Working from home has its perks. You can go to work in your pajamas, you never have to leave your pet alone, and the commute couldn’t be easier. But working from home is far from perfect. It’s hard to separate work and the rest of your life when your desk is never more than a few steps away. Plus, working from home can get lonely.
While working from home might have been the right choice when you were just getting started, you’ll need to reevaluate as your business grows. Here’s how to decide whether it’s time to leave your home office for an executive suite.
1.Do you feel lonely?
Some people thrive in quiet and solitude. Others feel stifled by it. If working from home is starting to feel like serving a prison sentence in solitary confinement, it might be time to find a workspace with other humans in it.
2. Are you distracted by household tasks?
When you work from home it’s a lot harder to ignore the laundry that needs to be done or the dishes that never made it to the dishwasher after dinner. Those household chores are in your face all day. Not only can they distract you from work, they can also pile on the stress. Unless you set some clear boundaries from the beginning, you can end up spending more time on household tasks than you do on work.
3. Does your home life infringe on your work time?
If you work from home and your partner doesn’t, you may also end up with extra tasks like cooking dinner, accepting deliveries, or doing errands during the week because you have the flexibility to do so. Your children may come home from school and create a distraction.Or if your partner works on a different schedule than you do, you may find yourself unable to focus with them in the other room watching TV or doing something fun while you work.
4. Is work taking over your home?
The opposite is sometimes true as well. With your desk only a few steps away, you might find yourself working in the evening instead of spending time with your family. Or, you might not be able to share a family dinner because the kitchen table has been overwhelmed by your work papers.
5. Are you ready to hire help?
Your business may have grown to the point where you’ve considered hiring some help, but parking your part-time assistant on the couch between a pile of laundry and your dog’s chew toys doesn’t seem like a winning strategy. It might be time to look for a more professional location where you can collaborate with your team.
Say yes to an office outside the house
If you answered yes to any of the questions above, it might be time to leave your home office and get an executive suite of your own. An executive suite gives you the privacy of a home office — you’ll have a door you can shut, without sacrificing the social and networking opportunities you get by mixing with other business professionals.
You can get an office outside the house with free parking and all the coffee you can drink for as little as $670 per month.
If you’re not quite ready to make the commitment to your own office, you can create better work-life balance with a membership to a coworking space. Coworking gives you a place to work outside your house without the distraction of your local coffee shop. With plans starting at $65 a month, College Park Executive Suites has the co-working plan that fits your business.
Call or email to schedule a tour today and start working outside your house tomorrow.
