I’ve found that going to coffee shops to be more and more expensive since I find the need to buy something to eat or drink. And… I don’t drink coffee. I do leave the house just about every day to buy lunch which includes a nice 10 minute walk to and from the lunch spots, so I get out of the house. I head to the gym every night, and I do get out of the house often enough.

The big thing is the human interaction. I certainly would tell anyone who is considering working from home to think hard about the day-to-day work environment before jumping in.

Living in a foreign country has not helped the situation since I don´t really have any friends here and Spanish is my second language. Sometimes it just seems easier to let my husband (native Guatemalan) do the shopping and negotiating! While easier, it does mean that I can end up being in the house, on the computer for weeks at a time without leaving. My toddler is often surprised when I decide to head to the store with him!

I would never opt to work in a group setting outside of my home because I wouldn´t be productive enough. A coffee shop, perhaps, but I don´t have a laptop, so that´s not too practical at the moment! It is important to get some adult interaction, though, especially for at home moms.

I have the NEED to connect with a person in person–even just one would do–I don’t need a crowd.

I am not sure what to do at this point to improve my situation. I feel I may need to try to change my job to work at it part-time. This would reduce my income quite a bit but it may be necessary to keep my sanity.

I have found that being cooped up at home all day turned a guy who was once a homebody into a more sociable person. Now when it’s 5pm I can’t wait to get out and go somewhere, anywhere. Even to Walmart, lol.

Four weeks ago I started asking around for a cross between a startup and a virtual office. I want the comraderie of working elbow-to-elbow (even if for different companies) combined with the pay-as-you-go model of virtual offices.

I haven’t found it yet, though.

Mark Regan

I suspect the Starbucks crowd are more interested in their self-images as Hip and Cool, and less interested in doing any work – they just sip their horribly expensive spanish-titled beverages and are seen by others, with similar conceit.

It’s a real danger that you have to avoid. Even though I have fixed that I know that it would take me several months to get accustomed to being in a large corporate office situation. I’m no longer “housebroken” so to speak. heh

But to get used to the work from home thing I made a few changes that really helped:

1. I joined a Gym.

I had a full gym in my house but I found the interaction with other people not only helped fill my real people quota it also made me work out harder thanks to the opposite sex that is always watching. I look better than ever in my 30’s! Who coulda guessed working at home would have made that possible.

2. I go shopping more often.

It’s so easy to click and buy online but instead of doing that treat finding the items you want like a treasure hunt and search for them offline once or twice a week. Unfortunately this still hasn’t stopped me from having the UPS guy drop off something new almost daily. :/

3. Go out to eat for lunch or dinner.

Time flies when you are working from home. If you don’t make a conscious take some of that time to step away from the computer for a personal you never will. What better reason is there than to get something that you have a craving for? Today, for me, it was Chipotle Burritos. It got me out the house, I ate well and got to think about what I had to do from a macro standpoint.

Also, here’s a novel idea for some… make an effort to meet those people you talk to online but you have never met in person. Whether it be the message board communities, blogs, business networks, remote workers etc. They are all real people on the other side of the monitor. Thanks to the internet we have associates all over the world! Don’t forget to pack your laptop, get out and take advantage of that!