The Perils Of Working At Night – Should You Rent A Space?
Posted July 27, 2007 in Productivity 11 Comments »
You’re a freelancer and you work from home, or have your own business, you work odd hours, probably long hours, and if you’re just getting started, you can expect it will be like this at least for the next couple of months.
It takes time to build a profitable business, have everything up and running, find contracts, gigs, and actually make ends meet. Chances are you’ll have to work at night, after the kids are asleep (if you have kids, of course). ;)
But if you can afford to rent a space and work during the day, provided you don’t have a day job, I’d suggest you go ahead and do it. Let’s see.
It’s 1am And You’re Still Working
You make yourself another coffee, hoping it’ll help you stay awake, because there are some last minute details you need to check. Now it’s 3am, and you’re still working on that project. You told your client, everything would be ready by tomorrow (which sounds more like “today” now). Someone has to do it, and that someone happens to be you. You go to bed at 4am.
You wake up the next morning, after a good night’s sleep (?), call you client to let him/her know everything went fine and you can deliver the project today. Life is great! Your client is happy, you get paid, and you’re ready to take on another project.
But why work on that project at night? Why not do it during the day?
Distractions.
TV, spouse, kids, phone, e-mail, neighbors, and so on… All during the day, usually at night it’s more calm.
But, if you look at this from another angle, working at night is even worse.
- Less social interaction – Everyone works during the day
- Recuperative sleep – What’s that?
- Exhaustion and depression – Especially in winter months
Why Rent A Space?
You can rent a space, try to find one for cheap, and work during the day. But if you’re just getting started you probably don’t have that kind of money. On the other hand, if you work from home and the phone won’t stop ringing and your spouse needs you for this and that. You can’t just lock the door.
Working at night, from home, now seems more interesting, doesn’t it?
Yes it does, but maybe you should try finding a space to rent anyway, as it will help in your business, and you will most probably get more work done. It is a proven fact the a good night’s sleep helps with productivity and overall happiness. Having your own space, where you can work during the day, free of distractions, will help you in the long run.
Where To Look? What To Do?
There are many websites you can use to find a (cheap) space to rent. A simple search on Google will return many results. Or you can also search on Craigslist. There are often people posting on classified ads websites, that are looking for people to share the rent. Good place to start.
Or you can ask friends, family, people you know. Maybe one of your contacts is looking for someone to share the rent. Voila!
You also have to make sure you’ll have enough room. Chances are, a freelance musician or painter will need more space than a web designer or writer.
You can certainly find more questions, you simply need to ask yourself the right ones, and find the answers. Make sure you know exactly what you are looking for, and then go for it. All those business cards you collected in the past few months, maybe there’s a gem in there, maybe just a couple of phone calls and you’ll have your brand new office!
You can also try getting a grant, as it will help you get started. But more often then not, a grant is not the best way to fund your business. (will write more on this topic soon)
Working At Night?
If you’re working at night, and going to sleep late every single day, maybe it’s about time you start looking for a place to rent, your own office (instead of the home computer). Finding the money to pay for that rent is actually not that hard. You can always try to find 2-4 people to split the costs. And trust me, you’ll get more done, in less time, which means more money in your pockets, and it’s easier to pay that rent. Oh and you’ll definitely enjoy a good night’s sleep. ;)
Jon
This article was written at 3am :)
About the author: Jon Phillips is a full-time freelancer, designer and blogger, he loves WordPress and plays guitar in a heavy act. He's also the founder of Freelance Folder. Oh and he'd be pleased if you would follow him on Twitter. :)
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11 Comments
Adam Donkus
July 27th, 2007 at 9:15 amJon,
Hope you get out of your house and into a place that does not involve more than a 10 minute commute.
Carolyn Manning
July 27th, 2007 at 1:29 pmThis subject might be a point-counterpoint, Jon. I find some of those distractions inherent in working from home to be welcome breaks. They also often give my brain a chance to back up and re-group.
Yep, this is definitely food for more than a comment. Gotta to write now, right now.
Hi Adam.
Jon - Freelance Folder
July 27th, 2007 at 4:56 pmAdam, yes I think I do have to do this, working from home I always end up working at night, having my space would definitely be a good thing.
Hi Carolyn, you bring a good point, gives some time for a (usually well-deserved) break. I just find that during the day all those distractions are keeping me from getting things done, so I end up working late when everyone’s asleep, it’s more calm, having you own space can help a lot with that :)
Shane
July 27th, 2007 at 5:50 pmIt’s much quieter and easier to get work done at night, but it’s very hard to stick to any kind of schedule … it’s just not in tune with the body’s natural clock.
And it’s hard sometimes for people to not bother you during the day … they wouldn’t dream of calling you when you’re out working a 9 to 5 … but when you’re working at home you really have to lay down the law.
Or else get out of the house. You’d think there would be a “cubicle by the month” space you could rent … certainly an interesting idea for a business in itself.
Jon - Freelance Folder
July 28th, 2007 at 3:20 amShane, “cubicle by the month”, humm, that’s actually a really good idea. It’s true, working late at night isn’t the best thing for your health. What I personally find really hard is people calling and trying to reach me, if it’s for business matters, it’s fine, but if it’s to plan the evening and find out where we’re going for that drink, it can wait till I’m done working. ;)
melo villareal
July 28th, 2007 at 8:56 amRenting a space will not work for most of freelancers here in the Philippines// Most of the time we have a coffee meeting.. a laptop and WIFI in an internet cafe is enough… good article though… congratulations … this blog rocks//
The Old Man
July 28th, 2007 at 7:25 pmIf you live in a major Metro area in the U.S. you can usually rent co-op office space from the SBA or local SCORE office. This is much less expensive and you can use it any time you need it.
Faith Draper
July 28th, 2007 at 11:07 pmGreat article but I actually tried this and was totally non-productive. Teenaged son was driving me crazy at home so ‘escaped’ to friends house.
It wasn’t home and although I’ve always been comfortable ‘visiting’ I ran it to the worst writers block ever.
Lots of distractions at home but 4 year old grandson is learning. He made the comment he likes it when Grandma is working on other stuff because when she’s on the computer it means he has to be quiet and “she (Grandma) won’t talk except to tell me to go do something else”
Ardian Yuli Setyanto
October 1st, 2009 at 6:27 pmthanks for your advice, now i start to read all of your blog post. thanks for this tips.
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