The Hardest Adjustment To Self Employment
kalzumeus.com
kalzumeus.com
So, no, I can't take the car down to the DMV to get the emissions tested at 11. I can't run a bunch of little errands because it's not my day off. I need all 8 of these hours in an unbroken stretch, and if I do it right I won't even find time to stop for lunch. It's tough to communicate that to your partner, especially when she comes home at six to find you in your bathrobe playing Fantastic Contraption (, relaxing after a long productive day, but it probably doesn't look like it.)
Like most things, a lot of it comes down to self-discipline. I tend to start the day at 8am with a cup of coffee and a walk up the stairs to the office. As the author says, there's nothing wrong with a little bit of schedule, so long as you remember to take advantage of the upside of running your own business. If the sun is shining at noon, chances are you'll find me out in the hills with a pair of rock boots and a bouldering mat.
Heh, I prefer to have woken up that 20 minutes earlier so at least I'm dressed. That was I can be really cheeky and pop out for ten minutes at lunchtime to buy a sandwich ;)
What you've written is absolutely true: people just do not get that working from home involves actually working for those hours. I've basically given up with my fiancee/friends/family: at 4pm I get up, and spend 30 minutes doing housework. I then finish my working day between 18:30 and 19:00, and life is good for everyone concerned :)
That's like the whole point!
That one can be a fantastic time saver. I like to go food shopping at about 2 in the afternoon - the stores are virtually empty, so it's very quick - so much better than going on a saturday afternoon with a zillion other people.
I think its important to not get too stressed when you have to do something else.
But I also know what happens when you have a schedule like that: Everyone around you treats you like you have a flexible schedule and asks you to do things during it... And then on their downtime they expect you to join them. In other words, your flexible schedule isn't really flexible because theirs isn't.
If you try to tell them to keep the house quiet so you can work, you get a lecture about how they need to rest after work, as if you don't need to and they didn't take part of your day.
It's the kind of thing that always happens when you aren't on the same schedule as the rest of the world.
If you have any self-control you just ignore them or tell them you're not available, then you do what you're supposed to be doing.
Quick schedule hack: run your schedule a half hour earlier than everyone else's. Show up for lunch at 11:30 instead of 12. Get to the restaurant at 5:30 instead of 6. View an earlier movie. Get to work a little early.
You'll always get preferred seating, preferred parking, and you'll never wait for a meal again :). You may beat traffic in some locales, but I've yet to benefit just from a 30 minute shift.
A bit off-topic, but... you dine at 5:30 or 6 p.m.? Over here (Uruguay) the earliest people dine is 7:30 p.m., and sometime between 8 and 10 p.m. is the usual.
You probably won't find many restaurants open for dinner at that time!
I've seen that in other countries, Austria for example, people have dinner much earlier, but it also gets dark earlier in winter. Sounds healthier as well. Do you keep coding after dinner?
"Do you keep coding after dinner?"
Yes; I work on personal projects at night. But I take a long dinner break for cooking, cleanup, watching some TV with my girlfriend, and any other needed relaxation. I usually "work" for another 2 hours in the PM.
The new AppointmentReminder site is extremely solid.
Can I invest?
By the way: Get the office.
I'm working from home this week too, because it's the first week of middle school for the boy and so the first time he takes the bus.
Since the beginning of the year, on a typical week, I actually full-time on product for Matasano, which always feels less productive than being billable --- nothing is more "productive-feeling" than being billable. But this week is different. I'm doing a web pentest for a friend's company, because, well, I like the company. So I'm actually unusually productive this week.
But because I'm home, it does not feel that way at all. I feel totally unproductive and lost, despite clear daily evidence to the contrary. It's because I'm not going to the office to boot up my work day.
The worst thing about being self-employed is that I don't do that sort of thing more often. I feel much more pressure to constantly work - even if I'm not being productive. I used to think the hardest thing would be self-motivation, but really I've found the hardest thing is forcing yourself to stop working and take a needed break. (Oh, that and taxes. I hate doing taxes)
Once again Patrick nails it, with his usual flair.
Me, in order to stay productive, I needed to start tracking my time and having daily objectives in order to get anything done. I wrote up something about this if anyone is interested - "The Evolution of My Time/Habit/Life Tracking" - http://www.sebastianmarshall.com/?p=127
Also, working at home means you live at work.
I hate schedules, but the structure is valuable.
My personal enemy #1 is distractions. I used to be much better at that but the last half year has been pretty horrible.
There's absolutely no way I could do this without getting an office though. Well, an office isn't essential, but somewhere other than my home office is. There's just no way I can get myself into the right mindset to work at home on a consistent basis.