Welcome to Home Office Insights! I am glad you clicked in for a visit. This site is dedicated to all the professionals who are working out of their home office – those just beginning and those seasoned professionals who have figured out how to be productive, efficient, and highly satisfied. It isn’t easy. Each of us has our own particular challenges. Some of us need to focus on work habits. Others may need to focus on setting up a productive and efficient office space that we LOVE to be in for hours at a time. Still others may need to learn about technology that can make our lives easier. Some may just need some encouragement and inspiration. If you fit one or more of these groups, then you are in the right place.
A Little Back Story
Many years ago, I read one chapter of a very old book, called Wishcraft by Barbara Sher. I think it was published in the late 1970’s and I think I read part of it when I was in college. It offered a step-by-step strategy for making your dreams come true. I don’t remember much about the steps except for this: Write down your ideal day in detail. Describe how you see yourself in your perfect, ideal day. The point was that you can’t really get to a dream unless you know in detail what that dream looks like. I remember doing this exercise. It went something like this:
“I wake up in my cabin in the woods, fix a great cup of coffee, greet my greyhound rescue dog, and move to the deck where I greet the brisk Colorado morning and again stand in awe of my breathtaking mountain view. I finish the first cup, put on my running shoes, grab the leash, and head out for my five mile run. When I return, I sit down at my computer (with a mountain view) and begin my day’s writing. My “job” is working for myself, writing books and newsletters, teaching in a small college a couple of days a week, and traveling around the country speaking on something interesting. I don’t go into an office. I only go into town twice a week. I only travel when I want to and it is worth the speaking fee…..”
The detailed description of my ideal day went on for many paragraphs. The point is that I knew from college that eventually, I wanted to work from home with a Colorado mountain view and have the freedom to do what I wanted. I wanted to write and teach and travel – but on my terms – not someone else’s.
After four years of undergrad, graduate school, a PhD, a career as a college professor and Dean of Students, a career as a curriculum manager, starting a few businesses, and finally an educational consultant and freelance writer, I am sitting here in Colorado with a mountain view. I have a cabin in the mountains AND a home in Denver. My greyhound eventually went to doggy heaven, but I now have an Italian greyhound at my feet. I have aged some (well, a lot) and my four-mile run has been reduced to daily one mile or so run or a long dog walk. I did the travel thing for a while until it lost its luster. For the last 12 years, I have worked in my home office on projects that connect with my passions. The point? I don’t think I would have gotten here if I hadn’t actually described my ideal day in the beginning. It was a long and windy path, but here I am – mostly living that ideal day. I definitely revised it every few years, but the basic day has stuck in my head. I just change some of the details. Technology came along and has made it much easier. Working from home is as productive for me (if not way more productive) than in any office.
I highly recommend that you take a few minutes and write down your own ideal day (not what you think might happen or could happen based on where you are now, but a “no rules – no box” ideal day. As the Wishcraft book said – You can’t achieve something if you don’t know what that something is in detail.
I’ve Learned a Lot!
In my journey to this version of my ideal day, I have learned a lot! I have learned that to be productive at home, I needed to change some of my attitudes, develop some discipline, and change some aspects of my non-working life. I needed to learn more about how to be organized, how to stay up on things, and how to stay connected. I needed to learn some technology skills and how to make technology work for me. Working from home full time certainly hasn’t been easy or intuitive; however, it has been well worth the effort, extra learning and skill development, and initiatal pain. As of now, I don’t see how I could ever go back to the traditional office environment. I am constantly improving my work-at-home knowledge and skills, but what I am doing now works pretty well. I make the same money as I did in the office, have the same connections, and see the same bright professional future.
I talk to people all the time who are thinking about working from home either a day or two a week or even full time. I hear their fears of things like losing face-time and connections with colleagues, not having the discipline, being distracted by home stuff and kids, missing out on promotions, not being able to manage the technology, and so many more. I also hear a lot of complaints about the commute time to the office, bad bosses, crazy co-workers, stuffy cubicals, pointless meetings, bad lighting, uncomfortable chairs, and on and on. So, maybe something you learn here at HomeOfficeInsights.com will help clear up some fears and myths and encourage you in making the move to your home office. Or, maybe some of the insights can help make your office job better and more productive. Keep reading!
My Mission with HomeOfficeInsights.com
The mission of HomeOfficeInsights.com is to share what I have learned about how to productively and efficiently work from home and to provide a vehicle for others to share their ideas as well. As I tell my college students, not every person learns (works) in the same way and what is meaningless for one person may be just the right tip for someone else. You just never know.
We’ll be discussing several areas that, when done well, lead to a highly successful work at home environment.
- Habits: What are the habits needed to be productive and efficient? A lot of us are on our own billable time (and the rest are on someone else’s billable time), so getting the biggest bang for each hour worked is an important step. This section suggests lots of habits, techniques, strategies, thought processes, and so forth to help in the day-to-day working.
- Design: What home office designs work – and what doesn’t work? Design is a personal thing, but perhaps you can gain some ideas to create that home office sanctuary we all dream about. This section talks about home office design and cool things that will make getting up and going to work delightful!
- Technology: What technology is available for a highly productive home office? I’m a bit lazy, so love the technology that makes my life easier and more efficient. The technology that helps me make money is nice too.
- Inspiration: Well we all need a bit of inspiration every now and then. This section provides just that. Visit here often to get a bit of a pep talk or food for thought.
- Reviews: With the help of our readers, we will take a look at what works, what doesn’t work, and what is the best of breed in many different home office-related areas.
Thanks again for visiting. There is a little something for everyone, so come back often and share your own home office insights.
If you ever need a hand or have ay questions, feel free to leave them below and I will be more than happy to help you out.
All the best,
Terry Taylor
terry@HomeOfficeInsights.com