Now that you’re on your own, you most likely don’t have workspace provided by your employer (unless you do most of your work on-site at the client). Even so, you probably need a base from which to work, either in your home or elsewhere. This section deals with some of the issues you’ll face, such as:

• Do You Want to Work From Home?
• Other Alternatives to Working From Home
• Will Your Surroundings Impact Your Productivity?
• Other Considerations

Do You Want to Work From Home?

For most of us, the primary allure of freelancing is the very fact that we can work from home. No more commute. No more office politics. No more having to spend a fortune on a wardrobe. Yes, you will actually be able to wear your bunny slippers if you so choose! It sounds so good, you can picture yourself running your freelancing empire from your spare room already.

However, there are both upsides and downsides to working from home. Let’s take a look at both.

Advantages

• You have greater freedom, flexibility, and control over your work environment. You can create an office with the lighting, color scheme, furnishings, music, and noise level of your choosing. Surveys indicate that 60% of home workers play music while working, fewer than 10% keep traditional 9 to 5 business hours, 53% fit time for exercising into their flexible schedule and 81% dress casually.
• You get more done because you are no longer interrupted by bosses or coworkers who have easy access to you and you spend less time in unproductive meetings. You also can select to work the time of day when you are more alert and at your best.
• Costs go down when you work from home because you save on the wear and tear of your car and visit the gas station less often. Your overhead is lower than renting office space, and you may also save on taxes if you can claim a home office deduction. The Freelancing Money Matters section covers this in further detail.
• You save time on both not having to get dressed for the public and not having to sit in traffic during your commute.
• Your stress level goes down and your health and lifestyle improve. Here’s why: You feel more in control. You are better able to balance both your work and family demands. You’re more likely to eat healthier and find time to exercise. Your daily traffic commute goes away and concerns about layoffs diminish.
• Your family relationships improve because you get to see more of them.

Now the downsides:

Disadvantages

• You are more likely to experience distractions from family members, friends that drop by, and the constant reminder of the household chores that need to be done.
• You need the discipline to get to work and stick to business.
• You need to be able to put work aside at the end of the day and start your personal life. This is especially difficult if you own your own business.
• You need to avoid intermixing work and family life.
• You may have a lack of privacy discussing confidential matters, background noise from family or pets can bleed into phone conversations and there may be issues with inviting clients to your home.
• Being taken seriously by family, friends, and even clients. Some still regard those who work from home as amateurs or slackers unwilling to find a “real job”.

The bottom line is this: If you are a self-starter who likes the line of work you’re in, enjoys working independently with a lack of structure, and knows what you want and are determined to achieve it, you’ll be more likely to succeed when working from home.

Other Alternatives to Working From Home

On the other hand, for some freelancers, working from home is not an option. You may be a stain glass artist or sign maker that uses noxious chemicals or paints in your work and it’s not pleasant having fumes waft through your house. You may lack the space. In some cases, zoning regulations may prohibit you from engaging in commerce from home. Or perhaps keeping family and work separate will be too difficult.

Here are some suggestions:

• If zoning is not the issue, and you have a large enough property, perhaps building a studio or moving your office into an unused outbuilding or detached garage might be an option.
• There are a number of companies that sell prefabricated sheds, and some of them are quite attractive. They will deliver to your site. You will need to provide a foundation. From there, all you may have to do is wire it for electricity, put up sheetrock, insulate, paint, decorate, and furnish.
• An RV travel trailer (hard sided) can be outfitted as an office. Most have utilities already installed and they are somewhat insulated, except for the coldest of weather.
• Rent a professional suite. These generally give you a single furnished office, but then you share common areas like conference rooms, copy rooms, kitchens, etc. Secretarial services may also be provided.
• Rent private office space. Generally, you will need to furnish and equip this yourself. You may be able to share the cost with a fellow freelancer.
• If you live in an apartment building or condominium, perhaps you can rent another smaller apartment in the complex that can serve as your office.
• Do all of your work on the customer’s site. Depending upon the nature of what you do, you may be able to negotiate office space to do all of your work at the client site.

Will Your Surroundings Impact Your Productivity?

We’ve already established that one of the challenges of going freelance is maintaining focus on your work and the elimination of distractions as much as possible. Every work environment is going to have some element that will prevent you from being 100% productive. There are, however, other factors that you may not even be aware of that can also affect the quality of your output:

Lighting

Light affects people in different ways. How much you need and what type depends upon your age, the type of work you do, and the condition of your eyes. Most experts agree that you should try to use natural daylight as much as possible in your work because it provides the truest color and is also the least tiring on the eyes. The quality of the light your windows will provide, however, will be affected by your furnishings, the color of your walls, the direction and exposure of the light, the time of day, and the weather outside. Because most of these things are not a constant, you will need to supplement with artificial lighting.

The two primary artificial types of lighting are fluorescent and incandescent:

• Incandescent lighting is your typical round light bulb and is usually employed for task lighting — light focused directly at your work. It provides light that is easy on the eyes, but is also the most expensive to use and it often creates heat.
• Fluorescent lighting usually takes the form of long tubes in ceiling fixtures, although compact versions are quickly replacing incandescent bulbs in smaller fixtures and lamps. The light emitted by fluorescent bulbs is diffused, often brighter, but the heat output is minimal. Fluorescent bulbs blink at a high frequency, so may cause eye strain or headaches in some people over time.

You generally may need to employ a combination of the two types depending on your work space. Just be aware that light affects your productivity, so be sure to provide yourself with an adequate amount and experiment with the different types to see what works best for you.

Noise

While some people thrive on the hustle-bustle of a busy work environment, others prefer to work in absolute quiet. Too much noise is stressful, distracting, and can lead to errors in your work. Total silence, on the other hand, can decrease your alertness and make you drowsy. Given the choice, surveys indicate that most people like something in between, most preferring to listen to music as their noise source.

While working from home, you have a lot of control over the sounds you hear. You can choose to use — or not use — carpeting, drapes, acoustic ceiling tiles, weatherstripping on doors, room dividers, wall coverings, etc. to minimize the noise level. You can also choose to relocate noisy equipment to a separate room or closet.

Other Considerations

Staying Organized

Now that you are freelancing on your own, it will fall upon you to stay organized and ensure that things stay on track. Once work starts rolling in, it’s easy for clutter to build up and to start misplacing important papers, phone numbers, or the notes you took yesterday at the client meeting. It’s important to keep your filing up to date, trash emptied, vacuuming done, etc. especially if your space is not particularly large. Consider getting help doing this if it is not your particular bent. Sloppiness in your work habits will translate into a negative impression to the client after one too many excuses that “you’ll have to get back to them” because you were not able to find something you were looking for.

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Feng Shui

Feng shui is the ancient art of placement and design used to balance and enhance the energy flow in living environments. It may have benefits for work environments too. Feng shui experts believe that by creating harmony and balance in your physical environment, you will attract good luck and prosperity in all areas of your life. By following some basic principles of feng shui, you may improve your productivity. Try these:

• Set up your home office in the front of the house to take advantage of the flow of energy, since energy enters your home through the front door.
• Position your desk so that you face the doorway or room entrance. Not being able to see who’s coming may trigger unnecessary fears, or “negative energy”.
• Make sure you are comfortable with your computer equipment. If necessary, replace the keyboard and mouse that came with your PC with something ergonomically friendly, with curvy shapes that benefit the flow of energy through your fingers and hands. You also need to position your computer monitor to avoid any hint of glare. Glare is very negative from a feng shui point of view. It interferes with concentration and peace of mind.
• Keep your workspace clean and clutter-free in order to allow a free flow of chi throughout the room (i.e. the life force or vital energy that links people with their surroundings).

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