Curate your view

Take advantage of a big benefit of working from home

The good news about working from home — regularly or on occasion — is that there’s a reasonable chance your desk is near a window. No need to climb the corporate ladder to escape an interior cubicle when you can just give yourself a window office!

But if you do work near a window, there’s also a reasonable chance that you’ve stopped paying attention to what’s outside of it. This can be a missed opportunity. Take a few minutes to curate your view and you can feel much more calm and energized.

The first step in this curation is to take a picture. This can remind you of exactly what you are seeing, and might suggest ideas.

After that, a reasonable next step is to get rid of anything you don’t want to look at. Take a few minutes during your next break to clear up any trash or return yard clutter to where it goes. You might then think through any longer term fixes, like repairing a fence, or painting a wall (if it’s yours). If your windowsill is cluttered, do a quick edit. You don’t actually have to keep staring at that conference logo mug you stuck there.

Then you can up the pleasure — though this might be a longer term process. Come spring, you could consider planting something you enjoy looking at. In the meantime, you might buy a few potted plants for your windowsill. Perched at the edges they’ll preserve the view but make your office feel more rejuvenating. You might make some sort of scene outside the window, like a seating area and a table that suggests conversation. You could also put up a bird feeder.

Most of us could benefit from looking away from our screens now and then. A nice view makes looking away more appealing. So curate your view and you might just take a few more visually restorative breaks.