Finding Space to Work In Her Parents' Home

By MARK HENRICKS

Editor's Note: This piece is part of a series, Working from Home, in which StartupJournal speaks with people about how they manage working from home. This week, Allison Rae, 24 years old, an editor and writer in Niagara Falls, N.Y., tells writer Mark Henricks about working from an office in her parents' home.

I am currently an editor for Pure Contemporary (www.purecontemporary.com), an online contemporary design magazine. We have a small staff in the Buffalo region, all working from home and meeting at a central location on a weekly basis. I also do free-lance marketing and public-relations work for various local businesses.

I actually began working from home as an intern with Pure Contemporary in my senior year at Buffalo State College. I believed it would be a temporary situation. As with any profession, there are ups and downs, but I am enjoying my situation.

My home office is virtually nonexistent because I am working from my parents' home. I can most often be found in the living room, laptop open, papers, books and press kits sprawled on the floor around me. No other space in the house was conducive to my routine or needs. I have what I need to get by -- laptop, printer, and various boxes filled with marketing tools, research and references.

Working from home in general can be a liberating experience, if you are prepared. In my situation, I am able to make my own hours, work in pajamas, and manipulate my office to suit my style. Having the freedom to work on your own, without supervisors, allows me to perform at my most creative.

I also have the ability to blend my personal life with work, taking whatever time needed for personal appointments. My wedding is coming up in July, and that flexibility has almost been a necessity during the planning. If something can't get done early in the day, I can work until 2 a.m. to complete it. However, this also means I'm always on the clock.

During the first few months of working from home I felt very lonely. I went from working in an office 30 hours a week while in college to being alone four days a week. I looked forward to daily calls from a girlfriend on her lunch break, or the weekly meeting with my co-workers and publisher. It can be incredibly lonely even now.

Besides missing the human interaction, I don't have co-workers to bounce ideas off or give instant feedback. Email and phone conversations can be useful, and I prefer doing most work via email, but there can never be a true replacement for face-to-face interaction with peers.

Time management and distractions can be hard to manage when working from home. I have to make running lists of things to do so I can stay on track. These lists include everything from interviewing an author for next month's feature and tracking visitors to the site, to balancing my checkbook and calling the florist. When there is no physical divider between your professional and personal life, you have to treat them as one.

Privacy is also an issue. My mother is a teacher and she is home during July and August. Anyone in the house with me between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. during the week can throw me off schedule. And because I work in my parents home, I can't set it up to meet my needs.

Fortunately, my fiancé and I have purchased our own home. Renovations are set to conclude within the month and will include my own office space. It is 14 feet x 14 feet with two large widows allowing ample natural light, painted in two contrasting colors. I have purchased a new, modern desk and shelving units. The space will be outfitted for my needs, and the design and layout will reflect my personality.

I look forward to having a separate space designated for work. I think this may make it easier to distinguish between my professional and personal life. I currently am unable to relax on my parent's sofa because I associate it with working on my laptop. My goal is to confine my work to my new office in my home -- to have a separation.