I Don’t Need Office Hours: I Don’t Work in an Office!
Adjusting to Full-time Working from Home
Adjusting to Full-time Working from Home
I started (for the 2nd time) a full-time solopreneurship in July of 2008. My husband and I live in a relatively large house (SIX bedrooms for two people and a little dog) and for the first few years, I worked from my home office in the first-floor den.
At the time (before Zoom, etc.), we also had a big dog, and I just wasn’t comfortable with clients coming to my home. So on the one hand, if I wanted to meet clients, I’d have to pack up my laptop, etc., and meet them at a noisy coffee shop or somewhere similar. It was not very convenient.
On the other hand, if I didn’t have to meet a client, I would often not leave the house for days at a time. Even though I am a natural introvert, being at home all of the time was not fun.
A big issue facing many who work from home is what is often called “work/life balance.” Many times, especially if there are not natural start/stop times such as getting children ready for school and picking them up, etc., it is easy to just keep working and working and working. I often had to make myself stop working for meals and exercise, etc., and worse, I would get on my computer without even getting dressed.
Is The Juice Really Worth the Squeeze?
Are Your Efforts Giving You the Results You Want?medium.com
Changing my Perception of What My Work Hours SHOULD Be
After about four years of working from my home office, I decided that I needed to move to a “real” office situation. I felt I needed the energy, synergy, and companionship of working around other people, and even more importantly, I needed a place to meet clients.
I found a wonderful co-working community just three miles from home. I loved it there. I could work independently, yet as part of a community of like-minded solar small businesses, and when I needed to meet with clients, it was absolutely wonderful to have them come to my “office.” I stayed there for 7.5 years until COVID hit; I finally moved my work back home again in June 2020 because the co-working community had to change its policies due to the pandemic, and it was no longer possible to meet with clients there. Now I meet with clients almost exclusively via Zoom.
However, one issue I’ve struggled with since 2008 was remembering that as a solopreneur, I did not have to work regular 9–5 hours like I did when I was an employee. Except for consulting appointment times with clients, most of my work involved writing and editing. I am an early morning person, and I can write and edit at that time or any time during the week, as long as the work was submitted to the client on time.
I also do not have any children’s schooling or schedules or any other regular schedules to worry about. My husband has a regular “9–5,” but he also works from home in his own office on the 2nd floor.
So with so many positives and few negatives, why am I having so much trouble managing my time in a more flexible manner? The only answer I can come up with is because I worked regular business hours for so long, it is a hard habit to break.
So how do I set and adhere to new working hours? Most important: put all of my personal and professional tasks and activities into my Trello account, and give them their initial dates and times. Everything in my Trello is connected to my Google calendar, so every day I know what has been scheduled.
So first, as I make my weekly schedule, I must remember that I answer to no one but myself.
Next, as I prepare in the evening for the next day, all I need to do is check my Trello list to see what I need and what to get done that day, workwise, in order of importance.
Then, check my Trello list for the things I want or need to get done personally or around the house.
Last, prioritize my daily personal and professional workload, realizing that I can only complete 2–3 major tasks per day.
Then it is time to work on my mindset. I have to constantly remind myself that I can work whenever I want to. If I want to work for a couple of hours, stop for a couple of hours, go out for a couple of hours, do anything else for a couple of hours, and then work again for a couple of hours, I can!
Going Completely Digital Throughout My Workday
Yes, I can work all day without my MacBook Pro!medium.com
A New Way of Thinking About My Schedule
It is really quite freeing to know and remember that after decades of working and living according to the schedules set by others, but instead I am in total control of my life, personally and professionally.
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