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Sometimes I miss working in an office. The hustle and bustle. The friendly camaraderie. Even the politics*. The whispering in corridors. The complete outrage over who said what to whom and when.
But on days like today, when I come home after school drop-off to a full To Do list and an empty house, I relish the quiet.
The space that seems to grow bigger as the boys walk out the door.
The solitude that settles over the the building one room at a time.
Until there’s just me, sitting at my computer, no distractions (unless you count the internet… and we can’t really discount that, can we?). The wind blowing down the chimney (seriously, who knew how loud chimneys could be…), the birds in full orchestral chorus outside, the daffodils doing their thing in the garden.
No need for a Do Not Disturb sign.
If you need me, I’ll be writing.
*Mostly I don’t miss the politics…
Do you work alone? Do you like it?
I do and I do. Very much. x
I love working at home, although it’s a huge challenge. In a word, DISTRACTION. In an office, you’re answerable to others and they get pissed if you don’t perform. At home, when the writing gets tough, the tough can go shopping online. Not good. But learning a disciplined routine is helping not only my writing, but my spirit. Very rich time of growth.
Great blog! Glad I discovered it.
Thanks Helen – and I totally agree on the ‘routine’ aspect. When there’s no structure in your working life, you have to build it in or you’re very quickly adrift!
I’m workin’ on it!
Absolutely adore working from home and although I’m not wishing the years away I think it will be even lovelier (from a work perspective) when Mr3 is in full-time school and I can have a proper five-day working week, rather than spending Mondays and Thursdays trying to cram so much work in to such a short time. I walk into the house after daycare drop off and tell my (female) cats “It’s girls day today!” and get to work. The three of us enjoying have no men, large or small, to interrupt us.
It definitely gets easier when you have those five school days – then it’s just school holidays that quickly spiral out of control! But you know, the more time you have, the more you waste…
There’s a part of me that misses the office environment, a huge part. But I also love my own company and don’t think I could find a better boss than I. đ
Definitely not!
I love being on my own. Always have. So this working-from-home-in-my-silent-house gig is perfect. But sometimes when I’ve been in trackies and Uggs too long, and I have a birdsnest for hair and worse, I don’t care about either, then i know it’s time to reconnect with the world and feel the wind on my face or put on some lippy and heels and talk out loud for a change. We’re lucky we have the option to do either.
Too true!
Hi Allison – this is off topic for today’s post, but I am enjoying your new website. Much easier to discover new / old posts. I was particularly pleased to come across your post on Romance writing, more so because it addressed the issue that my creative writing teacher has been saying to me ‘Show, don’t tell’. The example provided has helped me finally understand what she was meaning – now I can fix up my story before my class on Thursday!
Thanks so much Helen – and very glad we could help! đ
I love working from home, but lately I’ve found the hours can creep and creep until there’s never a spare moment. I’m becoming more strict about what days I work now, so that there’s time for a break. Otherwise, I wouldn’t change a thing!
Yes, you can end up working 24/7, can’t you??? But setting a schedule really helps.
I work alone and I love it. It probably helps that I have the perspective of having worked in corporate offices for the past 15 years – and that I have three kids. Work time means welcome peace! When I find myself getting a bit lonely, I schedule in a coffee or lunch meeting with a client to break up the day and keep up good relations with everyone.
I always struggled with the politics of working in an office so I couldn’t be happier with these arrangements. I find myself much more confident in my work and feeling in control of my career.
Oh, and we definitely can’t count the internet as a distraction – it’s research. Everything is research when you’re a writer, right?
Oh, of course! How could I forget?? And I hear you on all the rest!
I think you are talking about my life Carolyn đ