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Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

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Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#71

Post by rscale »

benihana wrote: post #68
awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

Have a separate work space dedicated solely towards working. You don't play there, you don't eat there, you work there. It's important to have boundaries when working from home.

The dedicated work-only office was my most important productivity enhancement. It helped me prevent burnout (where I'd just work every single hour), and it also helped my spouse understand when I was "at work" and should be treated thusly.

As an added bonus in the US, a dedicated work-only workspace can be eligible for a Home Office tax deduction.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#72

Post by JohnBooty »

awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

Great advice, all of it!

  If you have a family or a partner. Just because 
  you are at home does not mean "can you just put on 
  a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. 
  You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If 
  you choose to 'come out' of your office and engage 
  with the family then that is your choice. Emergencies 
  are acceptable interruptions ;)
This was one of the toughest parts for me. It was really, really, really difficult to get my partner to understand these boundaries. (And my sense of guilt played into this too. If she was carrying heavy groceries into the house, how could I not go and help her, even if she didn't ask me to?)

One thing that somewhat worked was asking her to consider the following before interrupting me: "If I was working in a 'normal' office job, would you pick up the phone and call me about this?"

If the answer was "yes" then it was okay to interrupt me. If the answer was "no" then it was probably something that could wait until my next bathroom break or dog-walking break.

Most partners understand that they can't phone into your workplace for every little thing ("whoa, the store is having a crazy sale on rutabegas this week!") that pops into their heads.

On my part, I had to understand that in many senses just as she was intruding on my work life, I was intruding on her home life by bringing work into it. She had never worked from home and home was always a place of relaxation and family togetherness, and I had to understand that I was asking her to shift her notions of that.

I was seriously considering getting an "ON AIR" light -- you know, like a DJ would use at a radio station to signal nobody should come into the room -- at one point. Had I not transitioned back into a more standard office job we probably would have!

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#74

Post by sneak »

benihana wrote: post #68
awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

Have a separate work space dedicated solely towards working. You don't play there, you don't eat there, you work there. It's important to have boundaries when working from home.

The benefit of this, in addition to the obvious (you don't have to put on pants to "go to work") is that any space in your home used solely for business purposes is tax deductible under the US tax scheme.

My company pays 100% of my personal apartment rent, and I receive an additional W2 for the percentage of non-office space as personally taxable income. This means that 100% of the money paid is a corporate tax deduction, and the parts paid for my office never hit my personal income.

I recently learned that because my flat is a 2 bathroom, one of those bathrooms can be included in the "office space" calculation as well, as offices require bathrooms.

Standard disclaimer: I am not an accountant or a lawyer, so this is layperson advice. Consult with a professional.

As mentioned above, make sure it has a door, and close it. Train your housemates/family/partner/SO/whatever to leave you alone while you're "at work".

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#75

Post by tgflynn »

I recommend using a time tracking app of some kind. The goal isn't to produce timesheets for your clients, just for you personally to keep track of how much time you spend working on projects.

For this to be helpful you need to be very conscientious about using it. When you are clocked in you shouldn't be doing anything but project related work.

One disadvantage of this is that it's easy to forget to clock out.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#76

Post by teleclimber »

flashfabrixx wrote: post #23
awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

18) Figure out when you're most productive during the day. Morning person? Evening person? Put small and easy tasks in the non-productive time of the day (or break out, see point 4) and get the big ones in your best time of the day.

Agreed. The number 1 thing, in my opinion, is to be your own experiment. Listen to your body and your mind as it tells you when it's ready to work and when it's not, then evolve habits that promote effective work.

Example: I am not a morning person. I have also found that if my apartment is messy I get distracted. So I started doing chores in the morning right after getting up. I clean up the place while I'm still half-asleep, and when I am ready to work there is less messiness that would side-track me. Doing this regularly also means I don't have to dedicate a Saturday afternoon to cleaning.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#77

Post by teleclimber »

mfrankel wrote: post #60

Pomodoros are very helpful. Here is a 2.5 minute guide to them: http://www.brevedy.com/pomodoro-power-time-focusing-in-2-5-m...

The Pomodoro technique is the only thing that worked for me after everything I tried.

I think it works because it's a positive-reinforcer ("do work and complete Pomodoro" as opposed to "don't procrastinate so you can do work").

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#78

Post by dreamfactory »

EvanMiller wrote: post #33

I have to challenge the premise that most of the responders have taken, which is that working on a daily schedule is "better". On the contrary, I find that my work habits are a lot like yours -- and I think that's a good thing! Sometimes I will be possessed by a coding demon and crank out work for days (weeks?) on end. Other times I will putter around watching TV or brainstorming ideas. For me the whole point of bein…

It may not be for all but as far as I'm aware most productive creative people are rigorous in their schedules. For example, I've read a number of artists and writers talking about the importance of developing the habit of creating output every day regardless of quality.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#79

Post by ISeemToBeAVerb »

I struggled for a long time when I started working from home. I tried all kinds of things, but what ended up working best for me was treating it like I would any other job.

I get up and go to work at the same time every day. I take time off for lunch, and I quit at 6:00 PM every day (assuming I don't have any pressing deadlines).

That's not to say I don't allow myself any benefits of working from home. I'll take a long lunch with a friend every now and again, but I try not to let my routine slide over an extended period of time.

It's also important to set a precedent early on about what disturbances you're willing to tolerate, if any. I handle distractions the same way I would at an office. If it's an emergency, I deal with it. If it's not, I politely remind the offender that I'm in the middle of work and then I get back to it.

As far as temptations go, I think it depends on what your vices are. That being said, controlling your environment is the easiest way to limit your temptations.

For me, internet browsing was by far my biggest time-suck so I used an app called "Self-Control" to block access to sites I waste time on. I don't need to use it anymore, but it helped a lot in the beginning.

I also used to do crazy stuff like unplug my electronics to keep myself from watching TV or playing games. Taking the time to plug everything back in was usually enough to remind me I shouldn't be doing this right now.

Really, It just takes a bit of experimentation to get the ideal routine down. Took me over a year, but now I'm super productive.

Re: Ask HN: How to increase self-discipline as a self-employed person?

#80

Post by ChristianMarks »

awjr wrote: post #14

Been working from home from the end of 1999 on and off up until the middle of 2012. 1) This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGg1567fzTY (almost posted anonymously). Deal with it :) 2) If you have a family or a partner. Just because you are at home does not mean "can you just put on a wash". Build rules into engaging with the family. You are working. You are not to be disturbed. If you choose to 'come out' of your offi…

5) Get a dog :) ... Oh and she's very good at solving technical issues. Sounds mad, but sometimes just talking about a problem to her makes it work for me (and makes me look less stupid when I have to discuss the problem with work colleagues)

Not mad at all. The advice to talk with your dog on technical projects and general problem solving goes for cats. At least you don't talk to your deceased cat (I know I do). He and his two successors are responsible for solutions to non-trivial mathematical and programming problems. The solutions have to be non-trivial and interesting, otherwise the cat will listen but choose to ignore the discussion.

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