Working from home

Hey kids,

As some of you already know, I run my own web dev business - from home. I've been doing it for over a year now, and am beginning to wonder how healthy it is. I'm not experiencing any issues, socially speaking, but surely, deep down, humans aren't meant to spend so much time alone. (Isn't that why they lock criminals away?!). I try and get out to meetings, and catch up with friends at least twice a day, and play sport 3 times a week, so it's not like I'm becoming the Hunchback of Notredame or anything, but... u get my drift.

I just wanna get any thoughts/suggestions/feedback from others that work from home, or have in the past. How long did you do it before you went mad, or before you became an unsociable grouch? Did it effect your social life? What's the best setup? What kind of restrictions did you put on yourself so that your work didn't consume your life?

Stumpy! your posting is a moment of truth. Probably we are all pre-occupied someway or other. Here is something that caught my eyes and mind:


A home business can consume you. The thought of success or making a ton of money can cause us to forget what's really important.

Will you think back to all the rushing around and quick meals and wish you'd spent more time enjoying life?

Some people believe, a person is truly successful when he is happy. Some of the most "successful" people who are rich and famous are not truly happy. Happiness is about being content with what we have.

I find I must take a look at my life and how I'm living often. It is so easy to let our businesses consume us. I need to remind myself why I choose to work at home and make sure my priorities are straight.

Are you happy? If not, why? Is your business consuming your life? Is it time to re-prioritize things?

Don't put your happiness and your family on the back burner. Family and our time together is too precious to waste.

I am also working from home, and really working from home. The rest of my counterparts are a plane ride away, so for me coming to meetings is netmeeting and telephone calls.

When I started working from home about 3 years ago, I thought it was a blessing. No more long commutes to work, checking email in your pj-s; i tend to be much more productive at home then in an office. Add the fact that I lived the consulting lifestyle of hotels, rental cars and airplanes for commuting to clients, working from home really helped me to stay sane and stay married.

Now I am not so sure anymore. The novelty wore off and I miss face-to-face interaction with other people. So I probably will be looking for a little bit more office settings in the future, again to stay sane and stay married

In my opinion there needs to be a balance between face-to-face and in-home work. I am curious to find out how successful a business can possibly be without an entrepreneur going out and acquiring business. I am not sure there is such a thing as a programmer or web developer that gets 100% of his business from Internet marketing and such (one with more than 20 clients). I'm not pointing fingers here because I don't know how the above posters do business... just stating some details that I have noticed with others in the business.

I feel that once you understand how business really works you will find that everything ties together... work, study, family, and misc... There are tons of good books out there that will clearly outline how many of the most successful business men put family first and have not lost because of that fact.

For me, those things (family and such) are the motivating factors that drive me to work as hard as I do... I have all these things now so I feel that my success is starring me smack in the face. I did not always realize that and I did put work first... I had an epiphany one day (yes it was a bad day and everyone in my office had pissed me off, but sometimes it takes that much to have a realization), and realized that I was overworking myself to gain something that I already had.

Now the hard work is keeping it.

Wil,

Well put! Those are some inspiring words! I sometimes find myself putting work ahead of everything else... And at times, I realize that myself, and try to maintain balance.

Working from home certainly has its benefits, but as you said, you need to balance everything else. Someone who is content with their work will enjoy all other aspects of their life. In order to be content, you need to have a blend of work, family, friends, and your own "self" time... So it all does tie in together.

Stumpy, stick to it man... You'll definitely see the payoffs!

Well, I'm still loving it after a year, as I've gotten into the groove (it's quite difficult starting out, getting up on time, leaving the house, etc ). This weekend I'm setting up my office properly - getting a much larger desk, larger monitor, shelves, draws, etc - the whole nine yards.

I work from home also - I've been doing it for about four or five years - it would feel weird having to go to a job again.

I like checking the e-mail in my pajamas, modulating my voice so I sound like I'm actually dressed when talking to a client, working at my own pace. There are fewer creeps to deal with too - remember all the backstabbing creeps at the office?

I'm married, and my wife works from home too - she's an illustrator. So there's the much-needed company.

You sound like you've got things pretty well balanced and seem to be sensitive to your other needs. It's great that you make time for sport and friends.

I really though that Laidbak's comment about going out and getting the business was apt - all too often we're good at doing the job, but getting it together to send out press kits, approach prospects, etc. can be daunting. Well said Laidbak - I needed that jolt!

Hey Stumpy - think about all the things you enjoy most about working from home and contrast them with the things you dislike the most and see where you stand - then you'll know how to proceed.

I think the consensus here is that work isn't everything - it's so true.

Good luck with your new office set up over the weekend!!

Robsta

Yup - I certainly don't miss the office politics. I went for a position at News Corp. in January this year, and the whole suit thing, office heirarchy, politics, etc really freaked me out... I don't miss all that one bit. I think that fact that they wanted me, a tech/project manager, to wear a freakin suit was a bit over the top. The position didn't even involve face-to-face w/ clients, only inter-office meetings w/ managers etc... anyway.

I love the freedom that comes with working from home - like, if you feel the need for a beer at 3.30, then you go and have one. Or if your mates are out sailing in the morning, you go sailing. The lifestyle certainly rocks.

I'll put my new digi cam to good use once the office is all setup :P

There are some good benefits to working for yourself... not to mention the added benefit of applying for positions and not feeling like "I need this job". The ball is in your court at this point so you end up much more relaxed about the whole situation.

(background: I work part-time and can either work at the office or at home, whatever works for me at the time)

I don't always work as well from home simply because I know there are umpteen loads of laundry waiting on me, bills to be paid, dishes to be done, floors to be swept, papers to file, trees to water, light bulbs to change, etc etc etc. It's good for me to work at the office, then be HOME when I'm home. I feel less guilty about spending time on the house, family and kids when I work at work during the day, since I'm more productive in there with the lack of demands on my time from inanimate objects (except that green thing in the back of the fridge, I could swear it moved since the last time I looked in there for a good snack.........)

'course... maybe y'all are male and don't notice those inanimate objects as much as I do.

Hehehe... Your HOME job seems more intense than your actual job... You've gotta have a lot of energy to be awake...

As for the male-female thing... Not always true... I've noticed the green in the fridge as well!