The unthinkable has happened: more people than ever before work from home—all thanks to a virus. Unlike those of us who chose to be self-employed a long time ago, making it a gradual process of much deliberation before taking the plunge, people were sent for a timeout in the home office virtually overnight, from one day to the next, without much of a chance for making the necessary preparations. Even though most people have some type of computer at home, they may not all have the proper infrastructure, such as an ergonomically correct desk and chair. But a year later, it is safe to assume that most people have managed to work out the kinks. Many may have come to enjoy the experience so much, perhaps, that they will decide to keep working from home when the pandemic is over.
I have been self-employed for most of my adult working life. Even though I did spend time teaching, proofreading and even writing for television on premises (sometimes far) away from my home, my home has always been my castle. Being able to stay within my own four walls while doing an honest day’s work is one of the things I love about my life and lifestyle the most. But there’s also a huge downside: other people.
When others hear you work from home, they often fail to understand that you’re actually working, and therefore assume that you must be available for coffee or chatting whenever they feel in the mood for a conversation or a trip to the coffee shop. So, they come knocking on your door or call you on the “phone” (i.e. mostly some chat software like Skype or Facebook nowadays). If I worked at an office or factory, they’d never think it a good idea to call me, say, at 11 a.m. or 3 p.m.—because they’d know I was at work and busy. But when you work from home, most other people with zero experience of such independence consider you fair game.
Over the years, I have therefore implemented very strict rules, and anyone who doesn’t respect them can expect to be cut from my inner circle. For when you work from home, nothing matters more than ensuring an environment free of disruption. Thankfully, I am blessed with a home that has no spouse or children in it. I tried the former, never had the latter, and given my experience, I have no intention of ever being anything but free and single (and thus extremely happy). Those who found themselves at home from one moment to the next last year, of course, were completely unprepared for working on their company projects, reports and presentations while having to fend off their children, who are pleased to have mommy or daddy at home all the time. Those people have my deepest sympathies.
During the pandemic, there is no real danger of unannounced visitors at your doorstep, but they will try to get in touch with you electronically—because you’re always home now and have nothing else to do, as their (misguided and ignorant) thinking goes. My top rule says: anyone who wants to contact me must make an appointment in writing. If you can’t be bothered to put your request in writing, I can’t be bothered to bother with you. I have had this rule for years, long before any pandemic.
I no longer use a landline phone. I have a line and a phone, but they are disconnected. I use it only for outgoing calls (once or twice a year), but incoming calls aren’t an option. The same is true of phone-type services, such as Skype. My Skype settings block any incoming calls automatically. As I said, if you wish to speak to me, you must make an appointment in writing, and I’ll schedule your appointment at my discretion, not yours.
Mind you, I took this step primarily to stop the flood of fraudulent telemarketing calls—which is the real pandemic of our times! But it also serves me very well as a way to stop people from interfering with my work process (or leisure). If I had spelled out my strict rules a year or two ago, most readers would have shaken their heads and said, “What a jerk!” Now, though, as a lot of people have seen for themselves what working from home entails, I can see nothing but nodding heads among those who have decided to spend a few minutes reading or skimming this article.
Boundaries matter, now more than ever. Not only must we stay within our bubbles, but we must also respect people’s different circumstances. For example, I have always considered it boorish behaviour when people just show up at someone’s home without announcing their visit beforehand. I mean, who does that? According to me (and my parents, who felt the same way and inculcated me accordingly), a complete and utter jerk, that’s who.
So, here’s my advice: don’t take your own personal circumstances and preconceived ideas and apply them to other people and their lives. Respect boundaries and observe basic good manners. Never show up unannounced, and always check with the person first to see whether they have time for you. Above all, respect those boundaries vis-à-vis people who work from home and/or who are self-employed. Because if you intrude on them without making arrangements in advance, you’re not only intruding on them and their home, but also on their place of work—and that is a big no-no.
How it works, in a nutshell: Being self-employed, I pretty much set my own hours. Clients specify deadlines, but it’s up to me to figure out how to get there. I may be home, but not really. There is the real me, a natural person, and there’s the other me, a legal entity, i.e. my business. That legal entity happens to occupy the physical space that is commonly known as my home. The natural person, the real me, actually doesn’t live at that home, but resides inside the legal entity that is my business. So, if you knock on my door or just call me out of the blue, you have no idea what process you may be interrupting and wreaking havoc with. Since I reside inside the legal entity of my business, any contact you make from the outside is invariably with that outer shell, that is, the legal entity. If you wish to speak with the natural person, the real me, you have to submit a written request to the legal entity first, which is forwarded to the natural person, and then, and only then, will I schedule and arrange something with you. But it will be on my terms, not yours.
It’s pretty straightforward when you think about it. If you come calling or knocking, I may be in conference with a client or working on a time-sensitive project. It may take me just a minute to tell you to go where the sun don’t shine, but your interruption may cause me to lose my thread, my rhythm, which means your intrusion could cost me more than just that one minute I took to tell you off. In other words, you end up stealing my precious time and jeopardizing the work I do. That makes you a thief of time, the worst kind of thief in my book.
Finally, there is, as always, the golden rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I merely expect others to behave the way I do. I never go to anyone’s place unannounced, for example. I never call anyone unless I have checked with them first via e-mail or text that it’s okay to call. I observe the rules regardless of whether the person runs a home-based business or not, but they apply even more so if that’s the case. And if you still have problems understanding any of this, simplify it even further: a person who works from home doesn’t actually have a home per se, but only a place of work, and as such, nothing can be done without an appointment.