I’ve been running my own bookkeeping business for a long time. Until recently, however, it’s always been in conjunction with another job that took me out of the house. Or, like last year, I worked as a subcontracted vendor, but worked in the client’s business. Either way, being home on a weekday wasn’t usually a good sign. At the end of last year, that business shut down. This meant that, for the first time in a long time, I didn’t have to leave the house to get to work.
The past few months have been challenging. I was used to a very specific schedule, and the sudden string of changes really threw me off. It always felt like I should be somewhere else. I would be in the middle of a big pile of paperwork, but still feel lazy, as though working from home was some type of copout.
I’m now 4 months into this new schedule, and I absolutely love it. It takes a lot of discipline to pull it off, and I still struggle with it daily, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.
My Plan
My plan is to eliminate as many reasons for leaving the house as possible. This, obviously, doesn’t include fun things I like to do with the family, or buying groceries. Working in an office outside the home created so many errands and expenses, and I really want to find a way to eliminate as many of them as I can.
Why?
There are a few reasons.
It costs a lot less money to stay at home.
It costs a lot less time.
It’s better for my health and the environment.
Examples
I fill up our vehicle once every 4-6 weeks, instead of every week.
I used to spend 1-2 hours every day, just driving, running errands, and picking up lunch.
The extra money and time reduces a lot of stress, I eat out once a week (or less) instead of daily, and the reduction of fuel and takeout takes a big chunk out of my impact on the environment.
Exceptions
My plan is not to try to be a shut-in, and ignore my clients. There will be times where it will make more sense to go out for a meeting, to pick up paperwork, or to simply network. I just happen to have the kind of job (bookkeeping) that doesn’t require a lot of face time. Let’s face it, how many times have you thought to yourself;
I really wish I could see my bookkeeper more often. I mean, I just love seeing the expression on his face when he talks about profit margins.
Yeah, I didn’t think so.
I’m currently working on a list of tips and tricks I’ve figured out, in case any of you are interested in a similar pursuit. I’ll post 1 or 2 every week until I run out or you get sick of reading about them.
Do you work from home? Do you have a great tip to cut down on the time you spend outside of the home? Please put them in the comments, I’d love to hear about them.
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