When
you were little you built forts from cardboard boxes, wood, blankets. As a
child, you see the need to have your own kingdom a safe space that is all yours
where you are in charge. If you can create your own “fort” in your home. When
your Coworking with a significant other Space (Proxemics) is important and
having conversations, boundaries and rituals around private spaces is important.
Personal space or proxemics,
a form of non-verbal communication, is the space surrounding
each person. Zones: Broadly, the four distinct zones are: Intimate
(0-2 ft.), Personal (2-4 ft), Social (4-12 ft.) and Public
(more than 12 ft.)
Ideally
you need a workspace that gives you at least five to seven feet of space. Just
like having a fort that’s yours, you and your partner can each set up sacred
kingdoms. Have fun with it. Name your kingdom! Create a Royal King or Queen
name. (Kids may willing serfs or invading Vikings. That just the way life is.)
So set up the sacred time rituals of your kingdom, such as, “Please no one else
socks, coffee cups, and commands” will be brought into the kingdom of the
desk. You and your partner may have sacred times for work and
relaxation as well. So the law of the kingdom may be, “No interruptions while I
am at the dining room table kingdom from 9:00 till 12:00. There may be a sacred
time. Perhaps an hour in the day where you want to be alone as you can be,
whether its to work, meditate, exercise or binge-watch. Research shows
that any interruption when we are working takes on average 15
minutes to recover from, so one small request like, “Did you see my glasses.”
It can cause you to lose your already possibly unsteady focus. My niece has the
upstairs bedrooms from 8:00 till lunchtime, my nephew is law had the basement
reck room office till 5:00. You can make the punishment funny, interrupt me and
you must pay a price and wear a pair of clean underwear on your head, or you
must sing your high school fight song all the way through. Use love and humor
to ease stress.
,
Honoring
these small kingdoms of time and space can help you get through these tough
times.
Patti Wood, MA - The Body Language Expert. For more body language insights go to her website at www.PattiWood.net. Check out Patti's website for her new book "SNAP, Making the Most of First Impressions, Body Language and Charisma" at www.snapfirstimpressions.com.
