This is an anonymous post from an Elpha member.

Navigating remote workspace at home with partner's needs

anonymous·Jan 05, 2020

Hey Elphas,How have you successfully navigated / negotiated your own remote workspace at home when your partner also expects to have their own spot, despite them having a traditional 9-to-5 in an external office and rarely or never WFH?I'm especially interested in hearing from those of you who may have figured this out with two bedrooms or less or other environmental constraints that may have made it a challenge to figure out. Thanks!

tonianni·Jan 05, 2020

Hi there! My husband and I live in a two bed flat. I work from home and use just an iMac for work whilst he has two laptops and a screen (he has his 9-5 and occasionally wfh), We set his space up in the spare bedroom which is also our wardrobe room while my space is in the living room in a nice lil corner. My desk which is about 60 (W) x 32 (D) cm holds all I need plus I can move to the dining table when I need to. I prefer the living room cos it’s south facing and warm most of the time.I’d love to have a dedicated space for my work (not a bedroom) but can wait till we get a bigger place. Hope you get to work out what’s best for you.Cheers.

sydneymulligan·Jan 06, 2020

I wfh full time and my spouse works in a traditional 9-5 external office. He does occasionally use my workspace for his own work, because our hours rarely cross over (he is usually in the office when I am working). We live in a small 2 BR apartment in NYC and have an infant. I'd say this is a communication issue over a logistical issue. On the rare occasion that our work does crossover at home, one of us works at the kitchen table. You both have to be willing to be flexible. It is tough!

ara206·Jan 06, 2020

My partner and I have a 2 bedroom apartment, and I use the 2nd bedroom as my office slash just my personal space. He doesn't need a lot of personal space or alone time, so he has his office desk set up in our bedroom which is big enough to have both his desk and our bed in it. In the past one of us has set up a desk in the living room and that has worked fine, just depends on how much quiet each person needs to have

alexcia·Jan 07, 2020

I have a 2 bedroom with my partner, we each have our own desk in our bedrooms. When he works from home (I'm fully remote), we each work in our own bedrooms. I also work at the kitchen table sometimes as he prefers to stay in his room.