Getting Things Done: Working from home when you can't work at home

This is knowledge taken from my college days: I cannot, without a shadow of a doubt, work within the confines of my own home.

Between the dogs, the TV, all of the snacks in the kitchen, the phone, the neighbors, etc., my house is a brothel of unproductive temptation. I think, "I could work on this manuscript...... or make some cookies!" Easy decision, until you realize that batch of cookies cost $50 in lost productivity.

I love working from home, even though I can't work at home. But I'm too cheap to rent out office space.

Enter the local library.

I am a writer / editor / proofreader. I don't need a helluva lot of space. I usually load everything I need into my JanSport, grab a bottle of water, go by the bakery and have them make me some bagel chips (more info below), and spend my day at the library.

Libraries are losing a lot of respect. There are cell phones going off, kids screaming, inattentive parents not caring that their kids are screaming, and kids smoking weed in the bathroom.

(I know this goes on because, well... where do you think I learned about bagel chips?)

However, I get so much more done at the library than at home. Productivity flows, despite the distractions, due to actually getting up, showering, and getting dressed for public display. I usually find a back corner somewhere where the librarians can't see me eat and drink all day and the kids won't trip over my bag and laptop cords.

Libraries are perfect for those of us who can't get crap done at home but can't afford renting office space. And, as long as your home office is used as your primary base for business, it's still tax deductible. Score all around.

So, praise ye Benjamin Franklin, the inventor of the public library system. You would roll over in your grave if you knew what I could look up on the public internet computer here.

(Bagel Chips: go to the bakery and have them slice the bagels in the bread slicer instead of the bagel slicer. They'll look at you weird at first, but man are they good!)