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Home Business Strategy:
How to Share an Office with your Spouse Without Driving Each Other Crazy
Okay, your home business is popping at the seams. You and your spouse are focused. You're a well-oiled machine looking forward to more growth for your home business this year. You're writing a brilliant email and concentrating like heck when the phone rings. Your husband and business partner, who is also diligently working beside you, takes the call and begins a long conversation with an important client.
Arrghh!
Does this sound familiar? You love your spouse dearly but if sharing an office for your business has you climbing the walls, then read on. Without all the white noise and background buzz you get in a regular office, every pen click, keyboard tab, and coffee slurp can be incredibly annoying.
Home Business Challenge:
So how can you run your home business successfully,
co-existing without killing each other?
Well, there's no perfect solution because it depends a lot on the type of businesses you're both running, but there are a few tips to keep the peace.
- One of you get a laptop. Seriously. This turned out to be a great solution for my husband and I, although it wasn't intentionally purchased for that reason. A laptop allows you to easily pick up shop and move to a quieter spot if necessary. And you can do it quickly. I can unplug my laptop and continue working on battery power without missing a beat. I've even taken my laptop to my son's soccer practice and worked on documents in the van. A home-based Mom's job is never done.
- Work in two completely separate areas or if you are share an office, at least make sure it's a big office (my husband's suggestion). Of course that's always the dream, but never the reality. Whether you're sharing the dining room table or the spare room as office space, make sure you both have adequate elbow room and decent chairs. You can get inexpensive folding tables from The Home Depot or office supply store that you can bring out when you need extra space to spread out.
Home Business Solution:
Take the time to invest in options that will make running your home business more pleasant for both of you. It's worth it!
- Invest in a set of good quality headsets. Not only will headsets save you from listening to the other's choice in music, you can be handsfree when on the phone. Think typing and talking on the phone at the same time. Also, with new internet technology it's possible to make and receive calls on your computer using internet phones instead of regular phones. You can save loads of money using an internet-based unlimited long distance plan and we recommend that you explore both free and subscriber services to see if one is right for you.
- Use internet phone services to add additional phone lines, especially if you and your spouse are running separate businesses. When you have a home business, not having enough phone lines is like a family of eight trying to live together with one bathroom. Adding extra lines through your local phone company is expensive, but you can subscribe to services like Voip.com for as little as $10 a month AND get another number, unlimited long distance, and loads of free features. Free internet phone services like GrandCentral.com give you a free inbound phone number that you can forward to any number of other phones, like your cell, your spouse's cell, your home phone, or other internet phone.
- Organize your office storage. This is a big one. You don't have to invest in a new set of expensive office furniture, but storing your work files separately helps avoid disaster. We use plastic drawer units (around $20 each), cardboard magazine holders, and some do-it-yourself wall shelving. We also clearly label all our files and binders.
- Position your desks so that you won't be distracted by what the other is doing through your peripheral vision. Either have your backs facing, or sit corner to corner. If you're desperate, try an inexpensive screen or panel to divide the work space. Even hanging fabric can give you a sense of having your own space and absorb a little noise.
- Minimize noise by adding carpeting, area rugs and more furniture. Sound reverberates in a sparse room with hardwood floors but the trick is to find the perfect balance without introducing clutter.
- Finally, keep a mutual schedule if you can. With a little planning, you may find that you have lots of time to yourself in the office.
We've found that working from home, and out of the same office, has been fun. Really! You can always find a way to do it, by respecting each other's space, storage needs, and a few handy bits of high tech.
Leanne Tremblay is a successful freelance technical writer and online publisher. She has written numerous articles on working from home, and in fact has been a work-at-home Mom for years! She has a special interest in technology for home-based businesses and runs a website on internet phone services and free internet phone software you can use at home. She also rights numerous articles on gardening and outdoor living topics, and publishes a site on colored contact lenses.
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