Alright alright, we’re midway through 2023 so nobody needs me to weigh in on the ‘Can we really Work from Home?’ debate. But I want to get even more specific that that.
I think we’ve established now that no, we don’t need to be sat in a fancy office all day to be productive and that productivity itself isn’t linked to being in a “work environment” but what if we take that to the absolute extreme.
What if I told you that I’ve had the most successful quarter in my businesses history – from being sat on my sofa?
Oh yeah, when you picture a successful business woman I bet she’s in Louboutins and a sharp suit with her Mulberry bag, but this one right here is sat in her gym kit, under a blanket in her living room in Lincolnshire watching Gilmore Girls or The Office on repeat.
Ugh Becka, you slob. You’re so lazy you don’t even sit at a desk.
Am I though? Or do I tend to grab my laptop at 7.30am after letting the dog out, and then can often not look up until he’s crossing his legs and I’m starving for lunch?
Am I though? Or am I just really comfortable, have enough space be surrounded by what I need and can save time not changing when I leave for the gym?
Am I though? Or do I have just enough of a distraction to stop me getting bored, but it’s familiar enough that I don’t need to pay attention to it – the perfect balance for keeping me on track with work?
Honestly, someone commented to me that it’s “obvious you just sit on the sofa all day” but what does it matter?
I have an office upstairs, in fact – my office in my old house used to be the Doctor’s Office for my entire village – how’s THAT for a ‘proper’ office.
Yet I’ve made more website, managed more social media accounts, signed and served my clients and erm hello – made more MONEY by sitting on this sofa than I did in that ‘proper’ office I used to have.
Now, here are some things I’d like to point out…
If I am customer facing, then I will sit at my actual desk and take a Zoom call there. My filing etc is all kept in an office, but honestly, I find it easier to take Zoom calls sat at my desk with my MacBook at the right angle.
If I go out to a meeting then I do ditch the gym-kit and put on some slightly more formal clothes – depending on the client and the environment they themselves work in plus the relationship we have.
When I feel as though I’m getting into a slump, I do find a change of scenery really important and so I will take myself to a cafe a few times a month and work from there. I said before how I can be super productive from right here, but I do have enough discipline to move my butt if I feel that start to dip.
I personally cannot work in silence, I can’t do it. My own head is too loud if the room is silent, so it might seem odd to have the TV on but I would genuinely get nothing achieved if it wasn’t.
It is important to mentally split your time from work to relaxing. And I feel this on the days I don’t have Sophie. When I do have her, there’s the obvious divide because I put my MacBook down, walk to get her from school and then generally ‘her’ life takes over for the rest of the day. But when I don’t have her, that divide doesn’t come as easily and there have been many cases of me working from 7am until 11pm because… there’s been no cue to stop. Something I’m actively working on.
Okay, so you wanna work from your sofa? Here’s a couple of considerations first.
Can you honestly be productive? If you find your laptop locking itself or you’re being signed out of platforms due to inactivity, you’re probably too focused on the TV and not enough on work. So either switch off the ‘set or admit sofa-working isn’t for you.
Is this how you want your business to be perceived? “I don’t care what people think” coolio, go for it then, me neither! Except, I’ll hold my hands up and say that I do care when they’re paying me for a zoom call or I’m trying to get them to sign. For me, and this is just me, those calls deserve a proper desk even just for the impression it gives – so I’ll shimmy on upstairs. You might not care though, so make that choice for yourself.
Can you separate your time? Or as I said before, will you get sucked in to working stupidly long hours just because… you’re already sat in your evening spot? Maybe you could work from the sofa on the other side of the room then move at night? I don’t know, that’s your call but I do think it’s super important to compartmentalise your time so you get the break you deserve.
Do you have enough space? I’m sat on a 3 seater sofa, so I have my MacBook on my lap, my iPhone to my left and my notebook and social planners to the right. I can see each thing perfectly, reach it all and access it as I need to. If you’re sat feeling cramped then perhaps you need to find a bigger place to work from.
Honestly now, would you even know that I do 90% of my work from my sofa if I hadn’t just told you? And has it altered your opinion of my award-winning, increasingly successful business?