If an estimated 25 million to 35 million people work at home and their numbers are growing, they must know something that those people tethered to offices don`t. Being something of a cynic who thinks the only way to check a hypothesis is to live it, I decided to try working at home after 16 years in offices.
Timing was partly responsible. I had moved to a new city-Chicago-and had an apartment to remodel and two young daughters to acclimate. I would create the perfect at-home work existence: set up a cozy office where it was okay to put out any family pictures without being termed unprofessional, spend lazy mornings reading the newspapers so I`d be globally informed (I promised my spouse I`d at least scan all financial columns), take on only challenging writing assignments, stroll out for a mid-morning caffe latte to recharge, quit early for quality time with the kids and cook nutritionally balanced suppers with a different ethnic twist each night.
In between, there`d be time to explore my new city and get my aging body back in shape. Of course, there`d be nice paychecks rolling in to balance the monthly budget. My husband would stop asking: ”Why is there so much month left at the end of the money?”
Well, three-plus years into the experiment, I`ve found working from home exhausting and requiring an inordinate amount of planning. While it has worked well for the most part for me professionally and for my family, it hasn`t been the nirvana I expected and what many guidebooks promise. I certainly wouldn`t recommend it for everybody.
For compulsives such as myself, it`s hard to be relaxed about work when I have multiple bosses and deadlines that often collide. I don`t know how to put leisure first, out of fear my professionalism will be questioned. I`m not terribly sociable and tend to wander into the kitchen to rifle through the refrigerator.
For those contemplating what it takes, I`ve devised a test of some essentials. Other professions might dictate a different mix:
– Get organized. You don`t need a separate room. A large walk-in closet or corner of a dining room that`s used rarely will do. You need a good work surface and one that`s big enough. How professional it looks depends on whether outsiders will view it since few of us from-homers have video conferencing capabilities.
As for Internal Revenue Service regulations, you can only deduct a room or area that is devoted exclusively to business use or that`s your principal place of business. If it`s an area, calculate the percentage of total space it represents to figure your deduction.
The main criterion is that family know the area is off-limits and understand the consequences. I`ve considered rigging my papers with dynamite. My worktable is big enough to hold equipment, books and papers. The queen-size bed is close by and serves as an extra work station for overflow piles.
– Choose equipment wisely. I took my husband`s advice and applied the KISS principle-Keep It Simple, Stupid-which meant low-tech and cheap. I bought a maroon phone to match our carpet (you need a little chic) and a good chair. Splurging here meant an ergonomically correct design with casters rather than supple expensive Italian leather.
I also took over my late dad`s answering machine, though in the future I`ll invest in one that I can call into to offer more full-time contact with employers.
I brought out my trusty electric typewriter, which I had stored while I worked at a newspaper. My family and friends reacted to the latter with disbelief. So did neighbors, who asked if they really were hearing a familiar clickety-clack through the walls. (If it was good enough for author Philip Roth, it was good enough for me.) Again, I may computerize if profits ever become staggering.
Though I concur with Miss Manners that Call Waiting can be rude, I agreed to it because I use the phone for long interviews and lack a second, business line. I decided not to install a fax as a way to keep my home office from becoming a prison and maintain some personal contact with the outside world.
– Develop a routine. Some work well at the 11th hour. I prefer to pace myself and keep to a schedule. I took the advice of a friend who said to get dressed each morning rather than work in pajamas, though my uniform quickly deteriorated to resemble my college-style `60s garb. When I look nice, family and friends stare and inquire, ”Where are you going today?”
I also knew that if I sat down to my desk right after my spouse and children left each day, I`d never get up. My routine is to drop the girls at school, ferry my husband to work, walk the treadmill at our health club for 30 minutes-okay, sometimes just 20-and head home to be at my desk by 9 a.m.
– Stay focused. Working straight through to mid-aftternoon when my children get out of school was the goal, which some friends said would be hard to keep to. I found the opposite: Working alone, I became incredibly driven. I had to learn to rationalize breaks. I`m beginning to do quite well, thank you. After all, I had to check ”Oprah” to know which issues were ”hot” for stories. My favorite soap, ”All My Children,” became my lunch break. I found that if I watched once or twice a week-more when characters` lives became particularly dysfunctional-I could keep up.
An afternoon break consists of fetching my mail and the continuous flow of new magazines.
– Take a break outside. Working from home is lonely. By late afternoon, I find I must head out for air, and usually trek to the grocery to buy dinner ingredients.
– Track earnings and expenses. This is the hardest part for someone who hates balancing the family checkbook, but I force myself to keep track of long-distance phone calls, car mileage and business lunches from fear that the Internal Revenue Service will come knocking. A good calculator, detailed notes and official telephone logbook help. Done on a weekly basis it`s not so tedious to compile this information.
– Set goals and reassess. Like any other ”real” job, this position should be evaluated periodically. For now, I like myself as employer and give myself decent marks as employee. I also don`t have to be trendy and downsize. I make almost as much as I did at my last outside job and more when I calculate that I don`t pay a sitter or need a fancy wardrobe. I`m
psychologically happier not having to deal with office politics, though I occasionally miss gossip around the water cooler.
All in all, I wouldn`t switch. I`ve earned an amusing and novel job description, given to me by one of my daughter`s friends. When her father inquired if I worked, she replied, ”Yeah, she talks on the phone all day.” –
