Welcome to BS’ing with Brandi where my mission is to help you #GetShitDone. I'm your host Brandi Good and today we’re going to talk about the lonely life of the entrepreneur - or maybe I should say the myth of the lonely entrepreneur.
So ever since I became an entrepreneur, and in fact even before that when I worked a 9 to 5 and remote working was becoming more and more commonplace for businesses I would always see articles about how people working from home would go to coffee shops or libraries to work, just to have other human interaction. Or there would be tongue-in-cheek comics about entrepreneurs in sweatpants and messy buns who flinch at sunlight because they haven’t been outside in so long.
I hear a lot of my peers bemoaning this very same thing, saying they need to get out, or cringing if someone else hadn’t been out. It’s led to the growth of coworking spaces, and in fact, in my city, there are a couple of really amazing coworking spaces that are beautiful and filled with awesome people. I think coworking is great. But . . .
I will never be their ideal client.
Why?
Because working in my own comfortable space has been my dream for as long as I’ve been in the workforce. And being constantly told by people that I need to work or get out of the house was starting to grate on my nerves. I’ve tried it. I’ve done coffee shops. I’ve done coworking spaces and shared offices. And you know what happened?
I was sooooo unproductive almost every time. It wasn't my space. It didn’t have my things. The temperature was too cold. The temperature was too warm. People were having loud conversations and distracting me. If I needed a break I couldn’t just lay on the couch for 15 minutes and listen to music. I couldn’t just wander around and visit with my husband for 5 minutes. I couldn’t play with the dog. I couldn’t change into looser pants if I ate too much for lunch.
But here is the thing that really drove me to today’s rant: just yesterday I read a lengthy post from someone who was reading all of the same articles as me and seeing all of the same jokes and comics as me and they were wondering if there was something wrong with them for actually not minding “being lonely”. They liked the comfort of being at home, which other people are referring to as isolation. They liked that they didn’t have to conform to a dress code and could wear whatever was comfortable, which other people are referring to as lazy. They liked that people couldn’t just barge into their office or interrupt them at any time, which other people are referring to as bad customer service.
I call all of these things boundaries, and self-care, and knowing what makes you most productive. If you are forcing yourself into an environment where you feel uncomfortable just because society tells you that’s what you should do, how can you give your clients your best work? How can you show up as your best self?
So for any of you out there who are busting your ass from your couch in your yoga pants and telling yourself, you are lazy - cut. it. out.
If putting on business casual and doing your hair and makeup make you feel better and make you more productive - then go for it. If those things don’t concern you, then as long as you are clean and you don’t smell who the hell cares what you’re wearing?
If interacting in person with other human beings makes you feel like a better human being that’s great. If people are distracting and they suck your energy then sit down in your comfy home office and work away...
