Change in Venue - Working from home

It's difficult, but you have to discipline yourself and your family. I would recommend the following:

• Keep a regular work schedule and stick to it.
• Tell your family that they need to respect the time when you are at work, treating it exactly the same as if you'd left the house to go work in an office.
• If possible, setup a home office in a dedicated room with a door.
• It's really easy to be distracted when at home. Try not to let those distractions win you over.

I did this for many, many years. The first several years, I did not have a dedicated room for my office, so it was really difficult to work. When we moved into a house where I could have a dedicated office, it was much better, but still very easy to be distracted. Now, about 13 years later, I'm leasing an office from one of my best clients. I didn't realize how much more productive I would be until I moved in and got settled. But I get SO much more work done in this office environment because I'm surrounded by other professionals that are also trying to work.

P.S. For some reason, your original post was set to private. I have changed it to public so others can also read and reply to it. 🙂

Yup. its awful easy to go sit under the shade tree for a while. At the same time I find myself working when I hadn't planned to, weekends and evenings, just because something came to mind concerning a project. I'm a little loose with my hours though. My wife works every other weekend so sometimes I make the week a light one and work on the weekends to offset.

Also be ready for people to not believe you have a real job anymore. Sometimes my own wife doesn't think I really work. The rest of the family is pretty sure I'm retired.

be prepared for all your cats to commandeer your desk.?ÿ

Wendell totally nailed it. I did this for a few years and will be in a similar situation soon. Things I learned last time:

• Deadlines really help.?ÿMaking deadline promises (even when not requested)?ÿwas one of the more helpful ways for me to structure my time. Because if I said delivered by Wednesday morning, by gosh I made it happen.
• During the busy summer season I worked constantly and was thinking about work when I did have a break. Working like a beast is fine, but it needs limits and structure (like, say, Sunday morning is church, Tuesday evening is softball, Friday night I show the wife a good time--or maybe even take her out ?).

One thing I realize is that only in modern times (like the last two or three generations) would the idea of "working from home" seem out of the ordinary. I grew up in dairy country and (duh!) many of my friends worked "from home" (i.e., the farm). They had developed a rhythm and structure that made a highly productive day. I think most of the battle is tossing the idea of "home as a refuge from work" and choosing the idea of "home is where I am most productive."

Contratulations! ?ÿWelcome aboard the good ship ƒ??working from homeƒ??. ?ÿOne of the many benefits for me has been the sweet flexibility to handle personal affairs during the daylight hours, then walk into the den at say 7pm on a Friday evening and get some really productive work done. ?ÿSomething I never would have contemplated before. ?ÿWho wants to drive back in to the office at 7:00 Friday night just to do a couple hours of work?

The point about family is especially salient to me, a month in now. The wife and daughters all seem to think Iƒ??m on some kind of vacation. DESPITE the fact theyƒ??ve been able to get a much better idea of exactly what I do and how much energy it requires (which is considerably more than the old gig).

and while they and I both appreciate the staggering improvement in my disposition since ditching the office, and the flexibility to, say, take them on an impromptu ice cream dash, Iƒ??ve already had to remind the house that I am actually much busier than I was at the job and that it needs to be respected.

Posted by: flyin solo

The point about family is especially salient to me, a month in now. The wife and daughters all seem to think Iƒ??m on some kind of vacation...

For some reason when a man's office is within the walls of his domicile all the women within those confines confuse the term "self-employed" with "unemployed".?ÿ A good sound office door with a lock and a "DO NOT DISTURB" sign is a start. ??ÿ

SWMBO: Douuug; DOOUUUG...

Me: Yes dear?

SWMBO: Can you come in here a minute.

Me: (Walking into the kitchen) What do you need, honey?

SWMBO: Why is is this cupboard door open?

Me: I don't know; why?

SWMBO: Well, it just didn't open itself...

Me: Sorry, it must've been me; I will be sure never to let it happen again...

?ÿ

It took me a few years; but I finally moved to an office. Much; much more productive...

What RADAR really meantƒ??.in his mindƒ??..

SWMBO: Douuug; DOOUUUG...

Me: Yes dear? (NOW WTF DO YOU WANT?)

SWMBO: Can you come in here a minute.

• Me: (Walking into the kitchen) What do you need, honey? (FAKING SMILE)

SWMBO: Why is is this cupboard door open?

Me: I don't know; why? (BEATS ME WHY DIDNƒ??T YOU JUST Fƒ??ING CLOSE THE DAMN THING?)

SWMBO: Well, it just didn't open itself...?ÿ (ƒ??..ALIENS ?ÿDID IT)

Me: Sorry, it must've been me; I will be sure never to let it happen again...?ÿ ?ÿ(I GOTTA GET MYSELF AN OFFICE)

?

When we first started out we couldn't afford to work from anywhere but our home.?ÿ Now we own the office building we office out of.?ÿ I think I got more work done in?ÿa day when I was working at home.?ÿ This came at a cost though.?ÿ With work being 1 room away?ÿI found myself working ALL the time.?ÿ The kids would kiss me goodnight on their way to bed at 8:00 pm?ÿthen I would look up and it would all of a sudden be midnight.?ÿ The dedicated office with a door is necessary to keep the distractions out while you're working?ÿbut it's also a good?ÿbarrier to keep you away from?ÿyour work every now and again too.?ÿ Being in an office outside our home has been a blessing because it helps me leave the work behind to an extent.?ÿ I still have it setup so I can remote into our servers from home if something important comes up on the weekend or evenings but not being in such close proximity to my work all the time has helped.?ÿ Set some ground rules with your family and stick to them and you'll be fine.?ÿ Best of luck in your new adventure!?ÿ

That 2:00 A.M. spark of brilliance may turn into three hours of your absolute top production. ?ÿThen you head back to the bedroom and reset the alarm clock to a later time.

Congratulations on the new gig.?ÿ?ÿ

I'm in Year 26 of working out of a home office.?ÿ I've gone from being single, to being married, to being married with a child, and now back to just married again (our son just finished his second year of college and has started a summer internship).?ÿ During all of this I've kept very flexible hours.?ÿ I would guess that I average around 40 hours a week, but it's cut up into as many pieces as I need to accommodate the other aspects of my life.?ÿ I hardly ever missed one of my sons baseball games, I generally don't start my field day until 8:00, most days I take an hour or two lunch break at my favorite bistro, I work out in the late afternoon pretty much every day, and I often put in a couple of evening work hours.?ÿ I normally don't work much on the weekends unless I'm up against a deadline, though early this Sunday morning I'll be cross-sectioning 1,000 feet of two-lane road that has too much traffic to deal with during the week (I spent almost an hour a couple of days ago waiting for a break to get a 15-second shot on a monument in the centerline).?ÿ The most challenging times were when our son was little, but I managed, and I got to spend a ton of time with him as he grew up, which was well worth any sacrifices it involved.

If that sounds like a casual approach, it's because it is.?ÿ I acknowledge that it's not for everyone, but it's worked out well for me.

Posted by: Jim Frame

I'm in Year 26 of working out of a home office.?ÿ I've gone from being single, to being married, to being married with a child, and now back to just married again (our son just finished his second year of college and has started a summer internship).?ÿ During all of this I've kept very flexible hours.?ÿ I would guess that I average around 40 hours a week, but it's cut up into as many pieces as I need to accommodate the other aspects of my life.?ÿ I hardly ever missed one of my sons baseball games, I generally don't start my field day until 8:00, most days I take an hour or two lunch break at my favorite bistro, I work out in the late afternoon pretty much every day, and I often put in a couple of evening work hours.?ÿ I normally don't work much on the weekends unless I'm up against a deadline, though early this Sunday morning I'll be cross-sectioning 1,000 feet of two-lane road that has too much traffic to deal with during the week (I spent almost an hour a couple of days ago waiting for a break to get a 15-second shot on a monument in the centerline).?ÿ The most challenging times were when our son was little, but I managed, and I got to spend a ton of time with him as he grew up, which was well worth any sacrifices it involved.

If that sounds like a casual approach, it's because it is.?ÿ I acknowledge that it's not for everyone, but it's worked out well for me.

where is Robert Hill?

the greatest perk of being self-employed is the freedom of choosing your own, flexible hours, so long as those hours are 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.?ÿ

Posted by: Wendell

It's difficult, but you have to discipline yourself and your family. I would recommend the following:

• Keep a regular work schedule and stick to it.
• Tell your family that they need to respect the time when you are at work, treating it exactly the same as if you'd left the house to go work in an office.
• If possible, setup a home office in a dedicated room with a door.
• It's really easy to be distracted when at home. Try not to let those distractions win you over.

I did this for many, many years. The first several years, I did not have a dedicated room for my office, so it was really difficult to work. When we moved into a house where I could have a dedicated office, it was much better, but still very easy to be distracted. Now, about 13 years later, I'm leasing an office from one of my best clients. I didn't realize how much more productive I would be until I moved in and got settled. But I get SO much more work done in this office environment because I'm surrounded by other professionals that are also trying to work.

P.S. For some reason, your original post was set to private. I have changed it to public so others can also read and reply to it. 🙂

I don't mind that you changed the setting, but I do't really don't understand the setting either. I set it to Private because I thought that setting keeps the post only on this site. I don't like to see my posts pushed out through Linkedin, Twitter, FB, etc.

XXX ................................. XXX Self-imposed exile. ?ÿThe answer to the Robert Hill question.

Posted by: holy cow

XXX ................................. XXX Self-imposed exile. ?ÿThe answer to the Robert Hill question.

Perhaps....or perhaps he reemerged a few months later ?ÿas a pseudonym account that shares less personal information by does occasionally post enough background to put two and two together

Posted by: James Fleming

Posted by: holy cow

XXX ................................. XXX Self-imposed exile. ?ÿThe answer to the Robert Hill question.

Perhaps....or perhaps he reemerged a few months later ?ÿas a pseudonym account that shares less personal information by does occasionally post enough background to put two and two together

I hope so.?ÿ Robert always seemed like an intelligent and articulate surveyor and human being.?ÿ I'd like to think he's still around here somewhere.