Tips on How to Better Manage Working at Home

Working at home as a telecommuter carries with it many proven benefits for the telecommuter as well as the employer. It also carries with it a number of challenges, not the least of which is separating work and home life -- or to put it another way, figuring out how to both work and live at home. An article in 6/1/01 edition of the Wall Street Journal ("How to Work and Live in the Same Building") offers some good advice.

• Get dressed for work
  Not formally dressed, but at least don't go to work in your home office still wearing your pajamas. According to Stephen Jupp, a flexible work consultant, "If you work in your pajamas, you aren't making a division between the other things you do at home."
  
• Try using a roll-top desk
  Remember roll-tops? In the 19th century, roll-tops provided a means of literally putting the work at home out of sight. Before factories took work out of the home, the home was the center of industrial activity. Roll-top desks help separate working at home from living at home.
  
• Equip yourself only with what you need
  The set-up for a telecommuter's in-home office may not have to be elaborate or expensive. It all depends on what kinds of tasks are to be performed. Some tasks may require high-powered computing and high-speed internet connectivity. Others may simply require a fax and a phone. Don't buy what you don't need.

These are a few ideas.

For more info, see: "How to Work and Live in the Same Building: Some Rules for Managing Your Home Office," by Dagmar Aalund, in the 6/21/01 edition of the Wall Street Journal.