Home Is Where The Work Is
Tagged with: distraction, freelance, productivity
As the title may explain and as you may have noticed, it has been a while since I last updated around here and it was never my intention to let the place get stale and old. I have been thinking recently about improving productivity and how working from home factors into that…
For those of you that read A List Apart, a recent article written by Natalie Jost covered just this topic and was just what I needed. Working from home, there are a lot of distractions away from the computer during the day and especially with my son and wife being home too.
I’m in a situation of not having enough space for a dedicated ‘office’ and I have to put up with a section of the bedroom for now. Not the most ideal scenario by any means but it’s all that’s available to me as a viable option at the moment. I prefer working in a quiet environment so heading out to Starbucks isn’t really the option for me and paying I can’t justify paying for office space at the moment either.
So, I’m thinking about improving upon the current situation with smaller changes that are possible and will hopefully boost some productivity. I’ve got myself a sign for the door to let people know when not to disturb me and a lock for it just in case! I picked up some noise reduction earphones a couple of weeks ago which should block out noises from downstairs and most importantly, speaking to my wife has really helped. I found she was under the impression that I wasn’t actually working when I was at the computer and so she never hesitated in disturbing me. Convincing her otherwise wasn’t too simple either.
Admittedly, there are times when any client projects I have going have been completed or are awaiting some client feedback, preventing me from continuing on them and I have spent some time browsing a couple of sites or using Twitter but I need to focus more on what I can be doing when not working on client projects. There are a lot of things I can be doing in between these projects such as looking for new clients and making new connections but up until now, I’ve been too easily distracted by other things around me.
It’s about time things changed and they need to if I’m going to keep on freelancing as bills will still need paying. I’m now going to start actively seeking out new work rather than waiting for it to come to me which isn’t really working out as you would expect, I guess I’ve just been naive in thinking I could work this way. I’m going to set specific hours during the day to work and stick to them. This means having things prepared to be getting on with during those times and closing any programs that aren’t helping. I’m also going to start keeping track of what I have done during those hours and what I would like to get done. This should help keep me focused on specific goals and keep me busy which should then mean fewer distractions and ultimately, more productivity.
I also want to start updating this place on weekly basis starting from today. I had this plan originally but let things slip and I’m going to do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So, having made my intentions public, you should all be able to monitor my success over the coming months. Finding new clients should be an interesting task as it’s one I have not tried before so feel free to send any referrals my way! I have a couple of projects left to finish off and I’m looking to start taking on more work within the next couple of weeks.
On that note, I’ll end this entry as I’ve got some work to do…
You know, when we lived in a smaller house I had to work out of the bedroom too, but we had a rule that during the day bedrooms were off limits (they’re only for sleeping). So, during the day the bedroom WAS the office. It worked at the time because it also meant that when it was bedtime for Hubby I had to stop working and go to bed too because it was a bedroom now.
Hi Natalie, thanks for stopping by. That’s currently how things work for me too, the bedroom being an office during the day. The main obstacle I have is getting myself into the mindset that I’m in the office now and not the bedroom. It’s difficult to switch on and off when you work and sleep in the same place. I’m coping for now though and hope to improve my concentration over the coming weeks.
Always interested to see how the freelancing people get on working at home.
Going freelance is something I am thinking more and more about but at the moment I don’t have the guts or the portfolio to feel confident doing it.
Do you have your ‘office’ setup in a funky way to keep you happy/motivated during the day?
Hi Tom, at the moment, it’s pretty basic. Just a desk for the computer and accessories then a bookshelf with stationary and design books - none of that Aeron Chair business I’m afraid. My aim is to either build up a steady load of freelance work or to get a full time design job once I have the work to land a job and continue freelancing in my spare time building up to starting my own studio…big plans but some time away no doubt!