I recently leased office space for Get Rich Slowly.
For about a year, I’d been working out of an office I’d created in one of our spare bedrooms. This seemed like an ideal solution: I was able to work from home (with my cat companions!) while utilizing empty space.
In reality, this arrangement proved a blessing and a curse. Yes, it was convenient to have a home office. But I also found that the boundaries between Work and non-Work began to blur. I was working all the time. I wrote 10, 12, 18 hours a day — nearly every day. I love my work, but still…I had created a lifestyle that was anything but “rich”.
Last winter, Kris and I discussed the possibility of finding a writing space for me, but we never followed through. I thought it was crazy to spend a few hundred dollars per month to rent an office when we had plenty of room at home. It felt like a poor financial decision. So I continued to work long hours. This website consumed my life.
In February and March, I did a lot of soul-searching. I began to study George Kinder’s notion of “life planning” and to develop my own philosophy about the stages of personal finance. I realized that although keeping a home office made me richer financially, it actually made me poorer in every other sense.
So, at the end of March, I gave in to my gut, and I leased a small office in a commercial building at the top of the hill. It was a mental struggle to move stuff up to the new space. I felt like I was kicking a grown child out of the house. (Part of the process was fun though: I used a little red wagon to haul books, and I carried a couple of the office chairs on my shoulders.)
Hard at work in my new office. I look old! Note the piggy bank watching over me.
I’ve been in the new office for two months now, and I have to say: this is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Yes, I’m spending $335 a month for 145 square feet of office space, but it’s a business expense. (Translation: I’m not losing the entire $335 from my personal bottom-line.) Better yet, I’m much more productive here. When I come to the office, I come to work. I’ve created physical and mental space by moving out of the house.
Meanwhile, I’ve (mostly) been able to reclaim my time at home for other activities: reading, gardening, spending time with my wife. (I’ve done more pleasure reading in the past month than I had during the entire previous year, I think.) My life is much richer for having made this choice.
It’s not always possible to know the outcome of a financial decision before you make it. Sometimes the option that looks best on paper is actually a poor choice. And sometimes it makes sense to spend a little extra money to obtain peace of mind.
This article is about Choices, Entrepreneurship, Real-Life
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You certainly look old JD
Renting an office space is definitely a good idea as far as it is not hurting you in any other way (and it’s not). When you have assumed writing as your profession, “profession” says it all; you need to give it dedicated but limited chunk of your day
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Please don’t take this the wrong way. How much time does it take to make (write) this website on a daily basis? I would be interested in knowing what your day consists of in terms of putting out a couple entries a day.
Thanks
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I’ve been thinking of trying the “coworking” route for myself and my one employee. We currently work from my apartment, but I find myself really only getting a few hours of real *work* done during the whole day.
Although, yesterday I did come pretty close to beating Bioshock, so that’s sort of an accomplishment.
Oh well.
Sweet new digs JD!
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Sometimes spending money makes sense. It’s clear you thought this through and didn’t just jump in unaware…good lesson to learn.
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You’ve said it over and over in many ways – personal finance is about being able to spend money where it matters to you, in line with what you value. It’s not about saving every penny possible at all times. You value your free time and the separation of your work life and personal life, and the richness that separating the two brings to your personal life. It sounds like it was really a great move for you.
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Makes sense to me. After tax, your total cost could easily be under $200/month.
That’s not terribly crazy if it’s making you both more productive and happier.
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For god’s sake, clean off that desk!
Joking aside, this has been an issue for me, as well. My “workspace” is currently a table beside our bed in our bedroom. I like to get up a 6 a.m. to write, let’s just say my wife doesn’t always feel like having the lights on at 6 a.m.
We’ve made due, but I couldn’t imagine how great it would feel to have a separate work area, especially in a separate location. I can’t wait til I’m in the position to budget in an expense like that!
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I think it’s really important to separate work and play, so good on you, JD! I know I sometimes have problems concentrating during work or switching off afterwards because my desk is in my bedroom.
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@Corey (#2)
It’s true that I only post one or two articles a day at Get Rich Slowly, but there’s actually a lot of work behind the scenes. I just finished an hour-long interview with the brains behind a new pf app, for example. I spent an hour last night looking at his app so that I could be informed before the interview. It will take me an hour or two to write the post, and then another hour or two to edit it. I’ll have about five or six hours into this article by the time it goes live.
Even simple articles — like this one about my office — take at least an hour to create. And they’re the exception, not the rule.
So, I spend 20-30 hours per week writing, and equal amount of time reading (about money), and then other time dealing with technical aspects of running the site and marketing it.
It’s true that I’ve recently taken on some help for many of these chores, and that will allow me to focus more on the thing I love (which is writing). But I’m actually still surprisingly busy with non-writing tasks.
Does that answer some of your questions?
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I can relate to what you say JD, My husband works from home and I feel like he is sitting in front of this computer all the time. Well,, we live in a one bedroom apartment that doesn’t leave much room for him to hang out I guess
. I like your Apple desktop PC..very cool…
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Yes, thank you. I figured as much. Keep up the good work
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When you spend money to enhance the work you do, that’s not consumption, that’s investing.
That goes double for those of us who are self-employed.
So I think your decision makes a great deal of sense, J.D.
Rob
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Another way to look at it: Whatever square footage the business was occupying in your home, you’re now getting that same amount of additional living space for $335 per month.
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Very cool. Nice to hear how this all worked out for you.
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The cost must be more than $335. You’ve got to pay for Internet access and maybe utilities, right? I assume you skipped phone service and use a cell phone.
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Not only do you have a nice place to work, your wife could always drop by for a little office romance!
I can totally see why you would do something like this, though.
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Here you go:
http://www.cedarshed.com
All you have to do is run power.
Ian
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Did you ride the little red wagon back down the hill to your house?
Seriously, I enjoyed hearing the logic behind your decision. I’m the same way – I would have a hard time working at home for the same reasons.
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I remember seeing an interview with Paul McCartney years ago, and the interviewer asked him if he recorded most of his demos in his home studio. Paul said he didn’t have a studio at home anymore, though he used to – he said he rents a place across town. The reporter asked him why he did that, and Paul explained that the idea that work was someplace he had to consciously decide to go to, and had to drive from his home to, wound up being more inspiring to his songwriting and recording than just doing it in another room of his house. I’m willing to bet that the home/work physical separation was beneficial to his home life, too.
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Sounds good. I work from home part time as part of my regular day job. I love saving the commute time, but there is no doubt that things in the house can be a distraction – pets, kids, spouse, etc…not that co-workers at the office can’t be a source of interruption as well.
Drawing those solid lines of separation surely will be helpful anyway.
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Fun fact. 18 months of reading this website, and this is the first time I am seeing a pic of yours. [I dont think I have ever seen a front view of your face yet.]
I interact with a lot of people on wikipedia, and a lot of them happen to be highschoolers and college students. There is this one particularly productive guy, who happens to be homeschooled. (I dont know that the term is.. “he is in homeschool”?). Anyways, i was telling him that homeschooling would suck, simply because theres no “running back home from school” involved. Which in my memory, was THE BEST part of being in school.
I was mostly kidding of course, but I guess the same applies to you too. Its the sense of relief and “woohoo free!” sensation that comes when you leave work for the day and look forward to the rest of the evening hanging out and watching your fave movie. In my opinion, thats an important thing to feel, if you are to keep your sanity. It allows my mind to disconnect from the work, and focus (defocus?) on other things.
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I’m not sure about old, but I do think you look a bit drunk. You don’t have a liquor cabinet there, do you?
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That lack of boundaries between work and life is why several of my attempts at working as a freelancer failed. It does become difficult to draw those boundaries, and then you start to hate the work you love.
I wasn’t bringing in enough money to rent office space, so instead I went out and got an office job. (The lack of boundaries wasn’t the only reason, but it was one of the biggies. Better, partially paid-for health insurance was another.)
In other words, good for you for finding a way to keep on doing what you want to do, and yet not let it destroy the rest of your life.
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I can see why you would want to get an office. I think working from home as a writer can be tough over time as I think it’s harder to be creative. Leaving the home getting some fressh air and stimulus on the way to work is a good idea.
I am hoping to make a decision like that soon.
Rob
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“nickel says:
27 May 2009 at 1:47 pm
I’m not sure about old, but I do think you look a bit drunk. You don’t have a liquor cabinet there, do you?
”
Yea… also kinda looks like a rough “biker type” too! LOL!
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I work from home 3 times a week, two times at the Office, the office actually being 90 miles far from my home, a 2 hour drive (São Paulo has a very chaotic traffic).
In absolutely no way I could drive this far, face this amount of traffic everyday to get to the office, but I hate having no real separation from work/home when I’m at home, so it’s the best of both worlds for me: one day at home, the other at the office.
When working from home I can wake up 10 minutes before my starting shift time, can work on pijamas the whole day, can eat whenever I want, can take a real nice nap on lunch time, but that’s not good every single day, we kind of work more, I actually think that it’s good if you don’t see your work desk after your work shift is done.
My work table at home is in my bedroom, I look at it and it reminds of my job, problems I faced, what I did during the day, you know, it’s hard to separate that kind of memory.
So working one day at home, then the other at the office is the perfect solution for me, might not be for everyone.
Oh, and even at home, I think I’m gonna build a small room outside the main house so I can work and when the work is done, I’ll close the door and not come back to it, not see it until the other day !
Carlos
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As a business expense, it’s also fully tax-deductible. You can get tax deductions for a home office too but it can affect your capital gains tax liability if the authorities deem that part of your house not to be the family home. (I don’t actually know if that’s true in the US but it is in Australia and the UK).
It’s funny that for you having a dedicated space to work will help you work less and manage the work-life divide. For me it’s the opposite. Having a dedicated space to work outside the home makes me feel more professional and focused and therefore productive.
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I haven’t seen any other comments about seeing what you look like, so maybe everyone else has already seen pictures of you. But I appreciate seeing what you look like… just puts a face to the words I read.
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Ha! I’m neither a drunk nor a rough biker type. I’m a guy who had a colonoscopy yesterday.
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When my father retired and started writing, he did much the same thing. Rented a space that was his, and separate and dedicated to the task at hand. He did it in rather a clever way. In Denver there are several law firms that operate out of larger victorian homes that have been converted into office space. He went to a few in the neighborhood, and found one with an empty office. He made them an offer to rent it out. He paid much less for the space than he would have for a 1 small dedicated office, and the law firm was able to defray some of their costs. It was a nice win-win. If any of your other readers are considering renting space, I would suggest trying this method to see if they can find a bargain on rent.
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Man, I sure wouldn’t want to ride a bike after a colonoscopy!
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nickel says:
27 May 2009 at 3:21 pm
“Man, I sure wouldn’t want to ride a bike after a colonoscopy!
”
HAHA! YES! Well played my friend.
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I’ve got a question for you, JD. I looked into office space for myself a while back and found several quotes…all broken down in $$/SqFt. What the heck does that even mean!? Per year, per month, per quarter? Why isn’t office space just quoted on a monthly basis (like apartments), then give square feet..heck, pictures would be nice too.
I mean some of these places have really odd shapes…if I shared an office, that would get strange to be confined to a semi-cornerish type of space given the building structure (like a funky borg cube on crack).
Great article JD. This is something I think about all the time, and once things pick up, and I learn a bit more about the sales end of what I’m doing, I plan to do the same thing.
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Wow… I envy that office space! I work from home, too, and so does my husband. I never knew how difficult working from home could be until I started doing it. Sure, there’s great access to the fridge, and sure, I can eat lunch with my son. But the line between professional life and personal life definitely gets blurry (especially because our place is pretty small – about 1400 square feet), and that can lead to unhealthy levels of stress. Maybe office space is something we should look into in the future. Question: is Internet access included in your rent, or do you pay extra for that?
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Some additional notes about my office:
* Internet access and utilities are included, as long as I don’t draw too much power. (If I were to bring in a small fridge, they’d get cranky.)
* I considered shared office space, but that would have meant driving into Portland (about 10-15 minutes, depending on traffic). I also considered office space in a nearby town, but it was more expensive.
* The size of this space is perfect, and I love the fact that I can walk five minutes from my home to reach it. That’s enough of a barrier that I don’t just come up here to dink around, but not so much that I can rationalize not walking to work.
* This commercial building is in a completely out-of-the-way spot (the former downtown area of a community that never gelled into a city and is now sort of a dying shell). I like it.
I’m happy to answer more questions about this!
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you just look so SERIOUS!
(aha – now i see the colonoscopy comment…)
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I thought maybe you got the office space so you could drive that Mini Cooper back and forth to work!
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I completely empathize. My job allows me to telecommute, but I choose to go into the corporate office and stay in my little cubby instead. My peers don’t understand, but working from home I get (a) lonely, (b) driven nuts by my stupid cat, and (c) lured by the refrigerator, television, etc. I’m much more productive in an office. And when I go home, work mentally goes away until the next morning. I don’t feel like I “should” be working all evening.
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Congratulations J.D. on your decision! I’m currently starting to work from home. It’s a great decision for me (right now), but I do agree that it’s hard to draw the line between work and play.
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I think that’s really great, JD – you look so serious! (I’m sure you were just a bit self-conscious of the camera.) I ponder working remotely for my job someday, and I think I would have a very hard time buckling down to work in my living space. Having a separate space to call your office is really great. Smart decision!
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You get the tax deduction and you are more productive. You’ll likely be another $200 or so productive a month as you are moving into other areas with your writing. I think its a wise choice.
If I worked from home I would have a hard time separating my home distractions from work. I couldn’t concentrate on work because I’d be thinking I need to vacuum or the phone is ringing and its my mother. I would’nt get anything done.
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JD,
Great move. I held a job for nearly three years where I worked out of my home when I wasn’t traveling. With the kids outside the bedroom door and my wife coming in to use our personal computer (in the same room,) it was bad overall. I thought about leasing an office, but I was traveling enough to make me rethink spending that few hundred dollars to work out of a space 16 days a month.
Long story short-I lost the job due to downsizing so problem solved. Now I just have to find a new job. Long story long-that’s in my upcoming book about being laid off. Hopefully, I’ll return to the work at home dilemma again someday.
Hopefully the move will let you continue writing great articles and have the life you write about.
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Good on ya, JD. Being able to separate work from home can be a daunting challenge. Sounds like you’ve found a great spot to make it that much easier for you. Are you making use of the new free space in your home now or is it sitting idle?
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Totally off topic…but are you using an iMac? I have such Apple envy…and will continue to suffer until the Back-to-School sale.
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Honestly I would love to find a writing space. My laptop is in my room and I have worked hard at turning this into a little office. The problem is I have found that I work way more effectively at the school lab or any area that is associated with work. The problem is it is difficult to work from the same place you live, especially in the same room you sleep.
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Kris tells me that I look angry in this photograph. I’m not. I’m just old!
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Making that jump to renting an official office is a big step. It means that you now have an official work place (not that your home wasn’t official), and you can’t watch Judge Judy while you work. You made it my friend, that’s fantastic. One day I’ll be able to do the same thing, but that’s way do the road for me…a couple of years or so. I’m new, only since the beginning of the year. I’d like to quite my day job and work on my blog passion fully. I’ll let you know when that happens
Congrats again!
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Nice photo of you and your office, J.D. Wish I had a separate office within walking distance.
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nice place.
Quick question, is this all you do? Get rich slowly? It seems like a small site (compared to the mammoths on the internet like digg) and would be surprised if you draw enough ad revenue to support yourself? That’s amazing if you do, best luck to you!
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Hey, I like your new office, neat and clean. Although I can see some papers in between of your LCD screen and keyboard. Are they the bills that give you the motivation to write and make money?
I wish I can have an online assets like yours which can support an private office space for me. Keep going! I’m following your path
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