How to Separate Work and Home
(When No
One’s Paying You Jack)
“Oh good. You’re not doing anything…”
It’s hard to get it. Do they believe that
writing isn’t actual work? I’m not surprised it doesn’t occur to them that we
have to make sacrifices to create time for writing. Including turning down
actual paying jobs. (Or, rather, jobs with guaranteed fruition.)
We skip parties, T.V., cut out video games,
develop discipline without a boss or coach, turn down time/mentally consuming careers,
and, most importantly, we sacrifice friendships by saying, I can’t do that, I
have to work.
Why is writing not considered a real job? Many
suggest because it’s not hard or it’s supposed to be fun, so it’s not
respected. But I’d actually say it’s a matter of flexibility. The deadlines are
self-imposed, you’re not on the clock, and you can easily move things around to
fit more in. People respect having a hardass boss and bureaucratic set of
policies, but not when those are self-imposed. My unpopular opinion
(contradicting what I’d like to say) is there’s some truth to it; the benefit
of working at home is that you can change
what you’re doing to help someone else, and in some cases, you should. I’d go
so far to say that the benefit of working from home is being able to be there
for your friends. (I’m writing this from someone’s couch waiting for her
internet guy while she’s participating in “real” work.) The problem isn’t that
it must be treated like an
on-the-clock, 9-5 job, but that discipline and elasticity are like oil and
water, and it takes a lot of extra work to get those bastards to mix.
Do you want to be a fulltime writer? Contrary
to popular opinion, it’s not the finances that stand in your way the most. It’s
having the personality to be the bad guy. But then the good guy—and knowing
when to be which.
Split your identity. Maybe
with hats.
If you become a self-published author, or sell
your own merchandise, or basically get your money directly from your customers,
this becomes even more important. You need to think of yourself as both boss
and employee so you have a better concept of a healthy work environment.
An example of this is when freelance authors don’t
pay themselves for their work.
It’s easy to say, “Oh! I could do that
cheaper!” forgetting the reason is basic slave labor. You not only have to make
enough money to 1) pay the initial costs 2) invest in the company’s growth but
3) live off of. A good way to do this is to act like you’re an employee; would
you consume your life for free if it wasn’t your project?
But even if you aren’t an entrepreneur—planning
on traditional publication—if you’re going to work from home, treating yourself
as both boss and employee can help you keep your home life and work life
separate while still enjoying the flexible benefits of being in charge.
HOW TO
BE A GOOD BOSS
Okay,
yes, keep the employees on track.
So the obvious job as manager is to make sure
lazy assholes do what they’re getting paid for. The thing is, in a healthy work
environment, this is not their main goal. Instead, good bosses will know…
All work and no play makes employees go postal.
When you have a loyal
employee with a good work ethic, especially someone who cares a lot about the
project, it’s very possible they’ll run themselves into the ground. Even if
they don’t flip out, the quality of their work will decrease along with their
ability to handle stress. It is important to always make sure that employees
are making wise decisions—not just in being productive, but in self care.
-Give yourself breaks
and honor them. A lunch break should be lunch only. Give your mind time to
collect itself without feeling guilty. You can work through lunch once in a
while, but it should not be a constant.
-Be reasonable about
how much can be done in a day. Know how long things take, what problems might
arise, and be sympathetic when shit hits the fan. Don’t overbook or admonish
yourself when something took longer than you expected, or you had an
unrealistic timeframe.
-On that note, try
not to schedule yourself for too much overtime. Make sure you have days off.
Even if writing is something you do on that scheduled day off because it’s fun,
it’s important to have time to breathe, hang out with friends, and do nothing
without feeling shame. As a small business owner, yeah, it’s likely you’ll work
overtime, but if you have to do it constantly, it’s best to look for some
changes, whether that be upgrading tools, hiring out, or cutting back
somewhere.
-When you’re
self-employed, it can be difficult to know if it’s okay to “call in sick.”
Sometimes literally if a cold is bad enough to stay in bed? Or is it acceptable
to make a vet appointment during usual work hours? Can you take that personal
call? Go on vacation? Be a sympathetic boss. Simply look at things like
expected output, deadlines, and whether or not you actually needed to get
something done today. Think about
patterns of behavior, and what will happen if you push back the deadline.
If you are more of a slacker,
why-don’t-I-ever-finish-anything, type, you may need to become more of a hardass
on yourself. It’s still important that you, as your boss, recognize you are a
human with a life; just think about what you would expect from someone who
you’ve hired and hold yourself to those standards.
For instance, if you
get shit done, then putting a ban on personal calls during “workhours” is
silly. But if you tend to not be very productive, you might establish strict
policies for yourself, like you might in a work place.
It’s helpful to write
out some expectations for yourself and your “company.”
-What MUST be done
daily?
Schedule a routine so
these things get done first.
-Weekly?
Plan which day you
will do it on. Make sure to give yourself enough time.
-Monthly?
Do it on the same
date that’s easy to remember.
-Once, at some point?
Find a slow day to devote
to it in advance. Don’t schedule anything else.
-Make a list of
things you’d like to do and try to find time for one each day.
Respect your schedule like it was made by someone who could fire you.
Keep in mind who you are. A good manager knows who they’re dealing
with.
Do you have set work hours? Do you have a list
of jobs and you’re done when you’re done? This depends on your attention span,
how you’re motivated, and what other aspects of life you have to fit in.
Do you have set tasks during certain work
hours? This depends on your organization skills and how to keep things under
control and stimulating.
Are you allowed to text during work hours? Be
on Facebook? Answer a call from your mother?
Can you schedule personal appointments during
work hours?
What are the rules on breaks? Bathroom, coffee,
smoking, playing with your dog, etc.
Is it acceptable to work on household tasks
during work hours? Doing laundry while writing?
Make sure these are judicious. Do not make
demands on yourself you can’t possibly fill. More importantly, understand your
strengths and weaknesses. A good boss knows that everyone is different and sets
up the situation to be the most productive. If you feel happy with your
productivity while chatting on messenger and taking several breaks to do
dishes, go for it. If you can’t pull away from Facebook, treat yourself like a
lazy employee who will get fired if they don’t knock it off.
-Know when to hire out work.
The worst mistake a company can make is
understaffing. And like any business, the likelihood of you doing so is because
you don’t have the money. Yet, when you do have an extra pair of hands stress
levels and productivity increase drastically; you simply have more time to do
it right, even when your person isn’t half as experienced as you.
Times to hire people:
1) When you’re inexperienced in an important
aspect for your work, such as graphic design. Of course, you may hire a graphic
designer, or you may hire a teacher to train you faster. Self-teaching is also
a great option, but you must be critical on yourself, and it takes much longer
than if you have someone who has already gone through it helping you.
2) When you have too many necessary
responsibilities to do within a healthy timeframe. If you are working 15 hour
days and no days off, you need to start delegating your work. This may be as
simple as say, having a company make your bookmarks instead of printing and
cutting them yourself. It might be hiring an editor, a graphic designer, or a
marketing company. It might be getting your husband or mother to come in and
just do a little here and there.
3) The money saved isn’t always worth the time
spent. (And homemade isn’t always cheaper.)
Before wasting your life dealing with a
frustrating color printer, do your research. Sometimes companies can do it way
cheaper than you think. In some cases, working for minimum wage and using that
money to hire out actually is more profitable than doing it yourself.
Remember your time is worth something. Yes,
slave labor is cheaper than actual
labor, but cheap isn’t always savvy. If you’re really strapped on cash, there
are many options to get more hands for a creative person: trade services, ask
family and friends, find new talent trying to get their foot in the door, even
just buying better tools can save you money in the long term.
HOW TO
BE A GOOD EMPLOYEE
-It’s not about what you can get away with.
Unfortunately, sometimes we learn that “good
work ethic” is “don’t piss the boss off.” Meaning that we know not to text
while on the clock is because someone will get mad at us. Once you start
working for yourself, however, you’re suddenly exposed to an entirely new
dynamic.
A lot of businesses work on this weird sort of
passive-aggressiveness. The company sets up tight boundaries that are much stricter
than they need to be so when you get those boundary pushers on your team, they
won’t actually be pushing them too far. Meanwhile, the employee does things in
secret, only behaving enough to not get caught.
In a healthy environment, however, everyone is
more communicative and upfront, honest about what is actually necessary. So
it’s partially the boss’s job to make sure the employee works when he’s
supposed to and not when he isn’t, but really a good employee is very
self-aware and loyal to the project. Meaning that the employee does recognize
when it’s okay to take a break and when it’s important that they get shit done.
The
employee’s job is to take responsibility for the work. Especially for someone
self-employed, the quality and progress on the project falls predominantly on
the employee’s shoulders. It is YOUR name on the line. The boss acts as a
support system, sort of a double check to make sure that good decisions are
being made, but a good employee doesn’t need very much supervision.
-Decide on your own standards and needs, and
stand up for them.
While some people struggle motivating
themselves without a boss, others struggle to take care of themselves. Yes, it
is important that, while working, you focus on making the project the best it
can be, make good decisions, and don’t waste time, but it is also important to
have a balanced life, recognize what’s going on with you internally, and be
fair to your needs. Just like you would do if you had an actual boss, if
something about the workplace isn’t effective, the employee needs to
communicate that. He’s the one most impacted, he’s the one who will see the
problem first. We might be tempted to shame ourselves for being lazy or not
investing enough into our business, to treat ourselves as a skeptical, pissy
manager who doesn’t understand why you can’t work today when your kids are
sick, yet that’s the benefit of being self-employed—when you can figure out
your needs, you have a good boss who will be willing to work with you.
If you want to be self-employed, sometimes the first step is to examine
why workplaces function the way they do.
You might end up deciding that your instincts are
dead on, and you’re happiest without a company motto, a checklist, and a hat
breathing down your ass every time Facebook calls, but I find that utilizing common
managerial methods can do wonders for your decision making and being firm about
your boundaries.
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