ManFace - Creating a functional workspace

We are delighted to welcome Thom Watson from ManFace to tell us more about his clean & functional workspace.

We recently asked over 2,000 freelancers and business owners on their work-life balance, providing a fascinating picture of entrepreneurial working patterns in the UK.

As part of the survey we have been speaking with some of the the UK's most loved blogs to discover how to create a workspace that works for you. So without further ado, over to Thom..

Tell us a bit about your workspace and why it works for you

I like a lot of space, I’m honestly not organised enough to work on a single small desk as I’d just end up buried beneath a mountain of products, post and press releases.

If I can spread out and see everything, I’m happy! I call my working ethos – creative chaos.

Everything has it’s place and there’s almost nothing on my desk that isn’t functional or has some purpose – I try and make my workspace as distraction-free as possible.

Ensuring I have constant access to the internet is key to my business and that’s why there’s always a surplus of cables, chargers, battery packs and things with screens all bleeping, flashing and chirping away.

How does your workspace reflect your personality?

I like things to be clean, relatively well organised, and calm – actually that’s a lie, this doesn’t reflect my personality at all!

I’m a stress-head and often find it difficult to keep organised, therefore I keep my workspace clean, tidy, and well-structured in an attempt to force myself into strict organisation. A clean workspace creates a clean mind.

What are your top tips for creating the ultimate workspace?

1. Build a workspace that reflects you and your business, what works for someone else or is featured in a store catalogue may actually be counter productive to your needs.
2. Try to only keep things in your workspace that offer utility and function otherwise you’re wasting space and remember, you’ll have to clean it all!
3. Keeping your senses occupied is key to focus, I work with music in the background, always have a snack at hand and a gorgeous candle burning right next to me. You should look forward to being in your workspace!
4. Mix things up from time to time; looking at the same workspace setup day after day can be a bit monotonous, so move things around from time to time to freshen things up!
5. Your chair is important; I can’t stress this enough. Having a comfy chair with lumbar back support is crucial.

How does your workspace keep you calm and focused?

Well, I don’t think anything will ever keep me calm, but having everything I need on hand, organised and where it needs to be when I need it – at least stops me stressing more than I already do.

In terms of keeping focused, I can’t deal with nothing around me, I need things to stimulate sight, sound and smell. I’ll always have a candle burning on my desk and be surrounded by skin care products and press releases. By keeping my senses occupied, it prevents my mind from wandering and keeps all the head-chatter to a minimum.

I cannot stress how important it is to create a workspace that suits you, rather than what you think a workspace should be.