Meanwhile, here are my reasons, as a highly sensitive person, that I find having my "headquarters" at home to be good for my head...and the rest of me, too!
Environment
Highly Sensitive People usually experience their sensitivity in just about any way you can think of it. This includes sound, weather, indoor temperature, good or bad Feng Shui, energy coming from others, sights, textures, emotions, physical sensations, information overload, interaction overload, smells, tastes, and the effects of hunger or pushing themselves too hard.
Working mostly from home gives us much more control over these issues. This really helps, because most people in the more common sensory mode do not understand why we even have these issues. How can they, until the concept of high sensitivity is explained to them? It's simply not in their experience. So don't hold it against them. Just do what you need to do for your self-care.
Pace
Because sensitive people take things in at such a deep level, we have a lot more processing to do. This can cause us to respond, adjust, and/or work more slowly than others.
Remember those standardized, timed tests we took in school? I never saw the end of any of them! I simply can't sort that much info that fast, not to mention simultaneously handling random data coming in through my thoughts or senses! I do not have a "standardized" mind! That was in the 60's and 70's, when accommodations for differences were in their infancy.
By working from home I can make my own accommodations and set my own pace, even if it means it'll take me longer to get done. Rushing only compounds the problem, so I plan ahead to avoid that as much as possible.
Solitude
If sensitive people can work in reasonable solitude at home, so much the better. Not everyone has that luxury, but maybe you can arrange some time for solitude by asking for help from supportive family members or friends.
Flexibility
As you can see, the flexibility of working from home can help with all three of the issues I've mentioned above. Just be sure that you keep your trait of high sensitivity in mind when you are your own boss. Don't fall into the trap of making working from home just as difficult for yourself (or even more so) than working elsewhere. You can have better control over your environment, pace, and amount of solitude, so use your flexibility to make sure you do!
One way that I'm doing this is by controlling the level of clutter and disarray in my environment, as I wrote about in my last post, on July 10. If you missed it, please check it out!
Thanks,
Susan
P.S. For a complimentary exploratory tele-coaching session on this topic or most any other, email me at scleaver@dejazzd.com!
***All of Susan's creative4life posts are copyright of Susan Cleaver.***
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