On Working From Home

Posted on by | 5 Replies

Six years ago, I quit teaching and became a full time web designer.

At that point I had three things to my name:

  1. An old iBook laptop with more broken keys than working keys.
  2. Two months of summer holiday pay from my last teaching job.
  3. A spare bedroom to use as an office.

Fast forward six years, and I’ve only got one of those things left. I still work from the same spare bedroom.

We now have three businesses, half a dozen employees and part-time staff from all over the world.

But it’s all still done from the same spare bedroom. Granted, the room is full of a lot more equipment than in 2006 and is a lot busier now, but otherwise it’s unchanged.

Over those six years, I’ve had an up-and-down relationship with working from home. At times, I’ve been embarrassed about. At times, I’ve been frustrated by it and all the distractions that can arise. At times, I’ve investigated getting an office and almost put pen to paper on long and complex leases.

A lot of these feelings are still there, but lately they’ve started to fade away.

Embracing a Home Office

View from our home office
Deer wandering by our office

It started with the arrival of kids. When our first child arrived, I’d think nothing of being a flight to Seattle one week, New York the next, Tampa the next. It was habit. From the time I left England at the age of 18, I’d traveled relentlessly. It was fun for nearly 15 years.

Only since the kids came did I learn the value of being home. The advantages have started to outweigh the disadvantages.

Our girls are 1 and 3 years old now. Working from home, I have real time to play with them in the morning. They come wandering in and out during the day. We can have lunch and dinner together. It’s not unusual to swing my legs under the desk and hear a surprise “ouch!”

This year, I’ll travel to two conferences, both of which are professionally unavoidable: DrupalCon Denver and the Joomla World Conference in San Jose.

I’ve been a travelaholic. I’ve been a workaholic. The girls moderate both of those instincts. If I’m gone for a couple of days, they let me know. If I’m working too late, they let me know.

Placing a Bet on the Future

In the end, I’ve come to the home office as a statement of priorities.

I could go out and get an office. I could travel more and work later. The businesses probably would grow faster if I did.

delorean
Talking with our future selves?

But, I’m in mid-30s now. I’m placing a bet on the future. In 20 years time, will I look back and wish I’d grown the businesses more or that I spent more time with the kids?

So, lately I’ve been coming out the closet more. Sure, I work from home. All our staff do. So do many of the most talented people I know.

If we had De Loreans, I think our future selves would come back and thank our current selves.

More People’s Thoughts on This

If there’s one thing that’s changed my mind on this more than anything else, it’s “How Will You Measure Your Life“. The author wrote “The Innovator’s Dilemma” , one of the most-read business books ever. This latest book is his perspective as a much older man.

You’ll find a lot of great modern companies thinking the same way. Toni, the CEO of Automattic, wrote on this topic. Jason Fried from 37Signals gave a talk entitled ‘Why work doesn’t happen at work“.

Over To You

Do you work from home? Do you have roller-coaster feelings about it or have you learned to love the home life?

 

  • http://www.facebook.com/eddie.may2 Eddie May

    Steve, I also work from home as a web consultant (developer, seo, hand holder, etc) but also on-site as a contractor. The downside of working from home is the isolation (physical) and the fact that work sometimes takes over – until 4am, the other day! You have to be disciplined if you want to keep reasonable ‘office hours’.

    Another downside is the world of work intruding on your family – I used to have business meetings at my home. This could be uncomfortable for all involved – so I now have a shared ‘office’ space (essentially a cafe with work tables & meeting rooms) in my local city. This works well for meeting clients, especially from larger companies.

    The upside is cost (I’m not working 2 days a month to pay a landlord), no commute, less hassle, & like you mention, more involvement in the family – the potential for a better work-life balance. Working as a contractor also means I get out to meet people in different situations – this helps counter the social isolation.
    I’ve also started to ‘commute’ to my office every morning. Since I live in the countryside, I go for a walk or run each morning before starting work – no longer working before breakfast & sitting in my pyjamas all day long!

    I’ve been working from home for over 10 years now & like you have only recently ‘fessed up – the surprising thins is how many other people are also working from home, even when they have a ‘proper’ job.

    • http://steveburge.com/ steve

      Thanks Eddie, what a thoughtful reply. Yes, like you, I’ve found that it takes quite a while to sort through your own situation and find the routine that works.

      When we go to an office the routine tends to get dictated to us.

      With a home office, there’s definitely more of an investment in figuring out how to deal with all the obstacles. The potential for a better work-life balance is there but it sure does take discipline.

  • http://www.robertswebdesign.com Robert Vining

    Not much time to leave a big response right now, as I’m watching my 3 year old daughter and getting my Friday todo list done…. From home, as usual, while the wife does weekly grocery shopping with our 5 year old.

    I’ve worked from home for 6 years now, and have also gone through the same ups and downs on getting an office space as well. The distractions of a child’s scream right when you’re in the middle of a fairly important phone call with your big contract client, and the like.

    But I don’t think I can trade my current situation in for ‘going to the office’ every day again. I just enjoy taking off at 3 in the afternoon to catch a special event on TV, or go with my wife and kids somewhere. There’s just nothing like the freedoms you mentioned when you have a family and work from home.

    Just so you know, I recently read 35% of all small businesses in America are home based, so says the Small Business Administration. So it’s quite a bit more common than you think.

    Thanks for the post Steve, and I’m sure your businesses are growing just fine. :)

    • http://steveburge.com/ steve

      Hey Robert. Yes, it’s basically a whole different set of ups-and-downs compared to working on the office. I guess we’re proud members of the 35% :)

  • Jorge Enrique Forero

    Interesting history, i became full time web designer three years ago, i love this job, nice article and greetings