holiday but when a person has work to do, it’s just too hot.

During my first full day of working here I realised that I couldn’t actually work from home due to a lack of air conditioning. By the afternoon I was so fatigued, my energy entirely sapped due to the heat, that a solution had to be found. 

Thanks to an unexpected brainwave despite the oppressive heat said solution was discovered mere moments later. And it’s a solution available in almost every major city a home worker might find themselves: the library! 

I am writing this from the second floor of the Customs House Library, a short (less than 2 minute) walk from Circular Quay wharf in Sydney, Australia. The Customs House library is currently my office, with all the amenities a home worker could ask for: desk space, couch space, toilets, free wifi and electrical sockets. There’s even a cafe should a coffee break be called for, although drinks are not permitted outside of this area. 

This ‘found’ office space is like an oasis for productivity. Not only does the air conditioning mean I am able to stay sharp for the better part of the day, it also removes all the usual distractions of working from home when one doesn’t have a separate office space.

Here I have a multitude of options: Do I want to sit soft on a sofa and write a blog entry or be at a desk, my computer charging, whilst I read through my emails? Or perhaps I’d like the quiet of the reading room whilst I do some research into online marketing for crowdfunding. 

For the home worker who needs a change of scenery, or to escape the climate of their flat (be it too damp and cold in London or too humid and muggy in Sydney), your local library could be just the solution. 

Kaitlyn Hatch is a Creative Polymath – author, artist, freelance designer & the voice behind the Everything is Workable podcast.