
Why Entrepreneurs Should Reconsider Working From Home - quadedge
http://blog.getyouram.com/why-entrepreneurs-should-reconsider-working-f
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junklight
Perhaps the moral of that cartoon should be "why Entrepreneurs should
reconsider having partners and children that can't tell the difference between
play and work"

My 4 year old daughter woke me up the other day saying "Wake up you've got to
work. That's what grown ups do".

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michael_dorfman
I've got 4 children, and while they can tell the difference between play and
work, it still confuses them when I am around and visible, but not available
to help, or talk, or whatever.

Having an office outside the house is well worth the expense; it makes it the
distinction between "work" and "home" very clear to everybody, and when I am
in either place, I am able to give my full attention to the task at hand, be
it work or family.

By the way: you might want to ask your 4-year-old for some details concerning
what she thinks "work" is all about. When asked what job she wants to have
when she grows up, mine says "Tinkerbell."

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davidw
I work at home and it's not ideal. I think the ideal thing would actually be
to have something that's very close, but physically a separate building.

Part of the problem is that, if you're anything like me, computer time isn't
all work time. Sometimes for instance, my 2 year old and I look at videos of
animals on youtube or talk to grandma and grandpa on skype, and at 2, she's
just beginning to acquire words like 'work', let alone fully understand the
implications.

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krschultz
I've always thought about the idea of turning a barn style building into an
office.

The biggest issue for working from home is meetings. You can't have people
into your "office" and be taken seriously, and there are just some things you
can't do at Starbucks.

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mgkimsal
I typically just close the door, and my wife knows not to disturb me when the
door's closed. It's pretty darn simple, really. I agree with the other post -
have partners and family that understand "when I say I'm at work, do not
disturb me". Perhaps a 'do not disturb' sign would be more effective?

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wilig
I also both close and lock my door. The problem stems from the fact that while
my wife intellectually understands I'm at work, she has trouble accepting it
on a more emotional level. When kids are acting up, or she is having a rough
day she tends to get resentful that I get to "relax" in my office while she
deals with the various disasters. Actually one of the biggest challenges is
meals. Do you take your lunch in your office? Eat with the family? Eating with
the family sounds great, but it can really derail your train of thought. The
only thing that seems to work for me is to be really strict about it, and deal
with any resentment head on at the end of the day.

~~~
noverloop
I think you have more accurately described the problem the article was trying
to point out. It's counterïntuitive to be physically present but mentally
away, so it doesn't make emotional sense to your social circle to not help out
when the need arises.

I don't think it's a good idea to disregard the basic fact that we're human
for an extended period of time, we haven't adapted (yet) to support this
unnatural state called 'work'.

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quickpost
I recently rented a small office in a coworking space and I can't recommend it
enough. It's increased both my happiness and my productivity.

For me it makes it much easier to separate home life and work life - when I'm
at work, I'm working. And when I'm at home, I'm spending time with my family.
There is no more confusion for me or for them.

I also used to get really lonely working from home, and I've found that just
having other people working near me makes me significantly less so. It also
makes me feel like I'm still connected to the bigger capitalistic machine and
not so isolated from everything.

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nkassis
I spent 6 months working at home this past winter and I personally found it
hard to seperate work and house work when I'm at home. I'll be working on
stuff then random things need to be done. the issue with people bothering you
is usually because it's so much easier when you are there. If you are gone, or
close the door(lock it) then it's more work for them to interrupt you. It's
still not the same as an office. An office or starbucks fixed that.

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bcl
I've been a telecommuter for the last 4 years. The key to being successful is
learning to say no and having an office with a door. Working from the couch
with a laptop doesn't work -- you have to be out of sight of the rest of the
family.

You also have to learn to say no when they ask for your attention during those
trips to the bathroom, or the fridge. Eventually they will realize that you
are working.

That being said, I do usually eat lunch with the family, or at least not in
the office. It gives me a chance to let my mind relax and sometimes come up
with a new way of looking at whatever problem I'm working on.

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mrbird
I find it much harder to take breaks when working at home. This is good and
bad. You can slam through a long uninterrupted coding session, but sometimes
this goes past the point of diminishing returns. Interruptions (if not too
frequent) can help re-focus your mind (e.g. the Pomodoro technique).

Physical exercise is another one. Sometimes at home I'll forget to move (or
even eat) for many hours. That can't be healthy.

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kristiandupont
I bought a USB lamp that is controlled with my pomodoro software. Whenever I
am in pomodoro, it goes red (and skype/msn switches to do not disturb). It
works surprisingly well - people know not to disturb me when it's red and they
respect it because they know that it will max take 25 minutes before they can
talk to me.

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barkingcat
which pomodoro software do you use? I've been looking for a good one, but the
ones I find are all kinda crappy from a ui point of view.

~~~
kristiandupont
<http://www.beatpoints.com/cherrytomato>

Windows only, but I am making it open source so hopefully somebody will port
it

~~~
barkingcat
cool I'll give it a try.

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robryan
It's even worse when your not following a fixed schedule and freelancing is
the only constant going on in your life at the time. When I've had this I'd
occasionally get up thinking I'll spend the day working, have my girlfriend
come over and want to go out or something else come up and convince myself I
can put things on hold to later/ tomorrow.

The other thing I find, working out of home, if I hit a tough coding/ design
problem I tend to get distracted doing something else. Whereas working out of
home I can stay focused and get it done.

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Ixiaus
I work from home too, luckily I don't have a family to deal with, just my
girlfriend and she works 9-to-5 every day. The only stickler that's annoying
for me is uncleanliness in the house, I generally spend a lot of time picking
up because I can't work with a messy home (even the kitchen). This is a case
for having an office to myself, now doubt. Oh, and having the opportunity to
work late and not be interrupted when she comes home...

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quadedge
Yeah, I find it hard to help them understand what I'm trying to do.

