Getting a bigger space

By belemo | belemo | 1 Jul 2021

I got married some weeks ago and in the process, I started my own family. It has largely been fun and stuff but I've also been super busy with life stuff.

For starters, I added a new member to the family and I must say, it has been really awesome. Having a car surprisingly reduces the cost of transportation, particularly when you have to go to multiple like we've been doing due to our househunting expeditions.

Thanks to the car and our quest for a better place, we've explored a large part of the city. It has been a lot less stressful than it would have been if we were using public transport and we have also been able to do more with less stress.

About output

Moving to a new place wasn't an easy decision but it is one that will improve our work efficiency and lifestyle as a whole. At the time of writing this, we live in a tiny apartment that while being sentimentally attached to, doesn't quite aid our situation.

Prior to the wife moving in, the stuff in the house had already pretty much filled up the available space and adding her stuff means that we're in a cramped apartment. For what it's worth, I like being in cramped spaces with the wife because I hear it favours reproduction but this situation doesn't favour output in other departments.

For example, my wife is a talented tailor and has a sewing machine that she's not used in quite a while. If you check her Hive page, you'll notice that she hasn't been making any of her usual posts about making clothes. In our current location, the sewing machine doesn't fit and so it has been sealed since we sent it down here from Warri.

On top of that, my work and hustle output has also been greatly affected by the lack of space. My workspace is currently in the sitting room where the TV resides. I'm someone that likes working in a quiet environment and at the same time, like to take short breaks in between. So when I was alone, I'd watch TV for a minute, then work for a minute and rinse and repeat.

That system would work well when I'm alone but now that the wife is also in the mix, I can't live like a loner anymore. This means that I can't have the requisite quiet I need to work and I also get distracted by her cuteness when I'm trying to concentrate.

Getting distracted also means that I don't have enough time to grow my social media accounts. This is a big deal for me because I get writing gigs from there and need that money to buy more shitcoins.

About lifestyle

I'll take nothing away from the convenience that this area has given me but for all its benefits, it really lacks basic amenities. For example, there is no good hospital, gym or even a decent supermarket to get basic stuff.

Since I've lived here, I've had to travel long distances to get the basic stuff and I have also not been going to the gym. The only time I ever visit the gym is when I visit Bayelsa. Lack of exercise has made me lazy and kind of fat as well.

The new area we're relocating to will be somewhat closer to the heart of town and in that area, we have easy access to the necessary things that we will need. We no longer have to travel long distances for normal stuff and we can create relative comfort that will improve our output in the process.

About cost

The hard part to bear is accepting the hike in the cost of rent we'll be paying, In our current place, we pay a measly 100k Naira($200) per year for rent. As I said, it is a very tiny apartment with a tiny room, tiny sitting room, tiny toilet and very tiny kitchen.

The new place we're considering will cost exactly four times more than this place at 400K naira($800) per year. This place has two bedrooms, a big sitting room, three toilets and a bigger kitchen.

The second bedroom will be converted to my office, but will also double as a guest room in case anyone visits. The bigger kitchen is particularly important for us because this current one has greatly limited us.

We have a chest freezer that was gifted to us that is still unused because there's no space for it in the kitchen. We also still use a camp gas because there's no space for an actual cooker in the kitchen.

It had to be done

I think getting this place is the best thing we could do for ourselves right now. We're still a young family that needs to grow and this place could be the platform that could propel that growth.

of course, relocating will come with some adaptation to new neighbours and the new surrounding. However, I'm pretty certain that we really need this move and relocating to this place will improve our lives.