One of the biggest challenges for us micro-business owners (self-employed) is that we tend to work from home.
On the one hand it is cheap, comfortable, and a cold beer is never too far away. On the other hand we turn into hobbits.
It is easier to explain if I look at it from an expat perspective. Arrive in Britain or Norway, for instance, and you see all these folk dashing about looking busy, effective, and professional. It is, to be honest, a little disheartening, and we are tempted to feel rather inferior.
At least until we get to while away some time working amongst these titans of commerce. And then we find out that it is all smoke and mirrors. They’re as confused as we are, if not more so. (We Saffers tend to be quicker problem solvers because we know that otherwise we won’t be eating tonight. The socialist locals know that no matter how little they do Dave or Jens will bail them out at month end.)
I found all of this out when my wife kicked me out of the house a few months ago. I cannot repeat her exact words because they were loud and in Norwegian which I still struggle with. But her intent became clearer when I came out of the bathroom one morning to find my office neatly outside on the porch.
A few days later I moved into a small glass-walled office down the cliff at the local boat harbour. I have one of 9 offices surrounding a central area with a Nespresso machine. (Guess what clinched the deal.)
I feel like a voyeur because I can watch all of the activity around me. Norwegians at the office, I must gently say, are a lot less impressive than them cross country skiers using the freeway to practice when the snow has not yet arrived. (We expect it today. This is not because today is special, it is just that we always expect it today, no matter what the date is. Norwegians love snow.)
Now, about that activity. Well, there isn’t much. Norwegians, like Brits and my fellow countrymen, glare at their screens, pick their noses, scratch their ears, vanish for long lunches, and leave early on Fridays. In between they look glum because no sales are coming in, and when a real live prospect approaches, well, they mess it up just like the rest of us.
So, a hint if ever you find yourself in a new place. (That could be a new country, or in SA, a new province – which is just like a new country.) Go find an office to work out of for a few months. get to see how impressive the locals really are at close quarters.
And then start working from home before the snow arrives, even if that means losing the wife. Even she cannot be colder than the local weather between November and April.