When you need a home from home office
Over the long weekend I posted an article on my Work from Home Wisdom Facebook page about a home worker who is being disturbed by noise from the building work going on next door to her, which is due to last eight weeks. We all have different levels of tolerance for noise, but what do you do when it’s not only disturbing your concentration but intruding on your phone calls?
In one of our many moves since selling our house in Cornwall we were forced to rent a house opposite a pub when our landlords sold a place we were very happy in and the rental market was very slow. What with smokers standing outside, people making mobile phone calls, cars coming and going and occasional karaoke nights, we were glad to leave as soon as our lease was up.
And many of us live in terraced houses, where noisy neighbours can cause havoc with your work schedule. Thank goodness for the growing availability of free wifi and coworking spaces when you need a refuge. Sometimes of course there are other reasons a home worker might need to seek out a home from home office.
Rosie Slosek explained in a previous post how she manages to establish home working boundaries while running three businesses with her partner in the living room of their flat. Another method she has for keeping out of his way when needing to concentrate is to go and work in a nearby library. You can see the gracious surroundings on the latest page of the Home Office Gallery, now up to five pages!
Have you ever needed to escape your home office because of noise, and where did you find a sanctuary?
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Ah, the building noise. Yes. I hadn’t mentioned that. 5 houses in my road. Unless it’s a tree chipper or slab cutter outside the window all day, I have to just get on with it. It’s better than the 6 weeks of inside the house noise last year.
We can’t have everything and I prefer to be comfortable in my home working than in an office not of my choosing.
It’s hard to break a home working habit, as we found out with our recent broadband problems. Not so easy to just up sticks and go elsewhere when everything is set up at home. Very unsettling.
In my case, being a bookbinder, I was the one making a noise. Bookbinders hit books with hammers! (Sounds much worse than it is.) I retreated to a shed in the garden – peace and quiet for all concerned.
Were the neighbours coming round to complain, Polly? Sounds like a fascinating job.