Extroverts are generally understood to be outgoing people who like socialising and talking, whereas introverts we tend to think of as shy and retiring. In fact the words come from the Latin for turning outwards or inwards, so an extrovert replenishes their inner energy by turning out, often to other people, whereas introverts turn inwards to their own resources.

Just think about how you would spend your ideal evening after a heavy day’s work. The extrovert makes a beeline for the pub to tell all his friends about the idiots he has to deal with. The introvert looks forward to a quiet evening in, maybe reading or watching TV, alone or with close family.

The home working extrovert needs to be in touch with other people regularly to keep up their motivation and stay inspired. It’s important to recognise this so you can plan meetings as top priority. Home working is much more of a realistic prospect for you now that workhubs, coworking spaces and Jelly events are so accessible.

The more introvert personality may relish the idea of being able to work alone at home without interruption. I enjoy it most of the time but I still have to remember to schedule regular trips out or the horrible downward spiral sets in before I realise what’s happening. I find that one meeting a day is ample so I have plenty of time afterwards for reflection.

This kind of self-understanding is very powerful for home workers. We have the freedom and flexibility to organise our diary in exactly the way that suits us, once we understand our own preferences and habits. And understanding ourselves also helps us to understand the quirks of others and results in those ‘aha’ moments – usually as in ‘Now I know why that person gets on my nerves so much!’

(There’s much more information to help you spot personality traits and different ways of doing things in Chapter 2 of Work from Home).

A and I usually work on bank holidays in order to avoid the crowds at popular destinations and the traffic clogging the major roads. We enjoy being contrarian and doing things differently to the majority. Why do the same thing at the same time as lots of others when you can take a day off during the week and have a nicer experience?

I’m also wondering whether to do a blog post on a bank holiday or to treat it as an extension of the weekend and not bother. Are there aspects of your usual Monday routine you miss out on a bank holiday or does life go on as normal?

‘Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it?’ was the answer. Not very original perhaps, but I had to laugh, imagining the Ancient Romans’ to-do list:

Monday – build Rome
Tuesday – conquer all known Western world
Wednesday – conquer all unknown Western world
Thursday – whoops, collapse of empire

The most flattering description of this affliction of impatience is by Barbara Winter, who helps people to be creatively self-employed or ‘joyfully jobless’. Barbara says ‘Impatience is the curse of the visionary’, which is balm to my impatient spirit. Who wouldn’t be seduced by the possibility of being a visionary?

Her phrase also captures the frustration I feel when I’ve had a good idea and I can so clearly see what it’s going to look like when it’s finished, only to realise that, not having attained the art of instant manifestation, a lot of time and effort will be expended before it’s complete.

By the way, having said nothing ever happens quickly enough, I tweeted Barbara to check I was quoting her correctly – and her reply came back immediately! The marvels of Twitter – even quick enough for impatient visionaries! If you like the sound of Barbara, you can follow her on Twitter for regular pithy reminders and links to thought-provoking articles.

OK, time for my next task – now, how far did I get with my SEO yesterday?

I’m a cat person by nature, although I’ve been cat-deprived for a long time now since my elderly tabby and tortoiseshell departed this life. You can tell how long by the fact I wasn’t using a computer when they were around! Sometimes they did like to try and sit on the page I was trying to read or write on, or box the pen as it moved, but generally I found them excellent company. And at least I didn’t have to talk to myself!

I have home working friends who have dogs and find them a great reason to leave work behind for a while and get out of the house. Fine when the weather’s good, but maybe not so appealing in winter. And this morning when I spoke to my publisher her dog decided to join in! But dog walks can be useful as a convenient way of marking the beginning and end of the working day, whereas us dog-less folk might be tempted to carry on into the evening.

But then of course, why not just observe the wildlife outside your window, which provides endless entertainment with absolutely no upkeep?

‘I think loneliness is often the hardest part for many, especially if like me you also live alone. It’s easy to go for days without seeing or speaking to anyone, especially when I’m having a bit of a down period. I also really miss the interaction with and bouncing ideas off of other people.
‘My guess would be that those that tend towards being more extroverted would find this more challenging than those that tend towards being more introverted… but that assumption has yet to be proven.
‘A few of my top tips would be:
a) develop a routine, so you get in the same habit as getting up, dressed and going to the office;
b) set a finish time, so when you hit a certain time, say 6pm, that’s it work is finished for today;
c) make sure you have a laptop and or smart phone, so you can get out and work from anywhere, and
d) I get out to a few networking breakfasts each week to interact with other business owners – 4Networking is my favourite choice, but there are plenty of options out there…’

There certainly are, and the number of options is increasing all the time, as workhubs and Jelly events proliferate around the country.

Many thanks to Kyle for sharing his insights and helpful advice, and I look forward to hearing more horror stories and how you cope with them. And a few tales of triumph and celebration wouldn’t go amiss!

The trouble with working at home is that so often the boss is Extremely High Challenge and Absolutely No Support! You know the kind of thing s/he natters away in the back of your mind:

‘You’re not very good at this, are you? If you carry on like this, you’ll never get anywhere. Well, that was kind of OK, but you could have done better there…and there…and there. This is taking far too long.’ And so on and so on.

It’s Friday today and a good day to look back at what you have achieved this week, rather than dwelling on what you haven’t. Give yourself a few minutes to acknowledge your progress and appreciate your many talents. As for that demanding boss, give ‘em the sack, at least for today.

I’d been meaning to send out my work from home newsletter for several weeks, but it just wasn’t happening – until earlier this week I read Nicky Kriel’s post on The Watercooler about her struggles with the very same problem. I think it was realising that I’m not the only one and learning that Nicky had managed to overcome all her doubts and technical glitches that gave me the impetus to make a start. Yesterday the newsletter went out. Which is good because today I’m at Frome Jelly and couldn’t work on it, but at least I can use my nice bright jelly beans picture!

Oh, and you can sign up for the newsletter in the box in the right-hand sidebar. Just scroll down a bit.

My chief horror is probably the experience I had last week, when for some bizarre reason I had a whole week of sitting at my desk, somehow expecting to churn out article after article, followed by soul-destroying SEO, followed by a newsletter… Honestly, you’d think that after over 20 years I might know better. By Thursday I was in a downward spiral and by Friday I’d lost the will to live.

Shan’t be doing that again this week. Tomorrow we have Jelly in Frome and I’ll be coming up with plenty of other ideas to get away from the desk and keep the inspiration flowing, instead of firmly stuck.

What home working triumphs and disasters have you experienced? Do you have any tips to share with other home workers? Just email them to me at judy@workfromhomewisdom.com – with a photo too if you have one!

1. Incipient madness
It’s said we have a limited number of thoughts every day, which means we repeatedly think the same thoughts over and over. Ask any home worker and they will confirm that left alone those thoughts all too quickly become a mantra of ‘I can’t do this, I’m not good enough, I’m bored’ etc. Let somebody else into your head and those thoughts have no space. Plan regular phone calls and time on social media throughout the day to keep a sense of connection with the outside world.

2. Weight gain
The best, in fact only, way for greedy home workers like me to eat healthily is to leave all those favourite treats on the supermarket shelves. It’s so much easier to make the decision there than when it’s staring at you from the cupboard. And so much easier again if your stomach isn’t rumbling when you go shopping. And a sad confession – if those calorie-laden snacks do somehow creep in, I may resort to asking my partner to hide them. No shame, out of sight, out of mind can work…sometimes.

3. Just leave me alone
There is something compelling about a ringing phone and very few of us can comfortably ignore it. So if you want to concentrate the only solution is to switch on the answerphone, turn down the volume or completely unplug it. Cultivate the attitude that a mobile phone is for your own convenience, nobody else’s, which means it’s switched on when it suits you. As for the doorbell, ignore it. If you were actually out, at a client meeting, for example, the caller would post a message or go away. No difference.

4. I’m never off-duty
If you have a dedicated home office keep all your work stuff strictly within it. It’s not that hard. After all, you never put saucepans in the bathroom. Presumably. It is more difficult if you’re working in a shared space, as you’ll have to do regular tidying sessions. Have you tried decluttering? It might sound hard work but it gives you a feeling of great virtue and clarity, both of which can generally be quite elusive. Ask a neat-freak friend if you need help getting started. I bet you’ll unearth loads of stuff you’d forgotten you even had.

5. Get me out of here
Yes, it’s true, you really do need to get out more. The only way is to make meetings and events a priority in your diary and plan your work around them, not the other way round. You will feel guilty doing it, but ignore that and go ahead. It works, honestly. And now you can combine getting out and meeting people with actually doing some work – yes, it’s coworking and Jelly time! I’m sure I don’t need to tell you there’s more information about that elsewhere on this site…

I had a very enjoyable and useful time talking to twelve enthusiastic writers about the issues that most affect them and any home worker – developing some kind of routine for your working day, the terrors of procrastination, and how to recognise when you’re spending too much time alone.

Everyone agreed that juggling home and family commitments with work can be a nightmare and often the writing gets abandoned because other, more mundane jobs seem so much more pressing. Even things like ironing and digging the garden yield a quick, tangible result, while making time to write can seem indulgent and selfish.

We agreed that these are issues that never seem to get resolved, and then yesterday one of the group told me that her children had planned the day to include a couple of hours writing time – and unlike many of her own previous plans, those hours actually happened!

Which makes me wonder if she has stumbled upon a brilliant solution to home working parents’ guilt – let the kids have a hand in planning the diary, including your work time, so they have an investment in making it happen.