What I’ve Learned After One Month On My Own

It’s been exactly one month since I left my gig at the Caps and I’ve learned a few things working for myself at home.

The more flexible and unpredictable your schedule is, the more important discipline and routines are 

Now that I’m on my own, I have complete control over my schedule. I can plan meetings when I want, I don’t have to start work at any specific time, nor do I have to commute to an external location everyday. But I’ve found that the unpredictability of this schedule can cause dips in productivity. Who’s to stop me from waking up at 10am everyday and only working until 3pm? I’m the boss, so I can do what I want, right? Sure, but I’d get absolutely nothing done.

So I stay disciplined and replicate my morning routine that I had while working for the Caps. I wake up at 7am, walk the dog, make breakfast, shower, then immediately start cranking out work. When Noon rolls around, I’ll either make lunch and eat, or fit in a mid-day workout. If there are days when I have meetings or I need to run errands during normal work hours, I’ll work into the night to complete my 10-12 hour workday. Staying disciplined and following a routine has been really helpful in staying productive working from home.

Power naps really help productivity, too

You’re probably thinking “WTF?!” after having just read the first section about discipline. But it’s true – power naps are awesome for productivity. Everyone’s been through the 2:30 in the afternoon lull at work and power napping helps me get through it. There have been articles in Inc., Businessweek, and other publications about how companies embrace nap time during the work day and studies show how this positively impacts productivity.

But again, I have to be really disciplined about this, or my 20-minute nap can turn into a 3-hour one (like it sometimes does on the weekend). I nap sitting semi-upright on my couch so I’m not that comfortable.  I set the alarm on my phone to ring after 20-30 minutes and place my phone across the room so I have to physically stand up to turn it off. After I wake up, I splash my face with water and immediately get back to work, feeling refreshed.

The highs are higher and the lows are much lower

The extremes are more amplified working for yourself.

In my past consulting gigs with Tefen and Navigant Consulting, closing a new project deal or completing an engagement was a big deal. At the Caps, a successful marketing campaign, the launch of a new mobile app, or a big win over the Penguins was cause for celebration. I’m not taking anything away from these events, as they definitely elicited happiness and excitement. But when you’re on your own, the littlest wins, like an insightful product test, a completed analysis for one of my consulting clients, or a meeting that went well, seem huge. I can’t even imagine how I’ll feel when something bigger like a product launch happens. My head will probably explode.

On the flip side, the lows feel really, really low. Projects that move slower than I expect drag me down more. Reading about how the stock prices of Facebook, Groupon, and Zynga are dropping like a bag of bricks doesn’t give me much confidence as I build a consumer web app. The doubt that creeps in can be paralyzing.

But that’s the game I’m playing and I need to deal with this roller coaster.

That’s all I have for now. I’d love to hear from other entrepreneurs about their everyday experiences, or from anyone who works from home.