For most of my adult life, I had a shit-ton of debt and was chronically short on money, which meant that I cut back on unnecessary purchases as much as possible. My thought process usually went like this:
[At the gas station]
Do I really want that can of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles?
Nah, I’ve got snacks at home.
[When Making Plans]
Do I really want to see the Blade Runner Final Cut rerelease in the theater with my friends on a fun outing that may or may not include costumes and also go out for pizza at a restaurant I really like where we’ll have a great time hanging out?
Hell yes.
In short, when I saw an expenditure I could accomplish more cheaply at home, I’d pass. But when something seemed genuinely fun or rewarding and I couldn’t recreate it for less money in my own space, I’d go for it. I mean, I could have waited for the DVD release of the Blade Runner Final Cut, but then I’d have missed out on a great experience seeing it in the theater.
I pursued this line of thinking with my creative work as well, but that wasn’t always a good thing…
Working Too Much at Home Makes Me Cabin Fever-ish.
As cliched and “Well duh!”-ish as this sounds, the COVID pandemic has made me realize the value of getting out of the fucking house.
I spent a lot of time at home last spring when Japanese schools were closed. When it became clear that the danger in my part of rural Japan was minimal, it was pretty amazing to get out of the house and do things again. Like, blow-your-mind Oh-my-God-I-can’t-believe-I’m hanging-out-with-friends-over-lunch-in-the-park-while-enjoying-actual-sunshine amazing.
It was like I hadn’t realized how much I missed seeing the world beyond my apartment walls, even if the place wasn’t anything special.
That made me think about how much time I spend doing creative work at home—not only writing, but also editing, emailing, blogging, and researching. This wasn’t a problem on its own, but after nearly two years of doing this work almost exclusively in the same space, I was starting to get, well…restless.
Plus, instead of a regular table and chairs my apartment only has a Japanese-style low table, which means I spend most of my time sitting on the floor. Again, this is OK for a while, but sitting in a low position for hours a day and months on end can start to get tiresome.
All told, I needed a change, so I decided to start going out more.
Adjusting to Going Out For Working Time Felt Strange
The natural place to get out to seemed to be my city library. I’d already discovered that the library had comfortable chairs and plenty of heat/AC, so I’d been going there for months to read for a few hours on weekends. The community center also has free wi-fi and plenty of places to sit and work, so once the pandemic calmed down I tried masking up and going there on weekends to get out of the house.
The problem was that the city library closes at 6 on weekends, and most of the tables at the community center are near the door and subject to some pretty nasty drafts. Both of these places, though free, were also ten minutes away by bike or twenty minutes on foot—a trip I rarely feel like making if it’s raining or snowing.
That’s when it occurred to me—why don’t you just work at a café like everybody else in the world seems to?
This was a really startling thought because I’ve steadfastly avoided doing work in cafes for nearly two decades unless I was alone in a city and needed to kill some time. To go back to my opening story about spending money, I saw paying for coffee or lunch as unnecessary when I could just work at home for free—or find a library.
But then I realized that this thought process came from a time in my life when I didn’t have a lot of money, and that my financial situation has changed a lot since then. Now I have few or no money problems (hurray!), and quite a few problems involving not having enough time, getting distracted, and feeling cooped up at home.
So in that case, didn’t it make sense to spend money (something I have enough of) to remedy these other problems?
I Like Feeling Free to Work in Other Places
There’s both a coffee shop and a family restaurant within 7 minutes walk (or 3 minutes bike ride) of my apartment, both of which are really conducive to working in.
Family restaurants in Japan in particular are pretty awesome: I’m talking about big chains like Gusto, Saizeriya, and Denny’s (yeah, the same Denny’s as in the States, but with more octopus). They’re generally not crowded and no ones cares if you stay a long time (Yukkuri dōzo), plus they always have all-you-can-drink soda, tea, coffee, and juice that you can serve yourself from the drink bar. The family restaurant near me also has free outlets within reach of literally every table with friendly signs inviting you to use them, so I don’t have to worry about my laptop battery running low.
I really like having more than one place to go because it gives me options. If it’s a sunny day, I might bike to the library. If it’s snowing and I need to work for a long time (or if I just want lunch!), I’ll go to the family restaurant. And if I have work to do that involves reading or writing in a notebook, I’ll probably head over to the coffee shop.
Many of you are probably reading this and thinking “Well DUH, I can’t believe Ian just figured out the joys of working outside your house!” To that I say this: my financial worries really did set me back for a long time, and I spent a lot of my life settling for lower-cost options. I also grew up in a REALLY small town that didn’t have a coffee shop, or really anyplace other than the library that was conducive to working, so I didn’t acquire the habit the way a lot of you city folk did ;-)
Final Thoughts
Getting out of the house to do work for a few hours on weekends, Japanese holidays, and especially during my New Year’s vacation has been really nice, and makes me feel more productive and satisfied. When I leave the house and do work, I’m more likely to feel like I’ve accomplished something. I also tend to concentrate better in a public space, even with the occasional crying baby.
I still prefer to work on my novel at home, though, since novelwriting for me feels like more of a private activity—though who knows, maybe that’ll change in the future too?
Finally, this realization has made me think more about my ideal Day Job-free creative work schedule, where I have a workspace outside of where I live so I can separate my work life from my home life. The balance that comes from this separation keeps me more clearheaded, and it’s not something I’ll be forgetting anytime soon.