Home workers: how do you avoid going bananas?

[pinkmonkey]

Yeah, I suspect having options immediately accessible in the local area make a lot of difference. I do wander about sometimes, but while it's fairly lively around here, I don't really know anyone as such to talk to. There was a cafe with wifi that I used to go to where I knew the staff and was a bit of a regular, but that's closed now, and the only other place where I know a few people is, er, the pub, and that's a bit of a dangerous place to go if you want to get anything done.

Theres absolutely no way I'd be sitting there clicking away at Costa Coffee at the Tottenham Hale retail park. It could hardly be described as 'vibrant'.

 

[gabi]

Brixton and its surrounds seem to have a very cool range of places to chill and work.

My fav thus far is the garden up at the Railway in Tulse Hill. Free WiFi. Good beer. Good food. Sunshine. Another nice one is the Prince on coldharbour.

Its amazing the different 'shift' that operates Brixton during week days. Its a sea of push chairs (how many young mums does this place have?!), latte sipping freelancers (or pint sipping in my case) and a distinctly mellowed out atmosphere. Only starts getting mad again about 5 when the night shift comes on. Best to be indoors at that point.

Lovely, though I bet its not so nice in winter.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Theres absolutely no way I'd be sitting there clicking away at Costa Coffee at the Tottenham Hale retail park. It could hardly be described as 'vibrant'.

Ooh, it's got a Costa Coffee now has it? Gone all posh....

 

[editor]

Yeah, I suspect having options immediately accessible in the local area make a lot of difference. I do wander about sometimes, but while it's fairly lively around here, I don't really know anyone as such to talk to. There was a cafe with wifi that I used to go to where I knew the staff and was a bit of a regular, but that's closed now, and the only other place where I know a few people is, er, the pub, and that's a bit of a dangerous place to go if you want to get anything done.

Get yourself down to Brixton! It's the friendliest part of London I've ever lived in by miles and it's nice living in a proper community where you can easily get to know so many people.

 

[pinkmonkey]

Ooh, it's got a Costa Coffee now has it? Gone all posh....

Made the front page of the local paper. Arf!

 

[_angel_]

Yeah, I suspect having options immediately accessible in the local area make a lot of difference. I do wander about sometimes, but while it's fairly lively around here, I don't really know anyone as such to talk to. There was a cafe with wifi that I used to go to where I knew the staff and was a bit of a regular, but that's closed now, and the only other place where I know a few people is, er, the pub, and that's a bit of a dangerous place to go if you want to get anything done.

Move to Bramley! There's a billion pubs and you'll save a fortune on rent (And less likely to be mugged, at least daytime)

 

[Pingu]

At least twice a week, a small gaggle of fellow freelancers/slackers/Mums/Dads with or without babies etc meet up for lunch around Brixton and I usually go out for a coffee on my own two or three times a week just to feel 'connected' with the outside world.

You're welcome to join us!

It's easy for me to end up working for 2/3 days without ever leaving the house, so I make myself go out, and put aside jobs that I can do on my laptop in a cafe.

Oh, and it also makes me appreciate what a great area Brixton is for freelancers because there's always a bit of life on the streets and I'll invariably bump into some people I know.

^^

this

I have worked from home for the past 5 years or so and this is kinda essential. I am lucky in that I can just grab a dog and go for a half hour walk but its really important to not go stir crazy.

I tend to start work at about 7 and take regular "me breaks" during the day.

 

[poului]

ruvfyo8yluh

As of next month I shall (hopefully) be able to work 2 days in the office and 3 at home - which is the ideal arrangement IMO. Most cases of people who work at home all the time end up with some level of insanity. It certainly sounds a lot cooler on paper.

 

[Pingu]

the other thing that I have found really important is seperating work from home. I still go to work. I go for a quick walk and then I am in work. I am lucky to have the space for a seperate office and once I am there I am at work.


If you work from your living room the work/home line becomes blurred and that is a big psychogical issue for me. You must be able to switch off.

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Have you looked into renting a desk in a shared office.

Depends where you are, but some journalists and other meejah freelance designery types get together and share office space. You could see whether there's a desk available for maybe a day a week, or 2-3 days or whatever. Of course, it's an overhead, but some people are more productive if they have 'office hours' to keep a couple of days a week (instead of lounging around watching daytime telly in pyjamas till mid-afternoon) and you have people to bounce ideas off and so on, so it can pay for itself in that way.

Don't know where you'd find such a thing, is there a local kind of... erm 'creative hub'... shared building space nearby, where a group might have got together to share an office? Or maybe a journalist or designers forum might have some posts desk space offered/wanted kind of thing.

 

[Leafster]

the other thing that I have found really important is seperating work from home. I still go to work. I go for a quick walk and then I am in work. I am lucky to have the space for a seperate office and once I am there I am at work.

If you work from your living room the work/home line becomes blurred and that is a big psychogical issue for me. You must be able to switch off.

I think this is important too. I don't have the luxury of a separate room for an office but I do have an office "area" along with a separate phone line for work.

I also try to use the desktop PC for work and the laptop for non-work stuff. Unfortunately, that doesn't always work as I take the laptop to clients.

 

[magneze]

I love working from home occasionally, I'm probably doing on average a day a week there at the moment, sometimes more sometimes less. I do find it much more productive if I have lots of tasks to do which don't need anyone elses involvement. However, if I want to discuss something then you can't beat talking to someone properly over a coffee with some paper and pen - something that no new technology has yet successfully replicated ...

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Get yourself down to Brixton! It's the friendliest part of London I've ever lived in by miles and it's nice living in a proper community where you can easily get to know so many people.

Well, you know, if property prices go down and I get a sudden influx of contracts... I can't afford to move right now.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Have you looked into renting a desk in a shared office.

Depends where you are, but some journalists and other meejah freelance designery types get together and share office space. You could see whether there's a desk available for maybe a day a week, or 2-3 days or whatever. Of course, it's an overhead, but some people are more productive if they have 'office hours' to keep a couple of days a week (instead of lounging around watching daytime telly in pyjamas till mid-afternoon) and you have people to bounce ideas off and so on, so it can pay for itself in that way.

Don't know where you'd find such a thing, is there a local kind of... erm 'creative hub'... shared building space nearby, where a group might have got together to share an office? Or maybe a journalist or designers forum might have some posts desk space offered/wanted kind of thing.

I have looked at this sort of thing actually and I think it's a good idea. In fact I was advising my parents recently, who are trying to sort something like this out for the town they live in now, to try to encourage people between 18 and 65 to live there. Only they seem to be pretty hard to find around here... there are lots of ads for small individual office space for individual businesses but that sort of defeats the point.

Still, you know, if anyone knows of such a thing....

 

[panpete]

I stay at home working, but not for money, I'm on the sick. Although I spend hours practicing, I avoid going mad by listening to what my mind wants. If I want company, I put my self in company.
I did have a day job which was very busy, and many who took leave used to feel bored as they were used to being among others all day, but that would send me insane, as I need my space.

 

[xenon]

One of the things that I'm having real trouble with since going freelance is the fact that I basically spend all day in my flat not talking to anyone. I don't go to see clients because there's no need (I only really have one client at the moment, and I pop down to his office every now and then but that's it). 95% of the people I work with live in different countries anyway.

I try to take my laptop out when I can and do work in cafés and pubs but it's not always practical - any serious design work needs large screens, and all that coffee starts to add up.

It's not like I'm unusually gregarious, but the whole thing has pointed out how much just casual office chat and being around other people makes a difference day to day. It's definitely starting to make me quite actively miserable, which of course makes the whole thing worse, as then I don't even have the inclination and energy to go out and socialise to make up for it.

Are there any tips people have, or is it really just a question of ratcheting up your out-of-work social life to balance it out?

I've nothing useful to add. But due to a strange work situation...I'm at home a lot. This is why my post count has gone a bit stupid over the last year. Oh and apparently I'm an insomniac now.

Still I'll prolly be back in an office soon and moaning about that.

 

[xenon]

Ironically, it's one of the reasons I've grown to hate my office based job. We used to be a small, friendly, close-knit team. Now we've been split up across a big building full of boring, humourless, joyless gimps. It's why Urban can be a bit of a lifeline. I might as well work at home tbh

Yeah and this. Last place I was properly at work in an office drove me a bit bananas eventually. Nothing really in common with my colleagues, the work was pretty isolating. Headphones on all day. I was the only person sat at my bank of desks.

</derail>

Reading this thread though. It's comforting to see I'm not the only one who feels a bit out of touch.

 

[chieftain]

just make sure you meet up with your friends as often as possible, if your partner works go on his/her/its work drinking outings... just go out more.

Or join a club etc

 

[extra dry]

what chieftain said..or get a bike and do an hour or so ride in the morning just after getting up, then another 30 mins in the afternoon, download a couple of films and watch one in the early afternoon with some lunch and the other when you have finished your days work with a light supper and wine...have a routine but break it up and make it enjoyable.

 

[looneytune]

Get married...?

But seriously, I work from home too and reckon all such jobs should come with a warning, so know what you mean. Now I make a point of going out for a jog once a day and taking a coffee break but hate to say that it just takes training to make yourself stop for half an hour, even if there's still work to do.

Also, maybe try spreading your work out through more of the day and that way you can take more breaks to chat to someone on the phone and whatever. Just remember that your sanity's worth more than whatever you're making!

 

[Cakes]

I have looked at this sort of thing actually and I think it's a good idea. In fact I was advising my parents recently, who are trying to sort something like this out for the town they live in now, to try to encourage people between 18 and 65 to live there. Only they seem to be pretty hard to find around here... there are lots of ads for small individual office space for individual businesses but that sort of defeats the point.

Still, you know, if anyone knows of such a thing....

Not sure if this counts as advertising - please remove if it is!

I rent space in A Hub, which one of a network of managed office spaces. Mine is in Bristol, but I sometimes work in the London one which is in Angel. A second is about to open in Knightbridge. There are Hubs all over the world. Tariffs start at £11/month for 5 hrs and go all the way up to £320/month for round the clock unlimited access. I get a post box and cool business address, office services, use of meeting rooms blah blah.

I'm shamelessly singing it's praises because it's really changed my work life. I have the same job, but just in a better, more sociable environment. I work alone, but alongside some really cool people. We share lunch and drinks and collaborate on work now and again but there's no office politics because we don't work for the same companies, most of us are freelancers who were going crazy at home.

Even if it's one day a week, I really recommend it. Can PM some info if you like.

 

[panpete]

When I'm well enough, I will work at home. I don't feel out of touch, as I get time to see my friends.
No travelling. No intolerable colleagues. No hurtful remarks or treatment for you to take ages to get over.
Generally, all round better health.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

Cakes: interesting, I'll take a look at them. The trouble is that I do still need to have access to my local machines for quite a bit of stuff, I can't entirely laptop it. But it's an option to have.

Apart from that: I noticed that there was an article about working from home in A List Apart just recently. It's very much on the basis of "I have a family, I have a house, I need to avoid my family driving me nuts" but, really, a lot of it seems to be addressing similar issues to people without families or houses. While it's hard to phrase it in a way that doesn't imply that people are being irresponsible, the distractions that come with dealing with home and family are in many cases ones that you accede to, in the same way that I've been known to wash up everything or clean the toilet when I'm really procrastinating on a pro basis.

 

[netbob]

At least twice a week, a small gaggle of fellow freelancers/slackers/Mums/Dads with or without babies etc meet up for lunch around Brixton and I usually go out for a coffee on my own two or three times a week just to feel 'connected' with the outside world.

Would it be ok if popped along in a few weeks. I'm back freelancing from home again soon, and could do with somehting to stop me going stir.