I work from home, and it's amazing how effective it is to simply "dress up" at 8am and "dress down" at 5pm. If I didn't do this, it's easy to fall into the trap of starting at 8am in your underwear and spreading out 8 hrs of work all the way till 11pm. It's fine when you're single, but a recipe for disaster if you are in a relationship.
Agreed. Since we homeschool our kids (and my wife does a large percentage of the schooling), when I work from home, I am relegated to the home office or the cafe for much of the day.
My typical work from home day starts around 6:30 AM, and I work 'til roughly 8:30, when the kids wake up. I help them make breakfast, and sit and eat with them. Around 9:00-ish, my wife starts the school, and I disappear 'til early afternoon. I'll typically stop working around 4:00 PM, and if necessary, work for an hour or two later in the evening, after the kids are asleep.
The schedule seems to work well for all involved, and gives me extra time to be around my family.
Agreed- I've had days where there's been a fire I've had to put out at 8 AM, and I work in PJ's, no shower, etc- if I don't take a shower and change clothes when things calm down, I'm much less productive.
I think the best part of the article was the last paragraph. Sometimes a lack of productivity is a lack of motivation in disguise, and no amount of dressing up will help that.
Comments
Obvious, but easier said than done. Like the author states, it's a slippery slope into the condition described by the Oatmeal: http://s3.amazonaws.com/theoatmeal-img/comics/working_home/6....
I work from home, and it's amazing how effective it is to simply "dress up" at 8am and "dress down" at 5pm. If I didn't do this, it's easy to fall into the trap of starting at 8am in your underwear and spreading out 8 hrs of work all the way till 11pm. It's fine when you're single, but a recipe for disaster if you are in a relationship.
Agreed. Since we homeschool our kids (and my wife does a large percentage of the schooling), when I work from home, I am relegated to the home office or the cafe for much of the day.
My typical work from home day starts around 6:30 AM, and I work 'til roughly 8:30, when the kids wake up. I help them make breakfast, and sit and eat with them. Around 9:00-ish, my wife starts the school, and I disappear 'til early afternoon. I'll typically stop working around 4:00 PM, and if necessary, work for an hour or two later in the evening, after the kids are asleep.
The schedule seems to work well for all involved, and gives me extra time to be around my family.
Agreed- I've had days where there's been a fire I've had to put out at 8 AM, and I work in PJ's, no shower, etc- if I don't take a shower and change clothes when things calm down, I'm much less productive.
I think the best part of the article was the last paragraph. Sometimes a lack of productivity is a lack of motivation in disguise, and no amount of dressing up will help that.