You know what sucks - working from home. Seriously, I hate it.
The weird thing, though, is before I graduated college I heard from so many people that their dream was to work from home. My dad always talked about that being a dream of his. I 100% do not share this dream.
The day I graduated college was they day I started working on my business full time. I had some money saved up from winning business plan competitions so I could have easily leased a small office somewhere...but this was day 1 of a startup and you're an idiot if you spend money on things you don't need on day 1.
Well, that lasted about 2 months. As soon as I locked up my first round of angel investment my first check was to a landlord for a 8 foot by 8 foot office with no windows. It was more of cave than an office...but I freakin loved it. Because a tiny cave with no windows is still a better place to work than at home.
For the two months I was working out of my apartment, I was super busy but I didn't get crap done. You see, I've got this thing that doctors call ADD. I'm pretty sure the majority of entrepreneurs have it.
For me, a key to dealing with my weird brain is taking breaks. Lots of breaks. But when you're starting a business, you don't have time to take breaks. So my "breaks" are a little different. If I'm in the middle of a massive re-design of the website and I need to take a break, I'll spend a few minutes checking some starred emails that I haven't gotten to yet. Or if I'm stressed out of my mind trying to figure out the printed circuit board layout schematic that my Taiwanese engineer sent me (in Mandarin), I'll take a "break" by going through my CPC campaigns and making tweaks to certain keywords. Or I'll do some A/B testing. Or I'll respond to potential customers on our social media pages. Or edit some photos. Or call and yell at my suppliers. Or read up about UPS's new international shipping options. Or whatever.
Taking breaks is important because you give your mind a break from what you're doing. Who says that you have to spend your "break" doing useless crap. If I think I need a "break" what I usually really need is a temporary change. So I switch it up for a minute, go back to the beast, and I'm good to go.
Ok, where was I? Ya... working from home. When you need to take breaks all the time, working from home sucks. Because when I need a change, my mind asks itself "What else needs to be done right now?" Well guess what, when you're at home your mind will respond with "The dishes in the sink" or "install that new towel rack" or "eat food... never stop eating food." It's horrible.
But when you're in a cave with no windows the ONLY thing to do is work stuff.
An added bonus to having an office is telling people you're going to "the office" like some kind of big shot. I remember feeling that way for a solid 6 months. "Bro, where you at" "I'm at the office. That's right, the office. MY office. Where I kick butt all day and change the freakin world. Yes it's a tiny cave with no windows. I don't care. It's awesome and there's not thing you can say to make me feel otherwise."
Having an office > not having an office
The weird thing, though, is before I graduated college I heard from so many people that their dream was to work from home. My dad always talked about that being a dream of his. I 100% do not share this dream.
The day I graduated college was they day I started working on my business full time. I had some money saved up from winning business plan competitions so I could have easily leased a small office somewhere...but this was day 1 of a startup and you're an idiot if you spend money on things you don't need on day 1.
Well, that lasted about 2 months. As soon as I locked up my first round of angel investment my first check was to a landlord for a 8 foot by 8 foot office with no windows. It was more of cave than an office...but I freakin loved it. Because a tiny cave with no windows is still a better place to work than at home.
For the two months I was working out of my apartment, I was super busy but I didn't get crap done. You see, I've got this thing that doctors call ADD. I'm pretty sure the majority of entrepreneurs have it.
For me, a key to dealing with my weird brain is taking breaks. Lots of breaks. But when you're starting a business, you don't have time to take breaks. So my "breaks" are a little different. If I'm in the middle of a massive re-design of the website and I need to take a break, I'll spend a few minutes checking some starred emails that I haven't gotten to yet. Or if I'm stressed out of my mind trying to figure out the printed circuit board layout schematic that my Taiwanese engineer sent me (in Mandarin), I'll take a "break" by going through my CPC campaigns and making tweaks to certain keywords. Or I'll do some A/B testing. Or I'll respond to potential customers on our social media pages. Or edit some photos. Or call and yell at my suppliers. Or read up about UPS's new international shipping options. Or whatever.
Taking breaks is important because you give your mind a break from what you're doing. Who says that you have to spend your "break" doing useless crap. If I think I need a "break" what I usually really need is a temporary change. So I switch it up for a minute, go back to the beast, and I'm good to go.
Ok, where was I? Ya... working from home. When you need to take breaks all the time, working from home sucks. Because when I need a change, my mind asks itself "What else needs to be done right now?" Well guess what, when you're at home your mind will respond with "The dishes in the sink" or "install that new towel rack" or "eat food... never stop eating food." It's horrible.
But when you're in a cave with no windows the ONLY thing to do is work stuff.
An added bonus to having an office is telling people you're going to "the office" like some kind of big shot. I remember feeling that way for a solid 6 months. "Bro, where you at" "I'm at the office. That's right, the office. MY office. Where I kick butt all day and change the freakin world. Yes it's a tiny cave with no windows. I don't care. It's awesome and there's not thing you can say to make me feel otherwise."
Having an office > not having an office
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