For those of you who work full time from home (or telecommute to an office job some days), where do you actually work? Do you have a seperate office set up in your house? Do you share an office with your family finances/mail/paperwork? Do you sit on the couch with your computer? Lie in bed doing paperwork?
I ask because while I have an office that's in a small studio behind our house, I find myself doing more and more work at the dining room table. I drag everything back inside once my family is gone to work and school and sit there all day, even though my big computer monitor is in the studio. I'm less efficient, but like the inside space more. How about all of you?
Interesting. I only work at home on snow days and things like that. When I do work from home there are probably a hundred better places I could work, places more like my office. Nope, I plop myself at the kitchen table. In my office I don't mind being alone ish, at home I want to be in the living areas even if my cat is the only one home.
I have no idea why.
I have an office or "den" set up...full access...my own land line, fax machine, copier, printer, scanner (all in one)...
My "office" is shared with my husband who does NOT work from home...my kids know that when I am on the phone - they MUST be quiet.
No. I do NOT lie in bed talking to candidates, doing paperwork, etc. that's NOT where work is to be conducted...
if you don't like your studio - you need to do something with it that will help you manage it and set it up to WORK FOR YOU...DO NOT bring your work into the home dining room table - that's not fair to you or your family...you are wasting time and energy dragging everything back and forth. Get the studio set up to work for you and keep your work out there.
Have fun!! Good luck!
When I work from home (maybe once a month), I set everything up on the kitchen table. It's really big with multiple electrical outlets on the walls, good wireless signal and immediate access to the coffee and the bathroom! Our family "office" is in the playroom. If I worked down there I would have a need to do laundry, clean, dust, tidy, etc... which would mean working at night to get things done. I'm better off upstairs with the bright natural light!
I sit at my kitchen table the three days a week that I'm at home. I used to have a desk in our family room but my husband took that space over. I don't mind because I wasn't really fond of that space anyway. The desk faces a wall and it on the NW side of the house so there isn't any natural light in there for most of the day and the windows don't open in there so it's always too hot or too cold. He works with a lot of paper and needs the space to spread out his paperwork and store files whereas my "paper" consists of a small notebook. My kitchen is on the SE side of the house and has lots of natural light, a ceiling fan and many windows so the temperature and light are much better. I can also better see who's coming and going in the afternoon when the kids get home and my little guys do their homework at the same table. There are definitely days when I would like my own space (or at least a phone that doesn't run on a battery because with long conference calls I can easily drain our cordless phone and my cell phone in less than a day) but overall it's fine.
I converted a spare bedroom into a home office. It's truly an office: desk, computers, proper lighting, etc. We don't use the room for anything else. This makes it easier around tax time so we can use the room as a write off for my business. But more importantly, it puts me in work mode. When I'm in my office, I am working. My DD knows this, too.
Once in a while I sit in my sunroom with my laptop, but mostly I stick to my office.
I only work from home on occasion. Where I work, when I do work at home, depends on who is home. Sometimes at the kitchen table, sometimes I plop on the couch. if the kids are home I try to hide because they think it's Saturday or Sunday!
My husband if fulltime work at home...he has a desk/office space in the basement where he works.
Before we moved, I had an office - set up with files, printer, moniters, docking station - it was down in the basement. I work a job that doesn't have set hours, I need to leave and meet with clients a fews hours to a full day a week, I also had "events" I put on that could be in the evening or weekends. Because of this schedule I didn't always need a sitter after the baby was born. When I was pregnant I worked down there everyday that I was home. After I had the baby, I got more used to be on the main level because she was upstairs (it was a 3 level). I only used the "office" when I needed the files or printer. Like all good things, that job came to an end (I was over qualified anyway - it was just really convienent). We moved a few states away and into a split level and the desk is in the family room downstairs. I found a similar gig here and I just stated slowly getting back into it. Here I work half time down stairs (laundry and treadmill are right there). Since I do a lot of phone work and wait for a lot of calls that can be done anywhere so I spend a lot of time at the kitchen table. I do sometimes like my recliner and laptop :-)
My home office is in a central area in our house...there is a little cove btwn the living room and breakfast room that I have set up shop. I like it bc I can see and hear everything that is going on and yell at anyone from that area and everyone can hear me.
I would love to have a separate building like yours, but with my son still young I need to be on hand if he needs anything (which is why I work from home) and I guess its more convenient. I can cook or help with homework or do housework and still keep an eye on my computer and phone.
We have an office room with a desk, comfy ergonomic office chair, speaker phone and printer/scanner in it.
I can close the door and hold my conference calls on the speaker phone and no one is disturbed.
Our office and school supplies are in the room along with the filing cabinet.
When I'm at my desk I'm at work.
When I leave my desk - I'm NOT at work.
I NEED that separation.
I have a set number of hours a week I work and I'm not suppose to work over that set number of hours - it's an ethics violation if I do (and I don't get paid overtime anyway).
So for me - I've set this up just like I was going to work in an office building (I worked in cubicle land for over 15 years).
I just don't have to drive to get there and I can wear my pink fuzzy slippers and a bathrobe if I feel like it.
We have an office (spare bedroom/MIL suite) and I use the office.
Hubby was in here with me at one point but we can't work together in the same room. I need the printer, I do the financials, I have to be correct on all my numbers, etc.
He, does all the phone work, negotiation,etc. I didn't like all the distractions from him, I like background radio, he does not.
He ended up at the family dining table and he clears his laptop off every afternoon before I serve dinner. I HATE his work being in my kitchen.
In the beginning, we were both at the kitchen table until we revamped the office for the 2 of us but it is now my office.
I have a small upstairs loft where I have set up a big desk, all my computer equipment, my phone and, most important of all, one of those professional, comfy office chairs. Splurged at Costco a couple years back and worth every penny.
The best part about having a loft office is that I can hear everything going on in the house while also being a little bit separated from it. Working at the kitchen table would just be too distracting for me.
We have an office, so I work in there. I have a laptop, so sometimes I will take it out to the family room if everyone is gone and work sitting on the sofa (but that's only for projects where I don't have a lot of paperwork). I'm most productive at my desk.
My home office is located on the first floor right off our kitchen. (It actually used to be the dining room, but since we had a living room that we never used & a large family room, we decided to turn the living room into the dining room.) Since I handle the family finances/paperwork in addition to my work (and my grad school assignments), I do everything in my office. When I'm working, I usually have too many papers/books/etc. to move onto the couch or in bed; therefore I'm always sitting at my desk working (even though I have a laptop/notebook computer).
I've got a secretary desk, both monitors, my CPU, my phone and keyboard it in there. The rare paper file gets stored underneath. I open it at 9, and close it all away at 5.
Were it that we had the room, I would love to have an office that is physically separate from the rest of our living space. Perhaps in time.
Good luck to you and yours,
F. B.
We have an extra bedroom on the main floor that is our office. I work stictly from home, husband sometimes works from home, and yes, our home finance stuff etc is kept in the office also. It's important for me to have a separate room/space to keep me focused vs. dining table or couch. Even my dog knows when it's time to "go to work". He follows me in the office and lays on his blankie :)
