I met my husband at work – from our earliest moments together we spent no less than 18 hours a day together.  In fact, when I decided to leave where we worked, he actually thought we might run out of things to say to one another.  We just did so well – working side by side – but those times were over and we adjusted to a married life with children and two very different work patterns until a few months ago.

My husband’s company AXA-Equitable relocated him to New Jersey which increased his commute to nearly two hours each way.  Fortunately, AXA has flexible work arrangements and supported him to arrange multiple locations including one day a week at home.

Despite confusion with multiple flexible schedules, we were so excited – we were Co-working again. For the first few weeks, it was terrific – we managed the multiple laptops, phones, blackberries, and even had lunch together.  It was delightful – we talked during the day.  Slowly things changed:

• Office clutter began to rise
• Laptop adaptors were getting mixed up
• Blackberries were no longer charged because we were silently unplugging each other’s pdas
• We were each talking over each other due to simultaneous conference calls
• Raised eyebrows as we noted one another’s procrastination and “puttering”
• Expectations around “getting a few things done around the house” were increasing
• New unspoken rules emerged like: the person with the longer meeting had squatter rights to the office and the other person had to go downstairs.
• By the time the day was done – we both sat with our respective ipods on and opting out of dinner since ‘we just spent so much time together.’

With the markets being so hectic – my husband’s work from home days disappeared – he wanted the direct time with his colleagues.  I understood and really respected his choice. I was impressed by how his company trusted him to make the decision over where and how to get his work done.

I got “my” space back – and I’ve begun to miss him again during the day.

Yesterday he worked from home, but this time I prepared. I woke up earlier, created extra space in the office, and recalibrated my schedule to ensure that we did not have conflicting calls.  And when he got really busy, I went to Starbucks and saw my local fellow virtual workers.  I was home in time for all of us to have dinner together and talk.  It was a great day.

So I must admit – I really don’t want to leave the house -- any ideas for how two spouses can work from home in the same office?