I’ve been consulting for three years, and every time I tell someone that I a) consult and b) do it from home, I get some version of the following statements:

“I’d love to do what you do, but I just don’t have the discipline.”
“Wouldn’t it be great to not have to get dressed in the morning?”
“It would be awesome to work at home and be with my kids!”
“Don’t you miss people?”
“I would get so much more done at home, but my boss would never go for it.”*

My answers usually go something like this:

“Yes, you do”
“I actually often get dressed in makeup and shoes for conference calls.”
“Working at home is not a substitute for childcare.”
“Yes….and no.”
“You would probably get more done at home…”

I’ve been thinking about working for myself a lot lately, and its something I really enjoy.  I love who I work with, I love my clients and I enjoy (and am often scared by) the fact that what I do is always a new adventure. I’ve written down my thoughts on the questions (and answers) above and have broken it down into a five part series that I’ll be posting over the next few weeks.  Most of it is just hard won experience, and I reserve the right to learn something new in the future.

Part One: Discipline is Something You Already Have

“I’d love to do what you do, but I just don’t have the discipline.”

I always get confused when I hear people say this because usually, the people who do are some of the most highly motivated people I’ve ever met.  On one hand, I can understand feeling like you don’t have the discipline to work from home or to self motivate.  For many who are used to cube life, it seems like your boss is your motivator – the bosses control your reviews, your projects, the teams you work on, and how you’re compensated.

Thing is, I’ve come to see bosses as just the catalyst for someone’s motivation.   They set things in motion, and point everyone in the right direction, but they don’t sit in your cube every day and watch you do your work.  They don’t hold your hand and wait for you to get your reports done.  They say, “Here’s what I need and when I need it” and then expect for you to have it done.   If you do, you get rewarded, if you don’t, you don’t.

When you work on your own, like I do, your clients are your catalysts.  Clients bring you a project, say (or ask) what they need and say when they need it by, you agree to a scope of work and then it’s your job to do it.  If you do it, you’ll probably keep that client and maybe get some recommendations from them to other jobs, if you don’t, well…you won’t keep them. The motivation comes from you – its just about who kick starts the work cycle.

For a while when I first started out, I had trouble motivating myself do certain things.  For example, for at least a year, I hated doing invoices.  I did them – but always sent them closer to the 10^th than the 1^st.  Didn’t keep records of who owed me what and when the invoices were due – basically, I drove my husband NUTS. Eventually I realized that this was something I had to do because no one was going to hold my hand while I did it (for the record, I asked, and my husband said no).

From an outside perspective, understand that you spend your career working for other people’s dreams.  When you work on your own, you’re working for your dreams. If you can make yourself work weekends or late hours for someone else, then you have the discipline to do it for yourself.

One of the things that keeps me in check, discipline wise, is to have office hours. My hours have changed over the last three years, but having some regular time set aside each week to work on projects or take meetings has really helped.  My family knows them (so they don’t bother me), my clients know them (so they do bother me), but more importantly, I know them, and I stick to them.

Because my boss can be a real pain when I skive off.  It’s like she lives with me or something….