How to Work from Bed

A reader writes:

Dear jeepers,

I'm a writer, and I spend a lot of time at my desk.
I have this thing going on where
sometimes I wear pajamas half the day, which
is dandy and all, I have excellent
pajamas, but I just don't know if one ought to
lead one's life this way. I mean,
does my husband, who never says he doesn't, enjoy
seeing me in my zebra sateen at
night, then in the morning and still at 2 p.m.?
sometimes I end up showering at 6
or 7 to go to out for the evening, then putting
the sleepwear back on at, say, 2 a.m.
when I get home, then there I am again for twelve hours.
the nightwear is clean, but...
as I said, something feels wrong about this arrangement.

I wonder if you have dressing strategies
for the freelance life, when your
clothes tend to blur into parts of the day
they were never meant to see.

cheers,
Sleeper

Jeepers responds:

Dear Sleeper,

Your nagging suspicion that you are being very, very bad is correct. Just as one does not wear clean underwear merely on the off chance that one might be hit by a bus, rushed to the hospital, and stripped of one's outer garments for an emergency medical procedure, one also does not wear real clothes merely to look respectable on the off chance one's in-laws drop by at three. You must wear clean underwear and real clothes regardless of others. It's part of loving yourself, taking yourself seriously. We doubt that William Shakespeare, also a freelance writer, stayed in his nightshirt all day long. Not even F. Scott Fitzgerald, we would wager, wore a robe in the afternoon.

We even suggest that you begin dressing for dinner. Wear real clothes all day, dress up a bit for dinner, put pajamas back on only right before getting into bed, and see how your life changes. And stop going to bed at 2 a.m. We thought you cared deeply about good sleep? (Btw, you have a sweet blog, darling.)

Yrs,
Jeepers