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.
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Great idea getting the office. Now you know where the “hard” line is drawn, you know when you lock that office door and commute home, you know that your working day is over. It can also give your mind a chance to relax as well.
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Good choice!
In the afterword to Ray Bradbury’s “Fahrenheit 451,” he talks about doing the same thing while writing the novel. He went to a library and paid 10 cents per half hour to use an old typewriter.
I don’t comment on here often (In fact, this might be my first comment; I’m not sure.), but I read your blog almost every day. I definitely picked up on some of your stress during the past few months. I’m glad you’ve found some sort of balance.
This is a fantastic blog. Please keep it up!
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Dean: “Mammoths” such as digg are largely automated, rely primarily on user-generated comment, and are likely staffed by numerous people. I’d be willing to bet that JD’s workload running this site solo far exceeds that of the typical employee at one of those other sites.
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I moved to a custom built home two years ago and work form home in a dedicated office seperate from the other living spaces of the house. The first week I did this I emailed everyone in the small company where I work and let them know my specific working hours with a mandatory 1 hour lunch I set aside for myself. This has helped maintain a good balance between my personal and work life. If I choose to work a little late one evening when the family are asleep it is entirely by choice.
This arrangement has worked out very well for me. I couldn’t imagine it any other way that would serve my needs better.
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You look focused in the picture, not angry.
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Congratulations on the new office! My ex and I had a home-based business, which eventually overran the house and seriously damaged the marriage due to nonexistent boundaries between work life and home life. Eventually, we rented the townhouse nextdoor, moved the business there, and things got a lot better. We could walk to work (!) and I could still nip home to make lunch, do laundry, etc.
As for the “old” look, may I suggest you get rid of the beard? Seems that the beard is showing most of the grey!
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“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.”
In psych studies, humans are remarkably bad at predicting how happy a given decision or choice will make us. Never hurts to give things a shot and see what happens.
Psych guy on happiness: http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/
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I think what you did is a great idea. You said that you felt “consumed” by work, so you’ve found a solution. You’ve created a physical boundary that divides your work life from your personal life. This eliminates the urge to check your blog when you’re spending time with your family. I think it’s money well spent for the sense of separation that it brings.
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Nice Monitor!
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JD, congrats on the office! You should be smiling.
To chime in from a different angle, I was a SAHM (ha!ha! Stay at Home Mom – I was never home!) for over a decade. Early on, I set aside one weekday and one weekend day every week as my day off! NO chores, errands, have-tos, to-dos. It was my day to read, relax, recharge, enjoy my family, etc. To any Stay at Home Parents, I likely recommend the practice.
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From someone who has started a business at home then moved into an office space, I hated it. I spent way more time in the office space than I did in the office in my home. And having to hassle with the landlord over parking, roof leaks, poor heating and hot summers with malfunctioning A/C, we got fed up and decided when our lease expired we would not renew. We took the money used for 6 months of lease payments and remodeled the lower level of our SW Portland home and created an outside entry (seperate from our front door), and a fully functional office. I love it. I get up every morning walk out the front door and walk the 40 paces to my new outside entry, usually saying hi to my neighbor who is getting into his car for his commute to downtown Portland, and start my day. The savings in not having the overhead of the lease payment, utility expenses, etc., has given me a pay raise. It has been the best business decision that I have made. I am small now, and even if I decided to add additional employees I would look to expand in a live work space that would accomodate a living unit in the same building that I work in.
For me it was the lease payment, it was like another mortgage payment, and having to make that every month ate at me. Shelling that out every month I thought was a necessary expense to having an office which would somehow make me feel bonafide as a real business, but being in a office space for three years made me realize that it was just how I looked at the work environment that made me feel legitimized. Once I got over that I have no fear explaining that I work from home and that it was the best business decision that I have made.
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looks homely! =D
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Whats really going to bake your noodle is: Would you be as successful as you are right now if you had used an outside office in the first place. hmmm.
Either way, keep posts like these flowing, I love to hear about the progress
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JD-
How do you type from that tiny keyboard? I love macs, but they don’t have a good keyboard (they look nice but that’s about it) from what I can tell. A nice big Microsoft natural is the only keyboard for me. Anything else feels cramped and I would go nuts having to type anything more than a short email.
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I used to dream of working from home — it would be awesome to be able to work in my bathrobe and have lunch in my own kitchen and have zero commute! I realize now, though, that it would never work for me. I really value the separation between work and home. I work my butt off when I’m at work, but when I leave, my time is mine (well, except for the pager duty). That’s why I would never want to own a business.
I’m glad your office is working out for you, and I would be willing to bet that in the long run, it will be a good financial move because it will allow you to keep running your business effectively without burning yourself out.
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It makes perfect sense to me, J.D. I’m amazed how much time it is taking me to maintain my fairly new blog and it doesn’t require interviews and heavy-duty research. Plus, I only post about twice a week right now.
I’m allowed to do personal stuff at work when we’re slow and I find when I work on my blog stuff there I’m much more productive than when I am at home.
I think you would have looked younger if you’d smiled, but profile shots aren’t flattering of anyone.
Shirley
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I work remotely for a company in another state. For a while I worked from home and tried to swing it so that we would not need any office space – bottom line: it did not work.
The boundaries blurred way too much and my girlfriend and I were suffering because of it.
I discussed with my boss and found some office space outside the house and life has been much better for the entire family. I also became more productive.
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I totally agree, I used to do engineering research from home, and it was just impossible to be productive. I don’t know if I’d ever try working from home again. Because you can be so unproductive, it depresses you, so you spend even more time trying to be productive.
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Interesting. Should get a bigger space, and network with some other work at home professionals. So your office would be more like an office, and less like the spare bedroom you have to drive to. Might be an interesting experiment in my little head anyway. : D
I can see where you’re coming from though. Seeing as I always work hard at work, but when I get home simple tasks like dishes go neglected. Sort of a frame of mind sort of deal.
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JD – your are far too modest in your response to Corey (#2) post!! After reading most of your posts now for several months I am simply amazed that you can create so many posts. As someone who enjoys reading about financial things (my latest have been options trading) I can only imagine how much research goes into your very well thought out posts. On top of that you’re doing the Financial hours stuff now, doing interviews, etc. You are obviously one busy dude!
I have been working from home for the last decade and will NEVER, EVER, EVER go back to an office – did I say NEVER loud enough! LOL I found that I work much better at home. BUT – and this is a big BUT – I can easily see how for some that wouldn’t be the case. I always get a chuckle out of it when I tell people I work from home and they proceed to tell me they could never do it because of the distractions. So most people don’t have your problem of working too much, most have the opposite of working too little.
However, for someone who is really loving their work I can see how hard it would be to walk away at the end of the day if your office is at home. While I like my work, I definitely don’t love it. It is very easy for me to walk away at the end of the day.
As an executive the big advantage for me is that I can get done in 8-10 hrs what used to take me 14-16 hours in an office environment. I have far fewer interruptions, little or no “water cooler” type conversations, etc. I am much, much more efficient at home.
Keep up the great work! If you ever feel like taking your office back home then take some of your savings and build a very separate space for yourself that makes it easier to delineate. Maybe even a space converted in one of your outbuildings.
Both my wife and I work from home and we set up “offices” in two rooms. Nothing else is done is those rooms except work. So when we walk out of the “office” we leave work behind. It’s not always easy but you have to encourage each other.
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What a heartful move, J.D.
Since a year ago when we sold our apartment and moved in to tend to my elderly parents, my wife & I now have a bedroom as compact living + working space.
Our designated “workspace” is a cafe-style round table & a typist chair by the window.
As often as 4 days in a week, we’ll take our work out of this “home office” – into public libraries (for the much-needed space, reading work & break + yes, air conditioning!)..
All the best!
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J.D.~
I’m a little late to the game here (just a little!) but I wanted to put in my two cents. Artists rent studios to work on their craft; why shouldn’t writers? Makes perfect sense. Some of the best writers worked out of sheds or places separate from their home. Something about that physical separation must do something for the creative process.
Hope all is still going well in your space! Loving the blog.
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Having the right working space makes all the difference, at least that’s what I found when I was writing.
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Thanks for sharing your story- I’ve been toying with getting my own office space (away from home) and this was VERY encouraging!
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