FFS Home Office Main Page > Introduction

[excerpted from the Introduction to Fast Feng Shui for Your Home Office: Creating a Workspace that Works for You, © 2006 Stephanie Roberts Serrano, all rights reserved.]

I have been happily self-employed since 1983—more than half my life now—working at first occasionally, then mostly, and at last entirely from home. Throughout the various stages of my working life I have enjoyed the many pleasures and have coped with the challenges of creating a home office that works for me. Whatever difficulties you may face in setting up a comfortable and efficient place to work in your home, there’s a good chance I’ve confronted similar issues somewhere along the way from my first home office to my newest workspace.

Over the years I have worked at my dining table, in one end of the living room, in an alcove outside the kitchen, in a corner of my bedroom, and in a spare room taken over as office space. I’ve had desks that were too big and workspaces that were too small. I’ve suffered glare-induced headaches from unshaded windows and have experienced the pros (clothing optional) and cons (no view) of a windowless space. I have struggled to stay one step ahead of the clutter, have learned to resist the temptation to remain in pajamas all day, and from time to time have resorted to rearranging the furniture in an effort to break through writer’s block.

When I began to study feng shui in the mid 1990s, I discovered specific reasons why some of my workspaces hadn’t worked out very well in terms of comfort and productivity. And, as I used feng shui principles to redesign my home office, I discovered that my mood improved, my creativity flowed more freely, and I was able to get more done with less effort. Writing is not always easy, but it goes more quickly without the distractions and deterrents caused by poor feng shui. Your work will go more smoothly when your home office has better feng shui, too.

For the past few years—until just two months ago, in fact—I juggled the complexities of sharing a very small home office with my husband (who is my business partner and who also works full-time from home). As you can imagine, we were a little cramped, and that affected our productivity. Finding a private place in which to write the first draft of this book often meant grabbing the notebook computer and retreating to the lanai. As a workspace, the lanai lacked many standard office amenities, but the ocean view was inspiring and there was usually a nice breeze to temper the afternoon heat.

I am happy to report that we recently moved into much a larger home where I finally have an office of my own—quite a luxury after sharing a tiny office space for several years, and working at a desk in the living room for years before that. I have used the techniques and process described in this book to ensure that my new office is set up in the best space available in our house, and that it reflects my personal style, supports good work habits, inspires my creativity, and surrounds me with good feng shui.

As you read through the step-by-step instructions provided in this book, I will provide you with a thorough grounding in the principles of good feng shui so you can make the decisions that will best support you in working happily and successfully at home.

The basic premise of feng shui is that your life experience—your thoughts, feelings, and behavior, even the extent of your luck—is influenced by your surroundings. At the same time, the state of your home or work space is a reflection of your mood and attitude (which of course impact your experience as well).

A dark, dingy and untidy office, for example, contributes to an atmosphere of apathy and fatigue. This makes it harder for you to find the energy to make those sales calls or get the bookkeeping done, much less clean the place up.

Feng shui gives you the insight and incentive to become a mindful caretaker of your space. As a result, you live in greater harmony with your surroundings, and this helps you maintain a positive attitude and outlook. With feng shui, your home and office environments can better support you in achieving what you desire—in your career, your finances, and in all other aspects of your life.

Fast Feng Shui for Your Home Office closely duplicates the steps I follow in a consultation: analyzing the layout of the home, diagnosing problems, and prescribing appropriate adjustments and correctioins. My contemporary western approach to feng shui does not exclude the traditional compass-based methods, but neither does it rely on them or give them primary emphasis. When dealing with interior spaces—which you will do as you analyze and make changes to your home office—it is my experience that the modern approach to feng shui offers a greater range of useful and appropriate options. The traditional methods then offer another layer of information that can be used to fine-tune your decisions.

In my previous Fast Feng Shui books, I focused on contemporary methods of practice. In this book you will learn how to incorporate your lucky directions into your own feng shui strategy in a way that will work for you.

Depending on your level of experience with feng shui, much of this information may be new to you, and you may be wondering how a 260-plus page book can have the word “fast” in its title. While you may not be able to get through all this information in an afternoon, I can promise you that what you learn here will help you get better results, faster, without a lot of wasted time or misdirected energy.

In a traditional office setting, you have little or no control over key feng shui factors. Even an executive with a generous decorating budget for that prestigious corner office may be working in a space that is a feng shui nightmare. Lucky you: when you work at home—whether full- or part-time, whether as the boss of your own home-based business or as a home-based worker for someone else—you can do whatever you want with your workspace.

When you learn to think of your home office as a microcosm of your business, it becomes clear that this space deserves the same kind of care and thoughtful attention that you give to your business tasks and projects. Making conscious choices about your home office—where you set it up and how you arrange, furnish and decorate it—enables you to make more conscious choices about your business and your life.

This book will teach you how to use feng shui to create a home office that is not only functional for your business, but also uplifting to your spirit, inspiring to your creativity, and supportive of your long-term success.

[excerpted from Fast Feng Shui for Your Home Office: Creating a Workspace that Works for You, © 2006 Stephanie Roberts Serrano, all rights reserved.]

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