Home or Office?
Update: This article has been translated into German by Alex Wicht.
One of the big draws of freelancing is the prospect of working from home. Say good bye to commuting, say good bye to peak hour traffic and in their place say hello to your pajamas, to sleeping in the middle of the day and to all the other comforts of home. When I first started out I did in fact work from home and I must admit I have even worked an entire work day in my underwear. In the end though I began to discover some nasty drawbacks that I had never thought of and since then I have separated work out to a little mini-office and home to… well home.
These were the problems I found:
- No separation between life and work
The biggest problem with working at home is that the separation between work and the rest of your life is much smaller. There is no “now I’m at work, I’m on alert mode… now I’m at home, I’m in rest mode”, its just always a semi-work, semi-home state. What this means is that rather than switching off in the evening you can’t help but feel maybe you should be doing some work right about now instead of relaxing. Or instead of waking up on the weekend feeling like you have the day off, you still feel a little like you are at work. -
Weird Hours
Nothing is more conducive to working some strange hours than working from home. Where once you woke up at a decent hour, worked a normal day and then had evenings off, you suddenly find sometimes you work late into the night, sometimes you take mornings off and then make it up by working Saturday afternoon and so on. In some ways this is quite nice, but in others sometimes its nice having weekends for weekends and evenings for evenings. - You’re always in the Same Place
And finally, unless you go out a lot, one major problem is that you are always in the same place. You wake up there, you spend all day there, you spend all night there. It’s a little like being in prison… well not really, but you get the picture.
These three downsides were particularly acute for me because I am by nature a work-aholic, so throw in doing it all from my living room and as you can imagine, problems arise.
How do you find working at home?
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I hope you are writing a series on how to separate work from home by getting a little office, expecially as a freelancer… The good , the bad, the ugly?
Well, I literally force myself to work “regular hours”.
It is easy for me, because my boyfriend goes to classes, so he is out until 5pm.
If I worked past 5pm, then I would never have quality time with my boyfriend and friends, so I can’t see how it’s difficult to work normal hours from home.
Also, to separate life and work, I stay away from my computer after 5pm.
Just GO away from it, that’s all.
To force yourself to go out, you could volunteer two hours of your time, M-W-F, for example, and be part of your community! How’s that?
I would say it is also a good idea to go for a walk/bike ride before and after work hours.
Thanks for starting this blog, it is exactly what I was looking for!
Many years ago I read a book by Ray Oldenburg titled ‘The Great Good Place.’ Ray Oldenburg is the sociologist who coined the term ‘the third place,’ and in this book who defined, your first place as your home, your second place as your place of work, and your third place as where you go to meet people.
Having recently taking the plunge into an almost full time freelancing commitment, I’ve found the lack of separation between my first and second places to also be quite a large drawback. So much so, that I’ve considered establishing a relationship with a local cafe in order to setup an environment where I can set myself up in a more sociable environment and still remained connected. I guess that in itself would open up a whole cane of worms in terms of productivity.
I also have a problem with the weird hours that a lack of routine can produce. It’s difficult when you don’t have the onus to turn up to work at 9:00am on the dot, and considering that my ‘office’ is less than two metres from my bed, there’s not really much reason for me to drag myself out of the comfort of bed.
I think a good solution to this situation is the whole idea of co-working which has become quite popular in the States. Places where you can work with like-minded professionals without having to commit to renting an office space.
Check out the co-working wiki page:
http://coworking.pbwiki.com/
There’s even resources for co-working in Australia.
I’d never heard it termed coworking before, its a nice name. Yeah i think thats a pretty good idea, there’s just something about working near your bed (i did the same!) that doesn’t seem right.
I also don’t have the strength that Luisa has to walk away from my computer, it just calls to me
I am a freelance web developer. And sometimes one thing I wish for is a separate office. I experience everything you state in your article. The inability to focus solely on work for a block of time is one of my major failings so far. I have gotten better now that I also have a different part time job to make up for money I am not making freelancing.
…did you ever leave the curtains closed on a sunny day…and worked all day without looking outside…forget to eat to drink…stop working cause you are hungry in the middle of the night…realize the shops are closed…you forgot to do shopping….nothing in the fridge
and all because you work from home and did leave your screen…
home sweet home…
though I love to work from home
That sounds terrible, RAN
Similar things have happened to me – but luckily we have 24 hour convenience stores! Seriously though, I think there are pros and cons to both working from home and office – but I myself do prefer an office space.
The only downside is that I often still work at home (like right now)
Wow, and I tought I was the only one with that problem. I feel quite e relief knowing that other people have it to. I am a freelance website designer, working a t home… I used to work 6 hours a day and make money for 3 months with one job. Times have change and as you become better in what you do, your clients whant better things too and in a record time. Everything must be done for “yersterday”. I really need to find a small place to open my studio, but the thing is that is not cheap and then you think, I could do something else with that money, you know? another thing, inspiration hits you at very late hours, that is maybe the good thing about working at home, you can stay up till late in a warm cossy place.
I have just started this working from home thing. I LOVE the flexibility of the hours. For example, I finished a copywriting job yesterday, so I decided to play hookie today. I went walking this morning and enjoyed the beautiful weather. I went to the grocery store and caught up on laundry. All without feeling guilty.
I feel so grateful when my neighbor complains about having to go back to the office after coming home for lunch on a beautiful day. I remember those days! Now, I know I can stay outside if I want and enjoy it.
I also love being able to start my day whenever I want to. I’m usually up by 8:30 and on the computer by 8:35. I may stay in my pajamas until 10:00, but I will have been productive until then.
However, I really don’t like getting “stuck” at home working all day, especially for a couple days in a row. I go stir crazy. So, I come up with sometimes insignificant errands I have to run or even just get on the phone with a friend to make contact with the outside world.
I also find myself taking a different path to other rooms in my place, so I don’t have to pass by my office/2nd bedroom and feel like I’m at work. Even that slight change of scenery helps.
I’m surprised at how well I’ve been doing at not snacking ALL day long (graham crackers with a bit of peanut butter–OK, with a few chocolate chip morsels on top–keeps me going in the afternoon), though I’ve definitely lost the momentum of walking every day after work. So, I’m trying to schedule walking outings with all of my other work-at-home friends. So far, so good!
If you want to get some separation between work at home try checking out your local industry association (in my case I have AGDA – the Australian graphic design association). AGDA sends out email newsletters where design companies with an extra desk or two will rent them out for $100 a week or so.
Work pods are also springing up in Sydney. Basically you pay for one desk in a funky space and have your own phone line, phone and computer and you share a secretary, printer and meeting space. I think it cost around $200/wk, and the only extra cost is your phone bill (internet is included).
So there are options, but they all cost money unfortunately!
But Lisa, I totally understand what you mean about how great it is to work from home! i work in an office now and I still miss it sometimes
Sometimes I just remember what it used to be like to work in someone else’s office and answering to a boss, and I thank my lucky stars I went freelance!!!!!
I’ve started freelancing in 2004 and since then I work from home.
I agree on the downsides of working from home, but the flexibility it gives me is very important to me.
Separation between life and work: it’s true, I often find myself working at night or during weekends. But, my girlfriend works with me, we are a 2 people design studio, and it is fun to share also the weekends of work.
I can’t afford renting an office and I don’t want to change my lifestyle to reach a different location every morning.
) and one for my professional life (clean and suitable for meeting with clients). I hope this will help beeing more organised and taking some time for my private life too.
However i think it’s a good idea to have a professional environment to work, also to meet clients (you can’t invite clients to your living room….).
I’m planning dividing my house into an apartment AND a studio, so to have separation between life and work spaces. Same location, but two separated spaces, one for my private life (underwear, hamsters and my collection of LEGOs
Btw, this website is extremely useful. Great job!
Hey all!
I just started freelancing a month ago and this is my biggest problem. My days are never consistent, one day might be 7am to 6pm next day i might not get up till 11 then not even start work till late at night! But thankfully a friend of mine joined me recently and we formed a sort of buddy system. Where we contact each other every morning and meet up at coffee shops (where internet is usually free, try Caribou coffee or Panera Bread,) and just jam on projects we have. This is great all around because we can problem solve issues together, collaberate on projects, and sometimes even relax for an hour or so just talking. We still put in late hours if needed, but we have definatly separated work from personal time. I highly suggest you try something like this is really does make a difference when someone else is around.
I am coming to the last year of my degree course in Multimedia Design and am thinking out going freelance when I graduate…
I have many of the problems you guys have when working on my Uni projects so I imagine that’ll continue if I decide to go freelance…I find it hard to get going in the morning and often find I hit a real work spurt about midnight and work til 4am..then wont get up until midday, its a terrible habit!
Good afternoon,
I recently left my full time job to work on my Rails development business full time, as it has again gotten to the point where I can. Both my wife and I work from home, so, as you all are seeing too, separating home and business can be difficult. We, as with many others, have converted a second bedroom to a home office. I do not go in there (normally) once I stop working, though I am not wed to it either (wireless rocks). I keep normal business hours 8-6 M-F EST and work on some Saturdays as well.
One of the reasons that I left my full time job was the two months I spent driving to work constantly thinking to myself of the productivity I was losing by going to and from an office (about 2 hours per day).
I have another full time developer working with me who comes to my house. We work in the office. This works great and keeps me on track. I have equipped the office with two whiteboards, a multifunction machine, and of course the Macs. This allows me to focus solely on work during working hours.
Clients expect me to be available via phone at a certain time, which is motivation enough to be bright eyed and bushy tailed in the morning.
As for waking up early in the morning, a coffee pot with a timer and a steady flow makes waking up a lot easier. That, and the hourly rate
Good luck to everyone. I look forward to more great articles on this site.
I’ve been freelancing for almost a year now, and I had a separate office right from the beginning. If I go there right after breakfast, when my girl leaves for work, I usually find that I start the day focussed, and without distraction and the comfortable and lazy-ing environment of my home. I do enjoy staying at home every now and then (after all, what’s a balcony good for, if it’s not used
too, but in general I work better and more efficiently in my office.
I think that finding a co-work office is the best way to go. I am not a freelancer myself but I have heard raves about Workspace here in Vancouver. You should check it out… it’s a great idea for any major city.
Rick
I have been freelancing for 11 years now. I have had a home office/studio in my home 9 out of those years. Home does have its setbacks, but to me the benefits far outweigh the problems. I have a separate room, with a door. To me that is “work”. My kids know that I am at “work”. I really have no problem separating the two lives most of the time. When I am in my home office I am in the zone, so to speak. One of the drawbacks I found when I had an space in our small town was the lonliness and the quiet–there was NO energy. I would much rather hear an occassional peep out of my kids or my wife than hours of hearing the clock tick. Having my family right outside my door breathes a little life into my day.
Working from home is the same as living at work.