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Home Office, Personal Space

Written by: James Chan

Article Overview: The story of Rochana and Richard Norby tells us that we can have both a work space and a home space at a home office. They've done it.

Home Office, Personal Space

Just about the last place I would expect to find serenity is in the financial markets. Every second promises a new crisis, a new opportunity. For some people, the constant and instant change is an addiction, more compelling than life itself.

Nevertheless, of all the people I interviewed for this book, Rochana and Richard Norby, who own a financial planning firm, probably come closest to being at peace with both their business and their life. They work very hard, but they maintain an absolute separation between their work and their business. What~{!/~}s even more important, they don~{!/~}t seem to worry about missing business opportunities while they are living their lives.

Their business, advising wealthy people on how to invest their money, is inherently less nerve-wracking than Richard~{!/~}s previous career at an options-trading firm. They try to cultivate a measure of serenity in their clients as well, encouraging them to think, as Rochana says, ~{!0~}about what money can do and what it cannot do.~{!1~}

Rochana and Richard literally put work and life in their proper places, and they allocate specific times for their business and private lives as well. They live with their two children and work in a large suburban house. The ground floor consists of a main office where they meet with clients, and two other offices, occupied by a secretary and a sales assistant. The upper floor is their home, a very private space.

Every Sunday evening, Rochana and Richard have a meeting to plan their schedule for the coming week, and post the schedule on the refrigerator door. The schedule says who is going to prepare lunch and dinner on each day. It says who will take their son to his piano lesson, for example, and delineates every other family responsibility that they can anticipate. ~{!0~}We want to do a lot of things,~{!1~} Rochana says. ~{!0~}The week becomes very chaotic if we don~{!/~}t plan.~{!1~}

Like many entrepreneurs, the Norbys work in the evening. But they do not work on Tuesday or Friday or weekend evenings. These are solely for family and personal activities.

The two rise each morning and exercise in Valley Forge National Park, which is adjacent to their home office. Afterwards, they come home and have breakfast together. They also have dinner with their children every night. ~{!0~}We consider meal times sacred,~{!1~} she says.

There are no telephones on the residential floor of their house. Once they go up the stairs, they are out of reach of clients, relatives and friends. Anyone who wants to reach them must do so during their business hours. They do have a cell phone for emergencies. But they have trained themselves not to jump to answer the phone.

~{!0~}In order to take care of other people,~{!1~} Richard says, ~{!0~}we have to take care of our mental health.~{!1~}
They also take substantial time off, both around Christmas and in the summer. Richard likes to use some of his time off to do volunteer work, such as preparing food for homeless people. They also use the time to meditate and practice their religion.

~{!0~}When I~{!/~}m away, I~{!/~}m really away,~{!1~} Richard says. He believes that the more they give in their charitable work, the more they gain in return, both spiritually and materially. ~{!0~}Sometimes we are flooded with work when we come back from volunteering,~{!1~} he adds.

During their time off, the two say that they don~{!/~}t give any thought to promoting their business, or even worrying about it. ~{!0~}We don~{!/~}t have to promote ourselves,~{!1~} Richard says, ~{!0~}we get as much business as we can handle.~{!1~}

Paradoxical as it seems, their conviction that money isn~{!/~}t everything may actually help them to attract and retain clients. They cultivate long-term relationships. ~{!0~}Each of our clients is a friend,~{!1~} says Rochana. She noted that they don~{!/~}t keep a computer in the office where they meet clients, because they want their clients to feel that they are paying full attention to them. ~{!0~}Without a computer, the room has a welcoming feeling to clients,~{!1~} Rochana says. They often serve tea, or sometimes lunch.

Such an approach is not for everyone, but Richard and Rochana don~{!/~}t want everyone, just enough clients so that they can support themselves and live a balanced life. Rochana grants that nobody can predict when large clients will leave or when new ones will appear. She says she tries to be prepared for life~{!/~}s ups and downs~{!*~}which is, after all, the very thing they are helping their clients to do as well.

She avoids vague dread by quantifying what can go wrong, and seeing that she is protected. ~{!0~}If you want to drive 80 miles an hour, and you know that if you are caught, you will have to pay $80, then put the $80 in the glove compartment,~{!1~} she explains. ~{!0~}When you are caught, you just give up the $80.~{!1~}

~{!0~}Our priority is to have a steady mind,~{!1~} said Richard. ~{!0~}We want to be content, to be centered, to have a goal in life and not just go rushing through life.~{!1~}

~{!0~}The goal is not to have to work 24 hours a day,~{!1~} added Richard. ~{!0~}You must know whether you see work as your life~{!*~}or whether it is the part of your life that supports the rest.~{!1~}

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Article Tags: absolute separation, addiction, business opportunities, family responsibility, financial markets, financial planning firm, lunch, money, nerve, norby, options trading, peace, piano lesson, private lives, private space, refrigerator, serenity, sunday evening



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