More of us are working out of a home office today than ever. There are pros and cons:
· No one to interrupt you, offset by no one to interact with
· Boss not looking over your shoulder, but also not giving you regular feedback or direction
· Quiet, often TOO quiet
· No commute, but then you don’t have the “think time” before work, or the “chill time” after
· More flexible hours, offset by a 24/7 environment
· CAYA (come as you are), but then you have no excuse to buy new clothes
You get the idea.
But as a home-based worker/entrepreneur, you need to adjust your mind --- and environment --- to assure that you eliminate barriers that can be the nature of a home office.
Here are a few tips from Pamela Slim (Hmmmm…could she be a co-owner of Jack Rabbit Slim’s from Pulp Fiction?) on designing home office environment that both delivers results and gives you the benefit of a flexible work style…with my own comments mixed in where I thought appropriate.
Define roles and responsibilities. It’s easy to be sidelined by others in the household who think that because you are home, you are available. You need to define clear boundaries up front with your family and friends. (I remember when my son was very small; it was made clear to him that “When Daddy is in this room, he is ‘at work’”. When that door was closed, it worked amazingly well.) Make sure you define them to yourself as well (more on that later).
Set up distinct zones for work and family business. If you do not have the luxury of a dedicated space for your home office (a separate room with a single purpose), you need to create distinct zones in your workspace to distinguish between work and personal duties or activities. Physically separate using file drawers, inboxes, and dedicated desktop space.
Identify your productivity power zones, and design your work around them. One of the great benefits of working on your own is designing a schedule that fits your natural biorhythms, not the random demands of a fixed work schedule. For example, some of us are dynamos in the morning, and slow down in the afternoon…or vice versa. Starting early on your toughest issues --- or conversely working late if you are a slow starter --- can better tap into your power zone. But don’t use it as an excuse to procrastinate or put off important commitments.
Identify good work environments outside of the home. Working from a home office can get very lonely. It can be energizing to fit a visit to Starbucks, local library, or local internet café every few days as a change of scenery. Take your laptop and connect via WiFi for an energy boost from changing your environment. Another good alternative is to find a Tech SIG (Special Interest Group) in your area. Many metro areas have a technology group, often formed thru a college or local newspaper. These are great places to network, collaborate, and meet individuals with common interests. Lastly, investigate your local chapter of the American Marketing Association for a meeting and networking events schedule. Again, a great place to meet locals to share ideas and meet people across multiple industries.
Define your no-work time zones. While it is easy to get distracted and unproductive while working from home, it is just as easy to end up working all the time. Schedule regular breaks, and change up your environment if you have been desk-bound for several days. And above all, set boundaries around specific times that are DARK for your personal sanity; i.e. dinnertime, Sundays, etc. If you regularly interact with other time zones, make sure you remind them often that when it’s the middle of the afternoon for them in LA, its Miller time for you. Convince them to work within a broad, defined timeframe, and remind them that you will respect theirs as well.
Finally, every time you long for a return to the structure of an office, go rent the movie Office Space. That’s the best cure there is, for example:
Bob Slydell (productivity consultant): You see, what we're actually trying to do here is, we're trying to get a feel for how people spend their day at work... so, if you would, would you walk us through a typical day, for you?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Bob Slydell: Great.
Peter Gibbons: Well, I generally come in at least fifteen minutes late, ah, I use the side door - that way my boss can't see me, heh heh - and, uh, after that I just sorta space out for about an hour.
Bob Slydell: Huh? Space out?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah, I just stare at my desk; but it looks like I'm working. I do that for probably another hour after lunch, too. I'd say in a given week I probably only do about fifteen minutes of real, actual, work.