I have a strong opinion on dealing with household chores such as grocery delivery, service repairs, plumbing, and electrical works — either it happens before 1 PM, or it doesn't happen at all, or someone else deals with it.

In a home-office setting, these things eat into your mindspace. Scheduled visits are always delayed, which means repair work begins in the afternoon and ends at night. The entire day is vaporised.

Now, receiving a grocery delivery may not seem like a chore, or an activity that takes more than 5 mins. But for my introverted, neurotic self, even that little human interaction with a stranger ruminates for hours.

I absolutely loathe the doorbell sound. I always instinctively let out a grunt on hearing that startling sound. I reckon this would be the case even if I had a more pleasant "increasing volume" doorbell.

Still, a home-office is the most productive for me. At a sensory level, it is still less interruptive than a desk in an open-floorplan office. Besides human interrupts, I still remember the sound of the coffee machine in the office pantry far, far away from my desk. Arrghh.