Working at Home with Your Spouse
We have a guest post today from Jean Murray, a former blogger at Home Biz Notes and currently the Small Business blogger at Bizzia. Jean also has a home business and shares an office with her husband.
Working with Your Spouse
How would you like to work with your spouse, in the same room? Every day? Could you do it? Could you do it at home?
My husband retired from his job of 27 years last June and he immediately started to work for a small company where he is now able to work much of the time from home. I semi-retired from my full-time work in November, and I am a freelance writer and I run a home-based business.
One of my big concerns when I retired was whether we would be able to work together at home. We have our desks at either end of a large bedroom, but they are still in the same room. My husband’s work requires him to concentrate, so disruptions are a problem if he is “in the zone.” If I am concentrating on a writing project, I also don’t like to be interrupted. So how has it worked?
Actually, it is working better than I thought. When we started working together, we sat down and discussed the issues we thought would be problems. Basically, it works because we treat each other with respect and we don’t intrude on each other’s space or time. The best part is being able to have lunch together and talk about how things are going. As you know, working at home can be lonely so having someone to talk to at lunch is helpful.
The biggest problem is the phones. I have a cell and a work cell; my husband has a work cell and we have a regular home phone. If one of our cells rings, we answer and walk out of the room so as not to disturb the other person.
It’s those pesky telemarketer calls that drive us both nuts. We have considered turning the phone off. I usually answer because the phone is closest to my desk and I can be meaner. I just say “Take us off your list” and I hang up.
So far, we have been able to work out issues, and we both enjoy it. This week, my husband is working at his office, and we both miss being together. So we meet for lunch anyway.
( Jean Murray has an MBA and a PhD in small business management and she has been coaching small business owners for almost 30 years. She is a successful business owner and writer. Learn more about her at Dr. Jean Means Business. )
(Image: sxc.hu)
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1 opinion for Working at Home with Your Spouse
Working at a Home Business with Your Spouse Part 2
May 29, 2009 at 1:05 am
[...] Jean Murray’s guest post, Working at Home with Your Spouse, she discusses sharing an office with her husband, both of whom work at different [...]
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