Working from home sounds like the perfect gig. What’s not to like about videoconferencing in your slippers, ditching the daily commute, and getting out from under your boss’s watchful eye? Plenty, actually.
Take it from someone who’s freelanced for four years, working from home may sound like a dream (all right, in some ways it is), but before you want to bludgeon me in my bathrobe, know that it does have its drawbacks. There are a few pitfalls that will have even the most independent and disciplined home-worker pining for a cubicle and looking for ways to cope, but these suggestions may help you get around them.
Make yourself presentable.
Yes, I have worn pajamas for entire days at a time. Yes, I have made it to two in the afternoon and realized I have not yet brushed my teeth. As a writer, these are occupational hazards. But anyone who works from home will tell you that the first rule of successfully working from home is that you must exercise at least a modicum of presentability. You can wear your bunny slippers, but you (and your postman) will take your work much more seriously if you’ve brushed your hair.
Go to your happy (work) place.
When I first started working from home, I would find myself wandering aimlessly from room to room. I had a home office; I just couldn’t write there. If you work from home, it’s important (especially to the IRS) to have a place dedicated exclusively to that. But don’t feel like you have to work there unless it works for you. My office houses my filing cabinet, printer, fax machine, books, and desk, but I work from my couch, my bed, and my dining room table. Find the place in your home where you’re most focused and creative.
Get out of the house.
If you think staring at the inside of the same cubicle every day is bad, imagine living in it. I’m just as sick of staring at my bedroom wall as a nine-to-fiver is of the beige burlap of her cube. If you can take your work with you, consider going to a café or the local library, even for a couple hours. Wifi and my local coffee shop have saved me from many a meltdown.
Fake an office.
The sound of silence can be deafening. The first thing I do in the morning (besides grunt at my roommate and pour myself some coffee), is turn on the TV while I check emails. I leave it on all day at a low volume. Sure, HGTV is not the same as coworkers, but it does approximate the low-grade burble of office noise, and it keeps me sane. Just keep the mute button nearby for unexpected phone calls.
Create your own water cooler.
Remember the cliché of coworkers gathering around the water cooler to gossip about other coworkers? There’s a reason for that water cooler (beyond hydration). A healthy work environment includes breaks for socializing. If you’re the sole employee at your “office,” seek out stand-in water cooler mates. Take a time-out to IM with friends, browse your favorite blogs or Web sites, meet a friend for lunch, or call your mom. The point is, everybody needs some good, old-fashioned, gossipy brain candy.
Leave the office—mentally.
When you work from home, you don’t get to leave your work at the office. You also don’t get weekends or holidays. I’m writing this article on President’s Day, when most of my other friends are reveling in their long weekend. I’m also writing it at night. My workday lasts all day. I might not turn this article in until 2 a.m. (Don’t feel too sorry for me, because I’ll sleep till ten.) Occasionally, however, you have to check out. Tell yourself “no work thoughts allowed” and stick to it. Even God rested on the seventh day.
