A lot of us work from home, partially or completely. \u00a0The statistics of how many do this are not important, but the fact that you are one of them is. \u00a0If you work from home you quickly learn that there are a number of things that separate this kind of environment from a cubicle or office in an office environment.<\/p>\n
Some of those things are subtle and may sneak up on you; some of them are obvious and hit you in the face on the second day. \u00a0If you’re one of these people, like me, then you’ll benefit from these tips. \u00a0Everyone of of those items is a double-edged sword; meaning, they have a minus for every plus and a plus for every minus. \u00a0As someone that has worked from home for 14+ years and has worked with others on work life balance I thought I’d share what I’ve found.<\/p>\n
Working at home means you need an office. \u00a0There are those that operate solely out of a laptop and a phone. \u00a0Unless you are in that tiny tiny amazingly nomadic .0002%, you will need more than that, and generate and receive paperwork. \u00a0The paperless office still does not yet exist. \u00a0Even if you don’t generate it someone is sending it to you. \u00a0You’ll need to file, stamp, mail, etc. – all that stuff you do in a regular office. \u00a0 So treat this office as if it is part of an office building, and make sure it is properly equiped.<\/p>\n
If you have more than one level of your house, you can locate your office on a level that is not a living space you normally occupy. \u00a0In some cases this is a downstairs\/upstairs office, in others it is above the garage. \u00a0I’m not saying you have to spend a lot of money to renovate to make this space – no, just locate it away so that it is separate.<\/p>\n
In my case, for the last 14+ years, my office has been downstairs, with the rest of the living space being upstairs. \u00a0A little bit of a cave, but also secluded. \u00a0I recently moved it upstairs, and flipped my son’s room downstairs. \u00a0It has much better lighting, but I now feel like I’m really close to the normal off hours living space, so I’m adjusting, and deciding.<\/p>\n
Because your office is in your home – which is where you sleep – it means your work is mere moments away from you at all time. \u00a0Pause for shuddering. \u00a0So how do you psychologically and professionally make that separation since you can no longer make that separation physically? \u00a0One of the ways is time. \u00a0If you set specific hours it will make it easier to be “at” work and “at” home. \u00a0If you set an actual schedule – 8am – 5pm, 7am-4pm, etc., you can then “leave” the office. \u00a0Obviously things come up, and you can use the luxury to take an important call, or emergency by walking 12 feet and sitting down. \u00a0And yes I hear you saying, in the case of today’s movers and shakers and especially entrepreneurs – “But I work really long days and that’s how business gets done and the early bird gets the worm and I burn candles at both ends and I bet Elon Musk only sleeps three hours.”<\/p>\n
Regardless. \u00a0Just try it.<\/p>\n
When Stephen King would finish writing at the end of the day, he would turn the papers over and put a paper weight on top of them, ‘lest the monsters would get out.’ \u00a0In that same way, you can section things off with time.<\/p>\n
I used to drive an hour to work, every day. \u00a0If it would snow, and then the sun would set it would get worse. \u00a0It seemed that everyone in a state that has nine months of winter forgets how to drive in the snow, thus turning my one hour drive into two.<\/p>\n
But the average day, with slightly bending some laws would amount to a 45 min or so drive home. \u00a0Though taxing, it was a way for me to transition from work to home life. \u00a0That drive home demonstrated to my brain that I was moving away from work and towards my home. \u00a0And, that hour allowed time for my brain to think different thoughts. \u00a0This is partly why people go somewhere<\/em> for vacation.<\/p>\n But how do you physically transition if all you do is step through a doorway from office to kitchen, living room, etc? \u00a0And when that transition time is measured in seconds instead of hours, what then?<\/p>\n The answer is that your brain will adapt to this shorter transition if you let it. \u00a0It will work if your family treats your ‘I just walked through the office door’ the same as it treats you walking through the entrance to your house. \u00a0When my office was downstairs I’d come up the stairs at the end of the day and say “I’m home from work” sometimes. \u00a0That mentally cemented the separation.<\/p>\n And in the Stephen King example, you can also file stuff away, reposition stuff on your desk, etc. \u00a0It makes a difference.<\/p>\n If you are married, or share the space with others such as a significant other, husband, kids or even room mate it adds another layer. \u00a0Said fellow space-occupiers will want to interact with you. \u00a0If you are not on the phone, but instead typing or especially just ‘reading’ they may try to interact. \u00a0They’ll see it as an opening. \u00a0They won’t see that you are thinking, or composing a thought, or going over a drawing, or a client issue. \u00a0To them you are just staring at the screen, or the papers on your desk, or out the window. \u00a0But that’s how we think. \u00a0In your office at work, people may not mull around that much. \u00a0However, at home and especially in the summer months you will see lots of people home in your house.<\/p>\n Establish a door policy. \u00a0If the door is closed then you are in the middle of something in which you really don’t want to be interrupted – a phone call, or a project, a pesky line of code or a client issue. \u00a0Feel free to do this, and don’t feel guilty. \u00a0Then open the door when you have non laser focused time. \u00a0Obviously you can’t get up over and ever again every time you think you need to concentrate. That would get taxing and is the physical equivalent to multitasking with the same loss. \u00a0Read: Multitasking and the forgotten glue that holds it together<\/a>. \u00a0So what then? \u00a0Do you leave the door closed all the time? \u00a0No, because then it loses meaning. \u00a0You’ll have to figure out the right amount of closing vs opening. \u00a0But it does work.<\/p>\nFamily<\/h3>\n