(source)

Himself and I both work from home.  Well, Himself works from home and I work for myself but when I’m not at the clinic there’s an extraordinary amount of admin that needs to be done and this is primarily done from home.

A lot of people think that this is living the dream, and indeed in many ways it is.  But working from home is hard to do because there is nobody there keeping an eye on you, clearing their throats when your productivity is low, gently (or not so gently) nudging you to tell you that maybe you’ve spent a bit too much time surfing the internet.  It takes a while to find a routine, to find discipline in the sudden freedom that you have – and believe me when you’ve worked in law for years, when you’ve had to log every minute of your day, that freedom is almost too much.

As our situation is in flux right now, I thought I would share a few tips that have helped us over the last few years, before everything is different and I forget them. So just in case you’re about to find yourself self-employed or working from home, read on!

1.  Find yourself a space to work. This is the number one priority for working from home.  Try to find yourself a dedicated space to work, even if it’s just a small desk in the corner of your living room, and make that work space as beautiful and as inspirational (and as tidy) as you can.  Doubling the dining table up as an office just doesn’t work.  It means that your job is right there in your face all the time.  We ended up turning the spare bedroom into an office for Himself (he has several computers etc and needs the space) and I’ve taken a small cupboard bedroom for my desk and yoga mat.  It means when we have guests we have to book them into a nearby hotel but it’s all about priorities!

2. Set yourself working hours. There is a tendency when working for yourself or from home to start checking emails immediately upon getting up and carrying on from there.  Set yourself reasonable working hours and stick to them, otherwise your job will take over your whole life.  What these hours will be are dependent on a) what you do and b) what hours you are at your brightest (I’m an afternoon person, Himself is a morning person).  It will be hit and miss to start with while your work them out but once you’ve got them, stick to them!

3. Get up, get dressed, eat breakfast. Don’t be tempted to work in your pyjamas.  It’ll be lunchtime before you get showered and you’ll feel horrible for it.  Act exactly as you would if you had to go in to an office.

4. Turn off wi-fi. Have certain set hours during your working day when you turn off your wi-fi.  This way you can’t be distracted by social media and incoming emails.  How many hours you have offline will again depend upon what you do, Himself needs to check his emails far more often than I do, but do try to take that time offline, especially when you need to get your head down on a big project.

5. Twitter is your office mates. Conversely you will never need social media so much as when you work at home alone!  You’ll be surprised how much you miss the office banter (even though when you were in the office you hated it so) and it’s easy to become isolated.  Pick your Twitter and Facebook friends carefully and check in with them a few times a day.  It sounds crazy but it can keep you sane!

A final point for any couple who, like us, both work from home.  Learn to leave each other alone! Don’t be tempted to bother each other with household minutae during those hours reserved for work.  Remember, you’re meant to be behaving as though you’d gone into the office.  Ask yourself, would you phone them at work for this question or leave it until they got home?

Any other tips from my fellow home-workers?

(source)

Himself has a little bit of a man-crush on Jared Leto. Some of you will remember him from My So-Called Life and American Psycho. In this house it’s all about his second incarnation as frontman of 30 Seconds to Mars. They’re not a bad band, as bands go (I for one particularly like their This is War album), but what is astounding about them is their following. The die-hard fans call themselves The Echelon, go out of their way to promote gigs and albums and other appearances, tattoo themselves in the strange Illuminati-type symbols that Jared tattoos on his arms and know all the call and response/hand symbols to the songs. If you ever get a chance to see 30 Second to Mars live on MTV or something like that you’ll see what I mean.

Himself doesn’t really get it. He loves the man and the music, he just doesn’t get the strange cult-like following.

But I do.

You see it reminds me of New Model Army gigs in the late 80s/early 90s. We, the die-hard fans, called ourselves The Family. We travelled far and wide to see them play. We knew all the words to all the songs, as well as the actions (that is less lame than it sounds…. honestly!). We tattooed ourselves with celtic knots and always bought the t-shirt. And if one of us fell down in the mosh-pit someone would always pick us up again.

(the moshpit c. 2006 – a bit balder, a bit fatter but still going strong!!)

It’s about a need to belong. It’s about feeling like a lost lonely little freak, about nobody at your school understanding you and then, suddenly discovering this band that speak to you. Discovering that, amongst the other fans, you’ve found people who finally get you. You’ve found somewhere you can relax and be yourself. Who you really, truly are. No holds barred.

This need to be part of a tribe is primal. Those feelings start when you hear the record. But when you see the band live, pressed against the heat and vitality of other living souls who feel the same way as you it goes beyond that. Beyond time, to that place where we are all a spark of something else. Something special.

Why am I telling you this?

Because it happens in yoga too.

I know for a fact there are people reading this that know what I mean. That feeling of finally having found home when you walk into a yoga class. That feeling of finally belonging.

In our yoga class we know the dance, we know all the words, we know the call-and-response chants and the secret hand gestures (mudras). And we feel that primal belonging as we practice alongside others, that spark of life that lies within us all.

Those of you who know Linda will know that she refers to her husband’s passion for music as “his yoga”. And we all have that. It might not be a yoga class. But everyone has that place where they belong, where they’ve finally found what they were looking for. And if you haven’t, I promise you, it’s just around the corner if you keep your eyes, your mind and your heart wide open.

“Some people ask us if this is a cult; I say this:
It’s something special. It’s not for everyone – it’s only for those who understand.”
–Jared Leto

I still feel the call to New Model Army gigs at least once a year. I still call myself Family as proudly now as I did when I was 14. I can’t help it, the pull is strong, the desire to belong.

Almost as strong as the call to yoga.

This has nothing to do with yoga, nothing to do with anything really. It’s purely for entertainment, although whether you lot will find it entertaining remains to be seen.

As you know, Himself turned 30 a week last Saturday. Celebrations lasted over two weekends and last weekend over some bubbly we recorded his responses to a question I asked him on his arrival in his new decade.

What five important things have you learned in your life so far?

One thing I have learned from this is I have a VERY LOUD VOICE. I apologise. My job involves me talking, a lot. Although I don’t usually teach yoga at this volume.

When I was a little girl I had to do a reading in Church at Christmas. All the other children who did readings spoke into a microphone. When it came to my turn my voice was so loud that the microphone produced feedback and had to be turned off.

You have been warned.

Enjoy!

SYPodcast1 by suburbanyogini

Download

I’m thinking of turning this idea into a monthly series. If you have five things you’ve learned that you’d like to share on a podcast (recorded via Skype), then get in touch: suburbanyogini(at)gmail(dot)com