For many among the ranks of the self-employed, and even small business owners, a home office is either the primary or secondary place that they do business. I have a home office, have had one for nearly 20 years, as well as a brick and mortar location where I meet clients. After having had a home office for so many years, I admit that it’s where I get the most work done. I like to hole up there to blog, write, research, bill, and do distance coaching and consultation calls.
While my home office today is where I keep my library, my desk, the majority of my files, and even a nice chair to do some reading in, it hasn’t always been that way. When I first started writing, I would catch as catch can on a small computer desk in the corner of my kitchen. I then graduated in my next house to the dining room and stayed in the formal dining room in the next two houses. For the past five or six years though, I have had a spare bedroom, which means that I actually have an office with a door. And oh, what a difference a door makes!
When it comes to how and where to put your home office, if at all possible resist putting it in the corner of the living room or dining room. And whatever you do, do NOT put it in your bedroom, I’ll get to the why on that in a second. Ideally, a den, spare bedroom, basement, sunroom, or even a portion of a converted garage are all ideal candidates for your home office. If this isn’t in the cards for you right now, figure out how you can position your workspace to get the most amount of work done with the least amount of interruptions.
The reason that a door can make such a big difference is not just the privacy factor, it’s because it makes it easier to actually be DONE with the day. Usually by six o’clock, if not sooner, I shut down my computer, turn off my lights, walk out of the room and shut the door. I am off work for the night, period. I don’t go back to check my email, surf the internet, or read a book. I don’t go back there for any activity at all, until it is time to work again another day.
The reason that a door has been so effective for me is because it actually allows me to disengage and enjoy my home life and not mix it up with my work life. I always have a multitude of projects happening, simultaneously, and if I didn’t shut my door or avoid the office like the plauge on my off hours, I would wander in and start working. I mean, those files are laying on my desk just calling my name, and if I’m on a deadline, they’re shouting. But the fact of the matter is, if I wandered in and started working every time I walked past the office, my home life and my work life wouldn’t be separate at all.
And the calling and even shouting of the work on my desk has always made my bedroom completely off limits for a desk. Yes, I’ve got the room, but can’t imagine trying to sleep with files just staring me down. It makes me nervous to even think about it. So please, whatever you do, keep your desk out of your bedroom – you need a good night’s sleep to be self-employed, because it’s a lot of work!
This separation of work from home life was a lesson that took me many years to learn. I am a workaholic, I admit it, and if I don’t actively keep a barrier between my home life and my work life, I burnout – fast.
If you can’t position your desk in a place that has a door available, you still have options when it comes to separation. Years before I had a door, while my desk was in the corner of the dining room, I bought a computer armoire, with nice beautiful doors that I could close when I was done working. It provided the separation that I needed mentally, and made my dining room look more like a dining room. Once I outgrew that space, I bought a library table and was working on a laptop. By five or six at night, I would take every file, post-it note, bill or piece of paper and put them in a locking cabinet – once again, providing the separation I needed to move out of work mode, and in to life.
Whatever you do when positioning your home office, make sure that it is in a place that gives allows you to have peak personal performance and productivity, and a way to separate work life from life life.
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