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The hardest thing for me about working at home is convincing everybody around me (and myself) that I'm "at the office" during the day and am therefore unavaila

The hardest thing for me about working at home is convincing everybody around me (and myself) that I'm "at the office" during the day and am therefore unavailable to do things you'd normally do if you were sitting around the house all day. 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.

mootothemax 16y ago
Especially when she comes home at six to find you in your bathrobe playing Fantastic Contraption 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 :)
davidw 16y ago
I'm generally not a big fan of posting LOL Amazing pic!!! type of stuff to HN, but this one is topical and pretty funny: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home
- arethuza 16y ago
  Most of the entries from "The Horrible" section of that remind me of my effort to work from home full time - I only lasted a month before giving up and moving into quite entertainingly bad offices (no heating, above a welding shop) with my co-founder.
  - aarongough 16y ago
    I hope the welding shop has proper ventilation systems... There are some pretty nasty chemical gases produced by various types of welding...
- unohoo 16y ago
  thank you for that link..It was totally worth the 1/2 hour i spent looking through the other cartoons as well.
andrewljohnson 16y ago
I can do all of those things during the day, because I am self-employed. I do what I want, when I want, because I'm self-employed. I go hiking mid-week, run errands when no one else is, etc. That's like the whole point!
- davidw 16y ago
  > run errands when no one else is 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.
  - revorad 16y ago
    It's also really funny to get weird looks from the few octogenarians and young mums in the supermarket at that time.
- robryan 16y ago
  Yeah it's true but it can also be hard to then get the work done you intended. Sometimes I take the day very easy or get distracted, then people around me come home and relax after a days work and I get suckered into relaxing then to.
- Vivtek 16y ago
  Sure, honey, of course I can pick the kids up at 3:00. Sure, I can run by Meijer on the way. Sure, I can take our son lunch because he forgot it. Sure, I ... wait a minute. It's Thursday? Didn't I have something due yesterday?
papaf 16y ago
I've just started working on my own and I feel the same way when people ask me to do things. However, I have found that taking a forced break from problems helps me to come up with better solutions to them. I think its important to not get too stressed when you have to do something else.
wccrawford 16y ago
I can see both sides of this. Everyone arguing that your schedule is flexible has a point... 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.
- dhimes 16y ago
  ...especially if you have kids, and double-especially if they are involved in after-school activities. Sports are particularly bad because coaches don't seem to know how to read a watch.
- owkaye 16y ago
  "Everyone around you treats you like you have a flexible schedule and asks you to do things during it." 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.

mootothemax 16y ago

Especially when she comes home at six to find you in your bathrobe playing Fantastic Contraption 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 :)

davidw 16y ago

I'm generally not a big fan of posting LOL Amazing pic!!! type of stuff to HN, but this one is topical and pretty funny: http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home http://theoatmeal.com/comics/working_home

arethuza 16y ago
Most of the entries from "The Horrible" section of that remind me of my effort to work from home full time - I only lasted a month before giving up and moving into quite entertainingly bad offices (no heating, above a welding shop) with my co-founder.
- aarongough 16y ago
  I hope the welding shop has proper ventilation systems... There are some pretty nasty chemical gases produced by various types of welding...
unohoo 16y ago
thank you for that link..It was totally worth the 1/2 hour i spent looking through the other cartoons as well.

andrewljohnson 16y ago

I can do all of those things during the day, because I am self-employed. I do what I want, when I want, because I'm self-employed. I go hiking mid-week, run errands when no one else is, etc. That's like the whole point!

davidw 16y ago
> run errands when no one else is 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.
- revorad 16y ago
  It's also really funny to get weird looks from the few octogenarians and young mums in the supermarket at that time.
robryan 16y ago
Yeah it's true but it can also be hard to then get the work done you intended. Sometimes I take the day very easy or get distracted, then people around me come home and relax after a days work and I get suckered into relaxing then to.
Vivtek 16y ago
Sure, honey, of course I can pick the kids up at 3:00. Sure, I can run by Meijer on the way. Sure, I can take our son lunch because he forgot it. Sure, I ... wait a minute. It's Thursday? Didn't I have something due yesterday?

papaf 16y ago

I've just started working on my own and I feel the same way when people ask me to do things. However, I have found that taking a forced break from problems helps me to come up with better solutions to them. I think its important to not get too stressed when you have to do something else.

wccrawford 16y ago

I can see both sides of this. Everyone arguing that your schedule is flexible has a point... 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.

dhimes 16y ago
...especially if you have kids, and double-especially if they are involved in after-school activities. Sports are particularly bad because coaches don't seem to know how to read a watch.
owkaye 16y ago
"Everyone around you treats you like you have a flexible schedule and asks you to do things during it." 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.