RUNNING FROM OFFICE

I'm almost 40 years old and I don't have an office.

I work in an office, but I don't have an office of my own. I don't even really have a cubicle. I just have a desk. That's it. A desk, right next to two other desks. No walls in between, no dividers, no nothing. 

Some people might be embarrassed by that. Not me. I love it.

It's a lot of pressure, having an office. People walk by, look in and think to themselves, "I don't know what he's doing in there, but it must be important. He needs an entire room all his own to do it."

When you have an office, you have to actually do something. You have to show the people in charge that you're worthy. You have to justify the cost of your four walls and a door. 

But when you just have a desk, people don't expect as much. People who don't know you walk past and think, "Oh, he must not be very important. He doesn't even have an office." 

And I say, "Great! Ignore me and keep ignoring me. Leave me alone and let me do my work, collect my money and go home. Don't start analyzing my productivity. Just let me be!"

There have been a lot of layoffs at my job recently. And guess who was the first to go? The people with offices. And many of those offices remain vacant and forlorn, as sad, empty memorials to unmet expectations.

But I'm not going near those haunted offices.  I'm still sitting at my desk, the same desk I've been sitting at for years. 

And guess what? I'm not even on staff. I'm not even employed. I'm freelance, and I always have been. But I still have my own desk! There were people who worked hard for my company for years, and yet they lost not only their desks but their jobs.

Why? Because they had offices. I've never had an office. And I've never been laid off. Sure I've never actually been employed, but that is a minor technicality. You can put me anywhere and I'll be perfectly happy.

And that 's the secret to my success. No office. No 401(k). No medical benefits. No nothing. I'm cheap to keep.

So here's my advice to you: Get rid of that office! The job you save may be your own.