One week, we were all working away happily and comfortably at our desks, and the next week the world turned upside down and many business owners -- along with their employees -- found themselves moving operations to their homes.
There are plenty of challenges of working from home, from dealing with kids underfoot to wrangling the right technologies to stay productive. All of these have gotten plenty of useful coverage here on Inc.com and elsewhere. But what about the most fundamental challenge of all: Where to physically work?
Not everyone has a spacious home office. Some studio dwellers don't even have a dividing wall. But as a recent, hilarious Twitter thread highlighted by home design blog Apartment Therapy makes clear, where there's a will there's a way.
Twitter user Jules Forrest kicked off the discussion by asking her followers to share the creative (if unglamorous) ways they were jerry-rigging work-from-home arrangements. Creative solutions that will make you feel better about your own makeshift setup poured in.
Here are a few to cheer you up if you're trying to stay productive in close quarters, starting off with Forrest's kick-off post:
Can we do a WFH workspace setup thread, unglamorous edition?
-- Jules Forrest (@julesforrest) March 13, 2020
My partner and I are both working from our studio apartment. My setup is a chair in front of the front door and my desk is our clothes hamper. pic.twitter.com/5rVaqgkjjw
In fact, combining laundry equipment with remote work was a surprise trend in the thread:
Taking calls on the laundry unit @furman pic.twitter.com/2WmHaUZa14
-- kate furman (@kateyyan) March 14, 2020
I'm lucky enough to have a height-adjustable workstation at home... pic.twitter.com/a4CqgGoIhO
-- Life in Capitals (@lifeincapitals) March 13, 2020
Others found creative ways to work outside:
Was working from my recycling bin the other day pic.twitter.com/PKEQ0TkMbk
-- Josh Mateo (@joshmateo) March 13, 2020
I use my pickup as a "desk" when it's nice outside. #WorkFromHome #remotework #workingremotely pic.twitter.com/LZyapxuHsQ
-- Larry Cornett (@cornett) March 14, 2020
While still others were determined to stay active (or at least upright) while working:
Standing desk flex pic.twitter.com/YqtGbnlVAc
-- Brad Cahoon (@iambradcahoon) March 13, 2020
My fancy treadmill desk consisting of a plank of wood just wide enough. Walked 2 1/2 miles during meetings today! pic.twitter.com/zfsmjOGAX0
-- twiztwit (@twiztwit) March 13, 2020
Some just admitted to giving in to inertia:
This has been my office for the past week. Comfy, but uh... I think this is going to get old after a while! pic.twitter.com/REHGPYANGk
-- Sho Kuwamoto (@skuwamoto) March 13, 2020
Check out the complete thread (including plenty of adorable, intrusive pets) to feel a little less alone in your work-from-home struggles.
Where exactly are you working these days?