Finding Your Space...

[Eigen]

You get an office to yourself? Mine is shared, and though I like the camaraderie of having office mates (all of whom are awesome, btw), there are times I just can't work in there...

Our offices are are at the front of our lab- each room is about 15x25, with a large floor-to-ceiling bench/shelving setup in the middle. I'm on one side, our post-doc is on the other. But he usually works late (not in until 11 most days) so I have nice quiet mornings to myself.

Although, he'll be leaving soon, and I'm not sure if anyone will replace him in our room or not.

[UnlikelyGrad]

Our offices are are at the front of our lab- each room is about 15x25, with a large floor-to-ceiling bench/shelving setup in the middle. I'm on one side, our post-doc is on the other. But he usually works late (not in until 11 most days) so I have nice quiet mornings to myself.

Although, he'll be leaving soon, and I'm not sure if anyone will replace him in our room or not.

Wow--my office is about 10x12, and we have 6 people crammed in there!

[poco_puffs]

I don't think I'll get an office until the second year at my program, and I'm a bit worried from some of the examples I saw in my building. I don't know if they were representative of all of them, but it was probably a 10x12 space shared by two to four people per office. My biggest concern is the fact that none of the grad student offices appear to have windows at all, and I'm a window person. My brain needs a brief shutdown period every 30 minutes or so, and looking out a window for a minute or two really does the trick without breaking me from my rhythm.

I guess in the end I'll probably just do my office hours in the office, and find somewhere else on campus to fulfill my well-lit, tree-gazing needs.

[psycholinguist]

I don't think I'll get an office until the second year at my program, and I'm a bit worried from some of the examples I saw in my building. I don't know if they were representative of all of them, but it was probably a 10x12 space shared by two to four people per office. My biggest concern is the fact that none of the grad student offices appear to have windows at all, and I'm a window person. My brain needs a brief shutdown period every 30 minutes or so, and looking out a window for a minute or two really does the trick without breaking me from my rhythm.

I guess in the end I'll probably just do my office hours in the office, and find somewhere else on campus to fulfill my well-lit, tree-gazing needs.

Heh, I'm exactly the same way! That's just what I would do. Keep a good lookout for hidden lounges/study-rooms/hallway-alcoves! * grins *

[poco_puffs]

Heh, I'm exactly the same way! That's just what I would do. Keep a good lookout for hidden lounges/study-rooms/hallway-alcoves! * grins *

Yeah, the student lounge provided at my undergraduate English Department had leather couches and whatnot, but no windows and a no food/drink policy. As a result of some exploration, I found several other student lounges with.. oh... windows, computers, comfy couches, vending machines, air conditioning etc. My favorite was the lobby of the very well-funded engineering building (their alumni actually made money with their degrees). They had these CRAZY comfortable leather chairs and couches, an awesome coffee shop that made the best sandwiches on campus, all with light pouring in from the two sides of the building that were nothing but windows. I got loaaaads of reading done in that environment, and I caught countless history professors from the neighboring building taking advantage of a building that had functioning climate control and post-Cold War amenities.

[UnlikelyGrad]

I guess in the end I'll probably just do my office hours in the office, and find somewhere else on campus to fulfill my well-lit, tree-gazing needs.

My office is one of the few in the building that has no windows despite my serious need for tree-gazing. I try to take at least a couple of walks a day. Not necessarily "real" walks--sometimes just across the street to the library to return a book--anything that gets me outside counts.

I will be moving offices at the beginning of the school year and am seriously hoping for an office with windows. Odds are pretty good I'll get one, actually, considering the building layout. I am also hoping I get to keep at least some of my awesome officemates...

[Eigen]

There are only a few offices in our building that have windows- most of our labs are interior rooms, with faculty offices being around the edges.

[StrangeLight]

my department just took our offices away. we used to have a grad student lounge with 4 computers (only 1 ever worked) and a big conference table people only used for lunch, and then a section of cubicles. cubicles! only one desk in them, but 2-3 students per cube, so if someone else was already in there, you were SOL. no windows in any of these spaces, by the way. most of the professors don't have offices with windows and they fight over the few windowed offices that do exist. they've removed all of our cubicles and now we're getting a second conference table, i believe.

i couldn't work in that space anyway, but a lot of people did their office hours in their cubicles. now it's just an open table and won't be very conducive to meeting with students. not quite sure what we'll do now.

[atetrachordofthree]

Does anyone else find the size and style of the table/desk you are working on really important? I was never able to get anything done when I lived in the dorms, because the desks were very shallow (i.e. short on the side you don't sit by), and after a semester I realized that I work best on open tables. You know, the big ones in the center of a computer lab.

I also can't work in cluster, so my desk (usually end up being a kitchen table) has nothing but what I need-- laptop, whatever piles of paper. No pencil holders, printers,...nothing. When I'm not working there's nothing on it. I also respond well to diner style booth tables but not the little bistro ones. Can't work in cubicles/carrels either.

Other than the open, empty desk thing, I can deal with pretty much any space.

In fact now that I think about it, maybe the cubicle/carrel thing was what did me in when I took the GRE's. I swear my mind went everywhere possible except for the computer screen

[coyabean]

Ok, I'm starting to feel really blessed. We have functional office space. I mean, it's not my friend's incredibly awesome corner space in a new theater department building with room for an office and a sitting area and floor to ceiling windows but for grad students I think it's nice. We have around the clock access and after a $10 donation at the start of the year we can print to our heart's content. It's kind of decorated like a grad student apartment, sure -- lived in sofas -- but we don't share desks and it's clean and comfortable. HOWEVER, I do have my eye on that B-school building right across the walkway. Judging just by their lobby and atrium? They've probably got leather massage chairs and dogs trained to bring you slippers.

[CultureOfIdeas]

So we have a lot of office space, relative to programs at other schools - we're a small department and the first year office is pretty big (all the 1st years share it, but that is 3-5 people in a room the size of a medium classroom). However, I just went to visit my University's newly renovated trademark building (multi-zillion dollar, multi-year project) which has been the flagship of the University forever and houses the majority of humanities buildings and let me tell you I am SO jealous. They did such an incredible job I just cannot get over it. The offices, the workspaces, the sem. rooms. wow. Its modern, but timeless and classy. I haven't been there since I took a seminar in the basement of the building years ago when I was an undergraduate, and the difference in unbelievable. Maybe they'll redo all the other buildings to match (unlikely). At least we are building a new "Learning center" next to the library? I'm just going to go hang out in the new reading room complete with stained glass and dark, hardwood everything.

[colleen_lee]

Pre-grad school when I was still studying for the GRE my favorite place to work was a Starbucks located in the Columbia University neighborhood. But ever since Starbucks started offering free wi-fi it has been really difficult to find a seat and table at any Starbucks in New York City.

For grad school I am going to have to find a new study/work space. I don't think my apartment is going to be a good workspace for me as I am just too easily distracted there. Even though I live alone I find myself more apt to procrastinate when I am at home. I sit down to study and suddenly I just CANNOT focus unless I do the dishes. Even if I haven't done the dishes in a month at that moment it becomes imperative that the sink be clean. If not the dishes it's that the bathroom is dirty, or the bed isn't made, or the floor hasn't been swept.

Silence or soft buzz are both okay with me. A year living in Manhattan has definitely taught me to tune out surrounding conversation.

Natural light is a must! I like access to natural light and windows so that I can gaze out and not feel like I am locked in a cell.

I am going to spend these first few weeks canvassing the various campus libraries and lounges to hopefully find my ultimate work space.

[coyabean]

For grad school I am going to have to find a new study/work space. I don't think my apartment is going to be a good workspace for me as I am just too easily distracted there. Even though I live alone I find myself more apt to procrastinate when I am at home. I sit down to study and suddenly I just CANNOT focus unless I do the dishes. Even if I haven't done the dishes in a month at that moment it becomes imperative that the sink be clean. If not the dishes it's that the bathroom is dirty, or the bed isn't made, or the floor hasn't been swept.

Silence or soft buzz are both okay with me. A year living in Manhattan has definitely taught me to tune out surrounding conversation.

Natural light is a must! I like access to natural light and windows so that I can gaze out and not feel like I am locked in a cell.

That's me, too. I actually changed all the light bulbs last night. /eyeroll Me, the slacker, couldn't focus without energy saving lights all of a sudden.

There's a caribou open late near my house but so far the library is far and away the best spot. It's open 24 hours with coffee and there's a nook with leather club chairs, very Harry Potter meets Mad Men. I love it.

[coyabean]

For grad school I am going to have to find a new study/work space. I don't think my apartment is going to be a good workspace for me as I am just too easily distracted there. Even though I live alone I find myself more apt to procrastinate when I am at home. I sit down to study and suddenly I just CANNOT focus unless I do the dishes. Even if I haven't done the dishes in a month at that moment it becomes imperative that the sink be clean. If not the dishes it's that the bathroom is dirty, or the bed isn't made, or the floor hasn't been swept.

Silence or soft buzz are both okay with me. A year living in Manhattan has definitely taught me to tune out surrounding conversation.

Natural light is a must! I like access to natural light and windows so that I can gaze out and not feel like I am locked in a cell.

That's me, too. I actually changed all the light bulbs last night. /eyeroll Me, the slacker, couldn't focus without energy saving lights all of a sudden.

There's a caribou open late near my house but so far the library is far and away the best spot. It's open 24 hours with coffee and there's a nook with leather club chairs, very Harry Potter meets Mad Men. I love it.

[poco_puffs]

There's a caribou open late near my house but so far the library is far and away the best spot. It's open 24 hours with coffee and there's a nook with leather club chairs, very Harry Potter meets Mad Men. I love it.

All three of the universities I've attended in my state close sometime between 11pm and 1am on weeknights, and significantly earlier on weekends, like 9pm. I'm not one to be at the library until 5 in the morning, but I really truly dislike having to pack my stuff up at 1.

Although heard recently that my last uni's library finally got the funding to stay open for 24 hours, just as I leave for another school