The benefits of the garden office:
While Sophia’s clients have long become accustomed to the sight of her squinting into the screen with her sunglasses pushed up on her head during video calls, I need a slightly more reliable setup for my online teaching. Whereas she will migrate to the garden the moment the temperature tops 16C (complete with extension cable, sunscreen and cold drinks) and stay there until the temperatures drop too far for even the most determined sun worshipper, like so many others, I have to be mindful of distractions if I’m to spend every moment I can working from the garden.
How can we achieve that perfect balance of sunlight and Big Sky whilst managing to work effectively? How can we reap the benefits of the great outdoors, enjoy the sound of birdsong, warm breeze on your skin, and that essential vitamin D without breaking stride in efficiency? The perfect solution is, of course, a garden office – if you’re lucky enough to have the space.
Simply walking those few steps from the house to the garden office gives you a degree of separation from ‘home’ and reduces the distractions with which we have all become very familiar. The laundry piled up in the corner, the un-hoovered floor, and the most destructive to health and sanity, the lure of the fridge or biscuit tin.
Making teaching fun:
I always make sure my laptop is set up well before each class and have the relevant shortcuts on the home screen of my phone in case of emergencies. All my course material is clearly filed in my online folders and I prepare exactly what I will need for each class, daily.
Even if something goes wrong, remember you’re the expert and your students want to hear from you so just breathe and be yourself. All the course material in the world won’t make your classes engaging unless you’re enjoying teaching and have something valuable to communicate.
My ideal garden home office:
Music playing in the background helps me focus and I love to have family photographs and ‘special’ pebbles the kids have brought back from the beach. Operating entirely online I obviously require a strong and reliable Internet signal that allows me to conduct meetings seamlessly over a variety of video platforms. That and a phone is really all I need.
I’m a huge advocate of the digital nomad lifestyle; the ability to work from anywhere at any time be it beach, mountain, restaurant or park – but living in England means that a desk and office is the reality more often than not. Those new to teaching online can often worry about technical hitches so having a strong 4G signal and plenty of data gives you a seamless backup should your WiFi let you down.
Keeping home and work separate:
Separation from work and home is vital. We are essentially running our entire lives in one place, the home is also the office and it’s often difficult to separate the two. A separate work space will stop you checking emails late at night, meaning you’re less likely to work when you should be relaxing.
A clean and tidy desk with all clutter removed is a must. I’m terrible for stuffing things in drawers which leads to surprise discoveries later of things long assumed lost. Being at my desk a lot, it needs to be somewhere attractive and well equipped. A small vase of flowers helps to lift my mood no matter how stressful my To Do List is, and I use a daylight lamp to combat seasonally affected depression.
A garden office offers the perfect solution, somewhere self-contained, away from the noise and interruptions and with its own Wi-Fi signal which is essential for the successful delivery of online courses.
Over to you!
If you could have a space in your garden or outside for your teaching, what would it look like? Do you worry about teaching live classes online? Let us know and we would be happy to help.
Jonathan Reynolds
Entrepreneur Johnathan Reynolds founded the UK’s first live online learning platform, Learned.Live in November 2020 together with partner Sophia Spencer. They live with their growing family in Brighton.