Guest Post by Dana Christensen Udlock of Everyday Economy and The Story of You.

This morning I woke up with “There’s a Place for Us” from West Side Story running through my head. (What can I say—my husband’s a theatre person!) But instead of focusing on Tony and Maria finding their place in the world, I want to ask you to think about your place in your world.

As a busy working from home mom, where do you center your business activities? Do you have a desk or office space dedicated solely to your income-generating pursuits? How does that fit in with the flow of your family’s life? Do you need peace and quiet to concentrate, and instead find yourself trying to work in the middle of your family room—aka Grand Central Station?

Several weeks ago, my husband and I realized that we were seriously out of balance in the way we were utilizing our house. With five children in our family, we figured out that every room in the house had been taken over by kids and their stuff. Now, don’t get me wrong—our kids are a joy and delight in our home, but as we re-evaluated things, we realized that they had taken over! There was no adult space anywhere! And since we are seriously outnumbered by minors, we figured out that creating an adults-only zone was an essential step in preserving our sanity.

Unfortunately, we don’t have the space to completely isolate one area of the house as 100% kid-free! Our solution was to repurpose our downstairs as a “study.” With seven people in our house, it’s unlikely that we will have a 100% kid-free zone anytime in the near future, but we knew that creating a quiet zone in the house was a move in the right direction. We purchased a desk for my husband (so he didn’t keep infringing on my space), brought a computer down for the kids to work on school stuff, and created a sitting area for reading books. The rules for using the downstairs are now centered on preserving a quiet workspace where family members can retreat to work and study.

The key to the room makeover we accomplished was in the self-reflection that occurred prior to rearranging the furniture. Both my husband and I knew that something wasn’t working, but it took some time for us to ponder the issue and uncover the true source of the problem. By addressing the way we utilized the space in our house, we have now created a place where (hopefully) all of us have the ability to be productive and accomplish the things we have been called to do.  Don’t be afraid to step back and observe the flow of your workspace with a critical eye—you might just unlock the key to your own productivity!