Comments on: Taking the Home Out of “Home Office”

By: Ed Gandia, Editor

Ed Gandia, Editor — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 02:43:37 +0000

Netpreneur – The dilemma you mention is a sensitive one. It’s filled with emotion. There’s no RIGHT answer. Only you know what that is. If the “living the moment” approach works for you (in terms of reaching your income goals, flexible lifestyle, family time, happy clients, etc.), then you need to keep doing what you’re doing. If it’s not, then you may need to get creative and come up with slightly different approaches.

Paul – I think some of my neighbors think I’ve been unemployed for 10 years (that’s how long I’ve been working out of the house). And I have relatives who always ask me, “OK, so what EXACTLY do you do for a living again?” I explain it… only to have them change the subject right away. Because they don’t get it. At all!

By: Paul Strikwerda

Paul Strikwerda — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:46:13 +0000

I’m a voice-over professional, writer and translator, and my need for quietude to do my job is at times a source of conflict. My partner is a teacher, and I tell her that I would never think of interrupting her lessons, and I would only contact her in case of an emergency.

But because I do most of my work from home, it looks like I’m always accessible. Things that would normally wait till after business hours, suddenly become “important” and need to be dealt with, regardless of my schedule. From now on, I am going to use the “special home office code” and see how well that works.

On a side note: my neighbors don’t understand the concept of “working from home”. They think that I’m a lazy …… because they never see me leave for work. They don’t see me start the day at 7:00 AM, and sometimes finish at 10:00 PM. They have no clue that I’m working weekends because the 9 to 5 translator couldn’t finish his project and they need it done by Monday.

Don’t get me wrong: I love my freelance freedom, but it does come at a considerable price!

By: Netpreneur

Netpreneur — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 03:30:57 +0000

Good advice. But everytime I see this kind of advice, it makes me wonder whether this was one of my intentions for working from Home. I wanted to be there for my family and be more available. So being at home really helps. But they also have to understand and give me the time and space to work.

I have my Home Office, but making a three year old understand the rules of office work is a bit difficult. So instead of putting in rules, I live the moment. If my kid wants to ‘work’ with me, I play along for a while. Seeing that smil eon her face when she is ‘working’ with her daddy is priceless. And being there for her as a parent is gonna be even more priceless.

And if I get disturbed I work a little late, after they go to bed. I try to cover a specific number of hours every day. But I dont stick to a strict schedule. It was the flexibility that drew me to freelancing.

OF course, when it comes to crunch time, I give priority to work. But the trick is to not to have too many crunch times.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 23:22:23 +0000

Thanks for sharing! These are really great tips. There are so many instances when I’d get distracted from work like when my baby brother cries or when I feel like checking the fridge for another chocolate bar ^_^

I’ll be taking a break soon from working so I’ll keep these points on file. Thanks again for sharing!

By: Selene M. Bowlby

Selene M. Bowlby — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:45:26 +0000

Great advice! It’s really so difficult to work at home sometimes because of all the distractions.

Of course, I also have the other issue… of being on ME time or FAMILY time, and having to fight an overwhelming urge to check my email “one last time” or work on a client file for “just one minute” etc. It must be psychological, but I find (sometimes) when I close the office door I’m less likely to go in for “one quick check” than when it’s wide open.

Still incredibly difficult, though, LOL. I’m on my 3rd week after taking the freelance plunge, so I’m working on setting up all my specific rules and office hours, etc. It’ll take a while of getting used to, but I absolutely LOVE the freelance life (and hope I’m a wealthy one soon – in the full sense of the word!)