Where We Go, Distractions Follow
The other day here at Freelance Folder, Jon posted some of his ideas about working from home in The Perils Of Working At Night - Should You Rent A Space? Jon’s vote is to rent a space; for him, the results of the distractions at home make renting appealing.
Sure, there certainly are drawbacks to working at home. For one thing, we sometimes need to work the night away to meet a deadline. But every night needn’t be a work night and there’s much to be said for trying to work things out when working from home.
Some people are more than happy to be working, they simply don’t like to go to work. Why am I saying “they”? “We” simply don’t choose to go to an office every day. For some of us, that’s why we work from home.
Jon makes a good point about daytime distractions. No argument from here; they’re there. On the other hand, they’re everywhere and they’re not hard to find. Actually, any distraction worth the name knows how to find us.
My point is that, regardless of whether we choose to take the sometimes serendipitous road and work at home or opt for the relative stability of a rented space, we’re always going to find ways to waste time.
The key to dealing with unwanted distractions is to be the boss of them. The only way something can be bothersome is if we let it. The same goes for people, too, even though people are, admittedly, a little tougher nut to crack.
For some of us, a little diversion throughout the day can be a good thing. It can give a fresh look to an idea that doesn’t want to work. It can give us an idea when we’re stumped.
But back to the idea of renting a work space. It’s an answer, but is it the answer? I don’t think so. In reality, it does little more than change the scenery because renting comes with its own subtle distractions.
The most obvious problem is money. Home: free (and possible tax deduction in the US). Rental: monthly payment (any tax break won’t completely offset the rent). For sake of argument, let’s suppose we’re ok with the idea of shelling out the monthly rent, but don’t want to go overboard. Jon addressed a few ways to economize, but they’re not without their trade-offs.
Space is always a consideration; how many square feet can be gotten for the square dollars in the budget? This might not seem to be much of an issue at first glance, but skimping on work space can get real old real fast. At home, there’s room to walk, room for books, room to store all those things we might need once in a while and we’re accustomed to having all that room.
How about those amenities we don’t even think about. Jon mentioned windows, for one. Sure, it’s possible to work without windows, if sensory deprivation is your thing. Don’t believe me? Try working out of your bedroom closet for a few hours.
Ah, and then there’s the commute; it’s gonna cost in both time and money. Will it mean using the car? Add general wear and tear, gas, and (maybe) parking to the rent. Public transportation is a good alternative, if it’s available.
Sharing the ride and/or the new space can work. Sharing can be a touchy thing, though; personalities to consider, schedules to mesh.
Has reading the last five paragraphs been distracting enough for you? Or are these things you can accept? Will your productivity benefit enough to warrant moving your work space away from your home? Or do you think a few changes at home might make a bigger difference?
It’s not a contest between me and Jon; there’s no absolute right or wrong. But do let us know what you think and let’s keep this conversation going.
Carolyn
*******
You can also visit Carolyn any time of any day at Thoughts & Philosophies and at ProductivityGoal.
8 Rockin' Comments
July 29th, 2007 at 4:53 pm
Hey Carolyn, thanx for the great article, some points you mentionned I totally agree with ;)
Changes at home can definitely make a huge difference, if everything is crystal clear and the family and friends know you’re working, usually it works fine. Althought I usually find myself answering the phone and getting distracted anyway, and end up working till 3am (which I feel is bad for my health)
Yep, I agree, I do want windows! hehe
But if the only option you have is to rent a space, cause nothing works at home, and renting a space that has windows would be too expensive, you can always rent the space anyway, and later on move somewhere else, where you’d have windows)
I have a “if you don’t absolutely need it, and you can live without it for a while, then it’s fine” mentality hehe :)
July 29th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Ok, I’ll agree something must be done about your 3am habit. But working all day with no windows is far too extreme. Seriously, I think that might be as unhealthy as funky sleep patterns. Think about all the people who get depressed during the winter months and think how it would be to see no daylight all day long. Sorry, Jon, we must have windows.
But we do agree on something else. “if you don’t absolutely need it, and you can live without it for a while, then it’s fine”.
We’re at fifty percent; not bad :)
July 29th, 2007 at 9:31 pm
I’ve worked at home for the last year-and-a-half with a three year old and a four year old as background noise. Have there been distractions? Absolutely. Most of them have been quite welcome. The positives, however, far outweigh the negatives:
1) I am in control of my time and take a break whenever I feel like it and for as long as I feel like it (last summer we took entire afternoons off and went to the lake)
2) My gas bill has been cut back drastically while prices at the pumps have doubled because I don’t drive very often and when I do I don’t drive very far
3) The blessings of spending time with my grandchildren while they enjoy the presence of people who care about them has been an experience I would not have given up for the world
4) My expenses are so small and I have spent the majority of my time focusing on building the business rather than worrying about how to pay the bills in order to stay alive
It hasn’t all been a piece of cake, but the pieces of cake that I got a long the way sure beat the lemons I had when I worked in the corporate world. :-)
July 30th, 2007 at 7:23 am
What you’re describing sounds ideal. Funny, but the pump prices didn’t occur to me while I was writing this; that’s a major chunk of change these days.
One of the best parts of working from home is the things we don’t need to miss; like you and your grandchildren. That must be priceless to you.
As for the pieces of cake, we get quite enough to sweeten the day.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:02 am
Thanks Carolyn. You know, just yesterday we moved them into a new apartment with their mother. Yes, the time we spent together this past year-and-a-half has been time I wouldn’t have traded for the world. Now it’s just me and my wife again and it’s so quiet around here. I’m actually distracted by the LACK of children playing, fighting, and getting rambunctious. But I’ve learned that there are trade-offs.
While having the children around has been great it has kept me busy enough that I couldn’t focus on some of the things that I wanted to focus on. Now that they are gone I can, I hope, start on some of the projects that I’ve been putting off and finish some that I’ve been lagging on. Priorities … that’s the name of the game when you work at home.
July 30th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Oh, that deafening silence! Maybe you should have made of tape of them so you wouldn’t have to go cold turkey.
Of course, you’re right about the trade-offs and being able to focus on those back-burner projects.
Now, about this word “priorities” that you mention ? ? ?
July 30th, 2007 at 4:45 pm
this is a great post. i have to say i agree with you over jon’s earlier post (jon, try not to cry about it).
i work from home, starting my own online bag company and i actually think i get more done here than i ever did working in an office. while being in corporate america, i was constantly distracted by co-workers who wanted to chat, emails (had to be logged in), phone calls (had to take and return within the hour), and just genuine activity and nonsense that goes along with that environment. at home, my only company is our 3-yr-old lab and i can turn off most of the outside world until i need to use them (email, phone calls, etc).
for some reason, i have no problem ignoring the pile of laundry or the clean dishes that need to be put away. those don’t seem to be distractions for me, personally. ha!
July 30th, 2007 at 6:25 pm
Erin, one of my sisters has a refrigerator magnet that says, “Housework, if done properly, will kill you”. Scary, huh?
Turning off some of the outside world really is (at least for me) easier than getting to an office every day.
We’re gonna have distractions wherever we work, I just like the path of least resistance.
Share your thoughts, leave a comment!