I’ve been working from home for the longest time. I think one of the best things about what I do that I have he ability to work from home, a coffee shop, panera, etc. This gives me quite a lot of freedom and sometimes you just don’t want to be around people. Working from home does have its downsides though. I think over time that I’ve worked from home I developed some bad habits.

All of these bad habits come down to getting distracted. For example if I made lunch I would sit in front of the TV and end up watching a couple hours of Netflix! That is a total waste of time and just down right lazy! There were other distractions like video games or doing things around the house like the dishes or laundry. When I didn’t feel like working I would end up doing something else. This led to many very unproductive days.

Recently my friend Tom got an office downtown and asked if I wanted to work out of it. I was a little hesitant to the idea, for one like I said I had been working from home forever, and two the office was downtown. So that means I would have to pay to go to the office (parking, uber, bus, etc). Well I decided to give it a try and see how working from an office would be. I was pleasantly surprised that the first day I was there I was super productive. I felt like I accomplished more work in one day that I did in an entire week at home!

I think that the big thing was that I was less distracted. Instead of watching TV when I eat lunch I am now reading books or watching something on my phone, but there is no being lazy sitting there for hours. There are no other distractions like I encountered at home either, I only have my laptop there so no video games or things to do around the house. By eliminating those distractions and solely focusing on working I am getting so much more done.

Besides just eliminating distractions working downtown sort of puts me on a schedule. I take the bus into work each day so I know I have to be up at a certain time to catch the bus and obviously I have to be done with my work in time to catch the bus as well. While I always said I didn’t like being on a schedule, this type of structure is really helping me be more productive. Finally it is good to just be around other people. I wouldn’t say it isn’t healthy, but working from home everyday without much interaction with other people is not a good thing.

Being more productive and working from an office has brought a totally different dynamic to my days. Now I get all my work done when I’m in the office so when I’m home I can relax and do other things. I’ve never really had that separation of home and work before and so far I am really liking it. Working in this office has been a game changer for me, I am getting more done, I am less stressed, and I am making more money.

If you are currently working from home you might want to try working from an office. I would suggest trying out a shared work-space if there is one in your area.