As you can see, work is the firm focus of the survey. Alternative, home-focused survey responses could have been inviting friends to coffee, arranging a visit to your parents, or scheduling quality time with the kids.

Unfortunately, neither approach addresses the increasingly unclear liminal space between home and work, especially for freelancers who may work from home.

The liminal space between home and work.

My friends and co-authors of the Enough book, Cat Preston and Caroline Harvey, explain the meaning of “liminal” in the book’s concluding chapter, “New Horizons.”

For Cat and Caroline, liminal space is a place of crossing over or passing through. It is a place of transition that often involves leaving behind the safety and security of where we were before to become someone new. It allows us to shed old identities, narratives and beliefs and reconnect with our other selves.

In other words, living in the liminal space between home and work poses emotional and practical challenges. Moving between work and home is a crossing over. It is about leaving the security of one environment to become another person. One day, you may be required to shed your work identity and adopt a parent identity, then reverse the transformation the next day. So, “disconnecting during time off work” is about far more than practical approaches at work.

Mastering the space

Mastering the liminal space between work and home is crucial. Here are a few tips:

1. Be practical. Yes, telling your clients you will be out of touch and arranging activities at home are essential.
2. Be creative. Your work is probably quite regimented as you follow business rules and processes and adopt a focused, inward-looking mindset. You can be more creative and open at home if you set your mind to it.
3. Be enough. Your business environment probably requires you to be more and get more, so leave that behind when you close the door to your studio or office and, as you cross the threshold, just be enough.

So, when crossing the liminal space between home and work, remember to address the emotional as well as the practical challenges thrown up by the transition.

Photo attribution

Photo by Tran Mau Tri Tam ✪ on Unsplash

Audio link

https://audio.com/jeremy_deedes/liminal-space/

Other attributions and references

Deedes, Jeremy et al. Enough: Unlock a Life of Abundance Starting Right Where You Are. Melbourne, The Right Company Press, 28 Oct. 2021.

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I work with ambitious, family-oriented professionals transitioning to independent consultants to create a 3 to 5-year holistic plan so that they grow wealthy, make a difference and find meaning.

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