In my case it was sheer chance. In the 80′s I helped to set up a cleaning business in Bath and running it from home was the obvious way to keep costs down. We bought a little black desk from MFI (remember that black 80′s furniture?), turned our back bedroom into an office and storeroom for cleaning equipment, and we were off. Sometimes I interviewed prospective staff at the dining room table and I recall one particularly pushy sales rep we had to ask not to call, because he’d always turn up when we were trying to relax!

I developed the business over the next 12 years and never considered getting other premises. Having sold the business I did various other things, mostly from home, but didn’t actually realise this common home working theme until I came up with the idea for my book about working from home.

Did you just fall into working from home or did you plan it all beforehand? What were your reasons – did you want more time with your family, get sick of commuting or want to work uninterrupted by colleagues? About 200 words would be ideal to make it the basis of a post, or I can edit accordingly and add a link to your website. Looking forward to hearing your stories!

Well, it’s Thursday again, it’s beautifully sunny, it’s the time of year I enjoy the most, and I’m fortunate to have a day without deadlines. My only commitment is meeting Louise Billington, an inspiring coach and much more for small business, for tea this afternoon to catch up with news. Tomorrow I’m off on the early train to London to hear Topher Morrison talk about the practical and performance aspects of becoming a professional speaker.

So this Thursday I have lots to be thankful for and I’m wondering if you’d like to take a moment to share the little things that make you happy and make a positive impact on your home working life?

Extroverts are generally understood to be outgoing people who like socialising and talking, whereas introverts we tend to think of as shy and retiring. In fact the words come from the Latin for turning outwards or inwards, so an extrovert replenishes their inner energy by turning out, often to other people, whereas introverts turn inwards to their own resources.

Just think about how you would spend your ideal evening after a heavy day’s work. The extrovert makes a beeline for the pub to tell all his friends about the idiots he has to deal with. The introvert looks forward to a quiet evening in, maybe reading or watching TV, alone or with close family.

The home working extrovert needs to be in touch with other people regularly to keep up their motivation and stay inspired. It’s important to recognise this so you can plan meetings as top priority. Home working is much more of a realistic prospect for you now that workhubs, coworking spaces and Jelly events are so accessible.

The more introvert personality may relish the idea of being able to work alone at home without interruption. I enjoy it most of the time but I still have to remember to schedule regular trips out or the horrible downward spiral sets in before I realise what’s happening. I find that one meeting a day is ample so I have plenty of time afterwards for reflection.

This kind of self-understanding is very powerful for home workers. We have the freedom and flexibility to organise our diary in exactly the way that suits us, once we understand our own preferences and habits. And understanding ourselves also helps us to understand the quirks of others and results in those ‘aha’ moments – usually as in ‘Now I know why that person gets on my nerves so much!’

(There’s much more information to help you spot personality traits and different ways of doing things in Chapter 2 of Work from Home).

Carr’s theory is that we are able to take in less when bombarded with endless possibilities of more information, and that our brains may become less able to absorb and deal with complex thoughts and problems.

Which has got me thinking about how my posts are constructed. Wherever possible I put links to previous posts and other pages in this working from home blog. On a personal basis I want to provide the information you’ve come here for, and technically I’ve been told it’s good online practice to hook in readers and keep their attention for as long as possible.

But as a reader I’m aware of the semi-conscious conflict this creates and how distracting it can be – should I click each link as I go through or save them all till the end? Do I think each link is worth clicking on? If not, which ones do I ignore, and if I do, what am I missing?

I’ve noticed a marked decline in the number of clicks made on links in tweets since I joined Twitter a year ago and I wonder whether we are becoming equally link-blind or clicked-out when looking at other information online too. I know I’m very aware of time and mental constraints and choose my clicks more carefully than I used to.

What do you make of Carr’s argument? Does he have a point or are our brains simply adapting to our new environment with its attendant information overload?

As well as the comments on the post, I received quite a few tweets. Dog people came out top (or most vocal!) with Melanie Shearn explaining ‘We’re both very playful so have tugs-of-war & charge around house & garden together. When they’re ill – lots of cleaning ‘

Sarah Pettegree‘s cat is well-behaved in winter when he likes to sit at the back of her desk next to the radiator, but in summer it’s a different story – ‘Sadly he not only knows how to sit on keyboards, he can wrench keys off when removing him.’

So maybe smaller animals have something going for them? Melanie also put in a word for hamsters – ‘A good one for 5-9ers is hamsters. They’re so inquisitive and funny. But sleep all day. And ‘caged’ animals not for everyone.’

Julie Mitchell-Mehta lives in Aberdeenshire and prefers her feathered friends – ‘Chickens are good. Don’t interrupt phone calls [like my publisher's dog!] but good excuse to pop out to feed them – and eggs for lunch. Let them out and feed them first thing, collect eggs, lock them in again when it gets dark. Clean out once a week Not many foxes here, worse in cities. Make sure you always lock them in safely as soon as it gets dark.’

Julie would probably not relish a fox in the neighbourhood, unlike David Wike, editor of The Watercooler who loves his wildlife and appreciates the result of his garden being adopted by a fox – ‘Foxes are better than cats. They eat snails not birds.’ Well, I never knew that.

Happy bank holiday, whether you’re working or not, and whichever animal or bird is your home working companion!

‘Well, Rome wasn’t built in a day, was it?’ was the answer. Not very original perhaps, but I had to laugh, imagining the Ancient Romans’ to-do list:

Monday – build Rome
Tuesday – conquer all known Western world
Wednesday – conquer all unknown Western world
Thursday – whoops, collapse of empire

The most flattering description of this affliction of impatience is by Barbara Winter, who helps people to be creatively self-employed or ‘joyfully jobless’. Barbara says ‘Impatience is the curse of the visionary’, which is balm to my impatient spirit. Who wouldn’t be seduced by the possibility of being a visionary?

Her phrase also captures the frustration I feel when I’ve had a good idea and I can so clearly see what it’s going to look like when it’s finished, only to realise that, not having attained the art of instant manifestation, a lot of time and effort will be expended before it’s complete.

By the way, having said nothing ever happens quickly enough, I tweeted Barbara to check I was quoting her correctly – and her reply came back immediately! The marvels of Twitter – even quick enough for impatient visionaries! If you like the sound of Barbara, you can follow her on Twitter for regular pithy reminders and links to thought-provoking articles.

OK, time for my next task – now, how far did I get with my SEO yesterday?

I’m a cat person by nature, although I’ve been cat-deprived for a long time now since my elderly tabby and tortoiseshell departed this life. You can tell how long by the fact I wasn’t using a computer when they were around! Sometimes they did like to try and sit on the page I was trying to read or write on, or box the pen as it moved, but generally I found them excellent company. And at least I didn’t have to talk to myself!

I have home working friends who have dogs and find them a great reason to leave work behind for a while and get out of the house. Fine when the weather’s good, but maybe not so appealing in winter. And this morning when I spoke to my publisher her dog decided to join in! But dog walks can be useful as a convenient way of marking the beginning and end of the working day, whereas us dog-less folk might be tempted to carry on into the evening.

But then of course, why not just observe the wildlife outside your window, which provides endless entertainment with absolutely no upkeep?

‘I think loneliness is often the hardest part for many, especially if like me you also live alone. It’s easy to go for days without seeing or speaking to anyone, especially when I’m having a bit of a down period. I also really miss the interaction with and bouncing ideas off of other people.
‘My guess would be that those that tend towards being more extroverted would find this more challenging than those that tend towards being more introverted… but that assumption has yet to be proven.
‘A few of my top tips would be:
a) develop a routine, so you get in the same habit as getting up, dressed and going to the office;
b) set a finish time, so when you hit a certain time, say 6pm, that’s it work is finished for today;
c) make sure you have a laptop and or smart phone, so you can get out and work from anywhere, and
d) I get out to a few networking breakfasts each week to interact with other business owners – 4Networking is my favourite choice, but there are plenty of options out there…’

There certainly are, and the number of options is increasing all the time, as workhubs and Jelly events proliferate around the country.

Many thanks to Kyle for sharing his insights and helpful advice, and I look forward to hearing more horror stories and how you cope with them. And a few tales of triumph and celebration wouldn’t go amiss!