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What Works Best to Get Your Home Office Working for You?

September 15, 2011 by Guest Author Leave a Comment

A Guest Post by
Rachel Carlson

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Successfully Working From a Home-based Office

It didn’t take long for me to make a mistake when I first started working from home. It wasn’t an obvious “You were wrong” kind of mistake, but the painfully subtle realization that I was going about this whole working from home thing with the wrong attitude. I took the opportunity to finally get a dog, set up a plain desk in the living room, and worked whenever I wanted. And who can blame me? Working from home ranks right up there with passive income – the Holy Grail and Ark of the Covenant in the Internet marketing world. It’s supposed to be easy right?

Internet workers (especially writers) tend to embrace the idea of working from home. Businesses increasingly favor it as a logical alternative to stuffing hundreds of workers in a cramped office space. In fact, the United States Small Business Administration estimates that around 50% (or about 16 million) of all businesses in the country are based at home.

Oddly enough, we also tend to forget the basic rules of success. Working from home is not a license to relax – there are still challenges to overcome; work that must get done. The discipline you must show when working from home is unmatched by the office environment. You only get paid for work – no wasting five minutes at the water cooler here, checking your Facebook page whenever the boss isn’t looking there.

So, what were the critical mistakes that I made when I first started working from home? You might be surprised at just how many of these strike a bit close to home in your own situation.

I Tried to Work Regular Eight Hour Days

The funny thing about doing creative work from home is that you can only really do so much before your brain completely fries. This is especially true with writers. Most writers get to a point in the day when, no matter how easy their next article is, quality takes a severe dive.

The cap for most writers is about 4,000 words of high quality content per day. After that, it can be tough to come up with new ideas or stay true to your style. It’s tremendously easy to put big projects off until the last minute when you work from home, even easier to think that writing 8,000 words on Monday will give you the day off on Tuesday to go to the beach.

When you choose to work from home, forget everything you know about the Western approach to working, and take the opportunity to find what works best for your personality. Ultimately, you might find that even 6 hours is too long of a day for your work, and you’d rather work in four hour long sessions with 20 minute breaks between. You might also find that you are the kind of person that can work two 20 hour days and enjoy the rest of the week off (lucky…).

No matter what, set a schedule that works best for you and stick with it until it gets boring. Then, try switching it up a little. There’s usually nobody to tell you when to work when you work from home, especially if you do freelance work.

I Took Shortcuts on Internet Service

When you work from home, nothing is more important than a stable, clear wireless Internet connection. I was flat broke when I started working from home – more of a choice of desperation after losing my “normal job.” So when I finally landed a writing job, I rushed to find a cheap Internet service.

If you work from home, buy the best Internet package that you can afford. If you only get paid for the tangible work you actually perform (instead of hourly or salary wages), any time lost waiting for pages to load is wasted. Even worse, losing your connection for even a single day can cost you hundreds of dollars in lost wages.

I remember one day when my Internet went out. The call to my ISP didn’t help (I think they’re trained to just say “we’re doing testing in your area” or “we have reported outages in your area” to get you off the phone). After yelling at the poor customer service rep for at least five minutes, I managed to secure a $1.72 refund on my next month’s bill. I spent the rest of the day drinking coffee at McDonalds, pillaging their Internet connection and ignoring the “why are you still hanging around” glares from the staff.

I Didn’t Keep My Home Office Separate

Granted, I lived in a one bedroom apartment with very few options for separate living space and a home office. But when it came down to it, I cleared out a walk in closet that I was lucky enough to have, found other storage for clothes and such, and used the closet as my office. Sure, it wasn’t as welcoming as a 30th floor office surrounded by windows, but there were great reasons that I ultimately decided to go this route.

As a work from home entrepreneur, you will constantly fight a battle between your work life and home life. Allowing the two to blend can spawn more distractions than you can handle. If you have a family, make it clear that your work time is private time – they should act as if you aren’t even there unless it’s an emergency.

There are also, of course, financial reasons for setting up a home office separate from your living space – taxes. According to Entrepreneur, you can write off a portion of your home or apartment that you use exclusively for business, even if you’re renting. This is the same as writing off utilities used for work, or even writing off your cell phone bill if the majority of calls are made as part of your job.

Although you’re supposed to have a contractor measure your home office space and provide a signed letter (useful if you get audited) verifying his or her measurements, I measured myself and prayed that no audit letter would come. So far, I’ve been lucky.

When you work from home, you will make mistakes. The temptation that comes with a flexible work schedule is like going on a diet – you become very good at convincing yourself that taking that extra donut (or taking yet another break) will be good for you in the end. Few people enjoy their job 100% of the time (does anyone, really?) and not having a direct supervisor to keep that television off can spell disaster for even the strongest of wills. In the end, the most important aspect of working from home is to bring the focus that you had in the office, and combine it with the freedom to spend more time with your family and work on your own schedule. Only with that balance can you get closer to finding that Holy Grail for which you’ve been looking.

What works best to get your home office working for youi?

—-
Author’s Bio:
Rachel Carlson is a writer and student that works from home. While she spends a lot of her time writing, she also helps different companies like Clear Wireless with gaining exposure through various blogs and websites. She has recently started a new Twitter account and is finally going to give it a real shot. She can be followed at @carlson_rachel.

Thanks, Rachel. Even the seasoned pros at home need reminders like these!

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!

Buy the Insider’s Guide to Online Conversation.

Filed Under: Business Life, Motivation, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, LinkedIn, motivation Rachel Carlson, office at hime, working-at-home

Business Rule 17: Do You Do Things Right?

October 11, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

Do It Right, Do It Over

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In they army they have a saying, “Hurry up, and wait.” In business that same saying can be, “Hurry up and do it again.” In textbook publishing, we had our own version, “The project is over, time for the prototype to begin.”

Meet Hurry Up Harriet.

Harriet is the boss or the client who calls at the last minute to announce that she needs something done right away. She’s clear and concise on what it is, . . . if you’re lucky. She’s sketchy and rushes through the details, if you’re not.

Either way, Harriet is precise about one thing the exact time and date that she needs the work complete — 48 hours sooner than any human has performed such a task.

Because it’s your job — and you’d like to keep it — you set forth on the quest of making Harriet’s impossible happen. This requires a significant investment of overtime and work at home, but you do it. Through some miracle and no life, you come through with 7 seconds to spare. You feel like a wrangler at a rodeo. You throw your hands up to check the clock. You’re about to give your perfect, checked-over-three-times document to Harriet, when you get another call.

It’s Harriet on the line.

She says, “On that document I asked for, I’ve been thinking, could you also include . . . ?” She adds three or four things.

“I can wait for the new version until Friday,” she sings.

How would you feel about that?

Based on the three previous projects that went the same way, you realize that Harriet will repeat this behavior at least twice more before the current project is over.

On some projects, we never have time to do things right,
but we always time to do things over.

It’s hard enough having to do work for a Harriet.
What’s worse is the days when I act like one.

Do you have Harriet days too?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Filed Under: Business Life, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, Rules-They-Dont-Teach-in-Business-School, time-management

Business Rule 16: Nice and Good

August 2, 2007 by Liz 16 Comments

Looking Good

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He was one of a kind, probably a genius. Let’s call him Steve. Steve was an engineer who worked his way up to designing unique systems. His work had won important contracts and acclaim. He had garnered a pocketful of patents.

To the outside world, Steve was something special. He got along really well with clients and folks he thought were intelligent. To others, Steve could be a real pain in the neck.

Steve’s philosophy was “It’s about the work and getting it done. Either do it or don’t. If you don’t, you’re gone. In the meantime, get over what’s bothering you. We’ve got work. It’s about the work and getting it done.” Steve was a productive guy.

When the business Steve worked for was in good times, they let Steve have his way. His work was impeccable. His handpicked team understood his gruff, no-nonsense style and performed well. Their jobs came in under budget, on time, and with kudos from clients. The problem began when work started to slow.

People at the company began to worry whether they would still have work. They looked for reasons that the company was slow for work. Of course, only the folks at the top knew the reasons for sure, but that didn’t stop everyone from needing to have some. One of the reasons they came up with was Steve. People at the company started to discuss his flaws. The biggest of which was he didn’t treat people nicely.

People remembered slights and sharp words. The circumstances and his personality led to complaints about him. In the end, despite his stellar talent, his unique systems, and patents, Steve was dismissed because he didn’t understand a critical issue.

Being good at what you do is important, but a strong personal identity includes both good and easy to work with.

A company will make room for idiosyncracies that don’t upset the balance or upset the people. Talent and unique skills are good when they move things forward, but not good when they become the conversation or when they get in the way of the work.

Would you rather work for someone good who is nice or someone stellar who is not?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Filed Under: Business Life, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, good, nice, Rules-They-Dont-Teach-in-Business-School

Business Rule 15: Looking in the Wrong Direction

July 26, 2007 by Liz 15 Comments

Which Way?

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When my son was four, he was into geography. I was going on a trip to Las Vegas. The night before I left, we talked about my trip as I put him to bed.

“Mom,” he said so seriously. “There are mountains near Las Vegas.”

“Yes, there are,” I answered back.

“Don’t look that way and walk that way,” he said, pointing left and looking right. I’m not sure whether he thought his mother was going to walk into a mountain or walk off a cliff. Either way it was sage advice. That’s why I remember it.

Angel’s Problem

A friend of mine sees the world with clear eyes much like my son. She told me about a woman who got fired. I was sorry for the woman’s trouble, but interested in the sequence of events.

Angel is an overachiever. She prides herself on doing the best. She was a manager at a small company that was bought by a huge corporation. She knows the business she’s in. Not many are as good at what Angel does. Angel is one of the best.

Unfortunately when Angel had her first meeting with the corporate executives, she didn’t take time to get to know them. She prepared as if it were any meeting. She acted as if they should get to know her. She presented in a way they found inappropriate for the setting. Strike one.

Angel lost credibility in the eyes of the big guns.

Angel knew the meeting went badly, and she didn’t like the feeling -– no she didn’t, not one bit. She highly valued her personal brand.

After the meeting, people tried to explain what happened. They tried gently to coach Angel toward gaining back what she’d lost. Angel wasn’t used to being coached and was preoccupied with her wounds. It was a new experience for her to lose. She couldn’t get over it. She couldn’t quit talking about it. The people who worked for her had to be told that corporate didn’t “get it,” that corporate “didn’t know the business.”

Angel was feeling sorry for herself. She was spreading her feelings, generating bad morale. Strike Two.

Soon everything in Angel’s eyes became “them versus me.” They did reports one way. Angel did them differently. Rather than adjusting to make her reports match the corporate model, Angel just explained over and over how the corporate model was flawed. Angel was looking at herself not at the work.

Of course, with each little thing that she didn’t do to make things work, Angel left less appreciated and complained more. It became the vicious circle. She’d mess up. They’d tell her. She’d complain and mess up more.

People around her saw the signs of her departure. They tried to tell to her. She’d only complain again. The vicious circle got wider as people, who wanted to help, got tired of listening. Then Angel would complain about them. Until one day, it was just easier for everyone if Angel wasn’t there. Strike Three.

Angel looked in the wrong direction, and walked herself right out the door. She had violated a basic business rule.

When your boss or client points the way to go,
don’t bite the pointing finger, turn your head and take a look.

We may help write our job descriptions and our performance appraisals. But our company, boss, or clients have the last word about whether we are executing the tasks needed to get things done as they should be.

It’s nice to think, “My company needs me more than I need them.” It’s nice. It’s also not smart, and it’s never true. Companies need problem employees less than they need my all of my talents and yours combined. So if we can’t agree with our boss on our job description, we’ll be the ones who go, not them.
Watch where you’re looking.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Filed Under: Business Life, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, New-Bosses, New-Clients, Rules-They-Dont-Teach-in-Business-School

Business Rule 14: The New Boss

July 12, 2007 by Liz 28 Comments

I’d Like You to Meet . . .

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Whether you work at home or in an office, some changes that come from the top — new client, new boss, new owner — might not seem like changes at first, but they are.

Enter Commander New . . .

When a new “boss” enters your job life, change happens in one fell swoop. No matter how nice, how good, how competent the new entity might be, he, she, or it, isn’t the one from the past. This is important to know.

Doing what worked with the last “commander” could be exactly right again or it could be the most wrong thing you might do. For the sake of making the conversation easier, lets call the new arrival Commander New, a guy (to avoid having to use him, her, or it continuously.)

Everyone will meet Commander New several times in his or her business career. You might play the role a few times yourself. Whenever Commander New comes on the scene, change is the deal. That’s the way it is. An experienced Commander will manage change to a positive end, but every Commander knows that he is a de facto change just by being there. Some will try to share their priorities fast. Some will try to get to know yours first.

What Happens First

When Commander New arrives, you can expect these events.

  • The Commander will share a vision and try to find out who you are.
  • Fast adopters, optimists, and people who didn’t like the last commander will get on board with the new commander.
  • Slow adopters, cynics, and people still loyal to the last commander will stand back and watch.

Some folks don’t realize that any commander who’s been around knows that people are doing this.

What Happens Next

Commander New has been asked to assess the new team he has. That means everyone is on a kind of preliminary probation again. New clients of home businesses do this too.

  • The Commander evaluating your skill set; determing what responsibilities he can delegate your way; deciding whether you can do the job and do it well; and assessing how comfortably you fit the team and the new vision.
  • People who respond well to change listen and ask questions to make sure they’re looking in the same direction that the commander is.
  • People who don’t understand that’s what’s happening try to do what served them well in the past, whether it fits the new vision or not.
  • People who respond poorly to change try to teach the commander how the company is supposed to work rather than learn what he has in mind. Not a good move for their personal brand. I know I’ve made that mistake myself.

There is no cure for youth, but experience.

The Environment Adjusts

Eventually Commander New isn’t new anymore. People know him and what he expects. He knows them and what they’re good at. If you’re still working with The Commander and thriving, you might have a new role with more exciting responsibilities. That would be because you understand.

When the change is a new boss, new client, new owner,
you have just started a new job.

The desk that you sit at and your coworkers might look the same, but the job description is not.

Have you ever gotten a new job in this way, only to find you had to look for a new job? Yeah. Me, too.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Filed Under: Business Life, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, New-Bosses, New-Clients, Rules-They-Dont-Teach-in-Business-School

Business Rule 13: Structure Damage

June 14, 2007 by Liz Leave a Comment

Times Are A’Changing

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It seems a good time to write about change.

Everything in life changes. If we’re not changing, we’re dead.
But then, we knew that. Knowing how we respond to the changes that can happen is key to being a leader, more importantly to knowing who we are. . . . .

I was going on a business trip.

When I travel I have all things in order days ahead. Otherwise, a little nagging voice reminds me that I’m likely to forget something that will cause me to miss my plane or get to the airport without my bags. This advance routine allows time to add in things that I forget on the first try.

I had everything arranged for a meeting. It was still two days before my flight. I got a note saying a good friend had decided to attend the same meeting. The staff assistant had changed my seat assignment so that my friend and I could sit together.

I froze. It didn’t feel good. I didn’t understand why I felt upset. I wanted to sit with my friend. The new seats were better.

Why was I ticked that no one asked? My answer was so obvious. She had done me a personal favor. I should be grateful. What was going on?

I took a walk around the building to find out. Halfway around I got the answer — structure damage. The new seat assignment had changed the picture in my head. It shook the foundation I had so carefully laid.

Everyone suffers from structure damage now and then.

I’m a fairly laid-back person, but I’ve got two places where I’m not -– when I’m getting ready to travel and when I’m conceptualizing a project. I try, but I don’t always see that I’m in high-structure mode when I am. At least, I can realize what rattled me when I give the wrong response so that I can explain and apologize. Luckily as I get older, I need less structure, because I’ve done a lot of things before.

Some people need more structure than others. What sorts of things mess with your structure? Do you know?

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Check out the Work with Liz!! page in the sidebar.

Related
Business Rule 12: The Brother Story and the Facts about Grandma
Business Rule 11: Apples and Oranges
Business Rule 10: Is Their Urgency Real?
Business Rule 9: What’s the Value of Money?

Filed Under: Business Book, Successful Blog Tagged With: bc, Business-Rules, Rules-They-Dont-Teach-in-Business-School, sense-of-urgencybusiness-rules, vocabulary

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