The "working-ground" (kammatthana) of the five hindrances
There is not much to say about it, the sutta named Subhasutta (numbered MN 99) has plenty of times the word kammatthana -- also translated "occupation" in this translation.

Here is the definition from the famous ATI glossary:


  kammatthana Literally, "basis of work" or "place of work". The word
  refers to the "occupation" of a meditating monk: namely, the
  contemplation of certain meditation themes by which the forces of
  defilement (kilesa), craving (tanha), and ignorance (avijja) may be
  uprooted from the mind. In the ordination procedure, every new monk is
  taught five basic kammatthana that form the basis for contemplation of
  the body: hair of the head (kesa), hair of the body (loma), nails
  (nakha), teeth (danta), and skin (taco). By extension, the kammatthana
  include all the forty classical meditation themes. Although every
  meditator may be said to engage in kammatthana, the term is most often
  used to identify the particular Thai forest tradition lineage that was
  founded by Phra Ajaan Mun and Phra Ajaan Sao.


Anyway, the end of your question is more important -- i.e. you asked:


  More practically, if a thought arises which is unwholesome (not during
  a sit, but in everyday life, since it is stated above that we should
  make the "structure of [our] entire life" based on the working-ground)
  should we try to categorize the thought into one of the hindrances,
  then accept it merely as a thought, as part of a process which does
  not constitute our identity and then watch it impassively until it
  fades? Or how should we deal them?


Dividing your life into two parts, "trying to to get the citta into samadhi" and "not trying to get the citta into samadhi" is not a good idea, even for people who are not bikkhus (mnks). What you can do in daily life is sati sampajanna (clear and constant awareness), like when you walk, when you eat and so on -- but getting citta (mind) into the samma samadhi (right concentration) needs seclusion, which is exactly what samma samadhi is.

So first a bit of vocabulary...

For the buddha, "living in the present" means having the citta (mind) in samadhi (concentration) of the first jhana (or higher) as expressed here, and it turns out that "the here and now" is always pleasant, 

so,


the citta is in the samadhi of the first jhana = living in the pleasing here and now
the citta is not in the samadhi of any jhana = not living in the present moment.


The buddha also says that it is easy for puthujjanas (wordly people -- who probably have some incorrect views e.g. about the doctrine) to confuse the samadhi of the jhanas with Sallekha (meaning "effacement").

The puthujjanas, who say that "watching thoughts come and go" is "living in the present moment", say that because watching sensuality is all they know -- and they do not know how to experience something else than sensuality. Those puthujjanas are full of thoughts 24/7, so they say that when they watch thoughts they "watch reality".

What the puthujjanas who invented dry meditation (i.e. "meditation without concentration") do is, at best (and it is really at best), is sampajanna (clear awareness) -- since they do not have sati (mindfulness or awareness or concentration), it's not really sati·sampajanna (concentrated or continuous clear awareness): 


  "And what is the development of concentration that, when developed &amp;
  pursued, leads to mindfulness &amp; alertness? There is the case where
  feelings are known to the monk as they arise, known as they persist,
  known as they subside. Perceptions are known to him as they arise,
  known as they persist, known as they subside. Thoughts are known to
  him as they arise, known as they persist, known as they subside. This
  is the development of concentration that, when developed &amp; pursued,
  leads to mindfulness &amp; alertness.


meaning they watch vedana-sanna (feelings and perceptions), and thoughts come and go, and they try to pass that as yoniso manasikhara (clear seeing r insight).


  "And what is the development of concentration that, when developed &amp;
  pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents? There is the case where
  a monk remains focused on arising &amp; falling away with reference to the
  five clinging-aggregates: 'Such is form, such its origination, such
  its passing away. Such is feeling, such its origination, such its
  passing away. Such is perception, such its origination, such its
  passing away. Such are fabrications, such their origination, such
  their passing away. Such is consciousness, such its origination, such
  its disappearance.' This is the development of concentration that,
  when developed &amp; pursued, leads to the ending of the effluents.
  http://www.buddha-vacana.org/sutta/anguttara/04/an04-041.html


There are even toxic puthujjanas who hype the "acceptance of any experience", "embrace the present moment" (which is, for those people, watching thoughts and sensations). Those puthujjanas fail to see that there are meritorious vedana-sanna, meritorious thoughts -- and conversely demeritorious vedanna-sanna, demeritorious thoughts -- and that letting demeritorious experience arise is very bad.

Sati·sampajanna is what people today call "mindfulness". It is good at preventing future lusts arise (or at least preventing them from becoming established), it is "what guards the senses" (see here and here -- but to suspend the bad feelings, you must get the citta into samadhi of at least first jhana, precisely because the vedanna-sanna of this samadhi is the meritorious vedana-sanna.

And to get the citta into samadhi, you have to memorize and put into practice right view and right intention, so first being physically secluded from other humans for a few hours or days -- then it is mano (mind) which has piti (joy associated with concentrative absorption) and the kaya (body) has passambhati (calm) then sukhaṃ vediyati (experienced ease), and the citta (mind) has sukhha (well-earned ease) then samadhi (concentration).

THe  buddha explains how he got right samadhi here and here (renunciation) -- and there's a 
a page with a few quotes on nekhamma (renunciation) here.

Once he had right samadhi, the citta could know how kamma-jati (karma and birth) and dukkha (misfortune, dissatisfaction) works.
So like the buddha said, sati·sampajanna is what he did first, judging his thoughts and classifying them into two (i.e. "meritorious" and "demeritorious"), destroying the bad thoughts with seeing the danger of bad thoughts, but it is precisely this sati·sampajanna (=situational wisdom, that is: In each moment one calls to mind whatever is necessary to master the given task ) which is transformed into samma samadhi. So do not divide your life into "meditation" and "non meditation". Later on, this samma smadhi is used to turn the citta towards āloka·saññaṃ manasi karoti (perception of light) and yoniso manasikhara (clear seeing).