Simply Stated - Blogs - Home & Organizing

A friend of mine is a psychologist who specializes in child and family treatment. I ran into her last month and before I could get out the standard niceties, she was bombarding me with questions.

"How do you do it?" she asked. "How do you work from home? More importantly, how do you work from home with your husband without getting on each other's nerves?"

Since she and her husband don't telecommute, my assumption was that she must have a client who has just started working from home and is having difficulties. I told her that I would forward a list to her that I started about a year ago on this very subject. After I sent her the list, I realized that some readers also might benefit from seeing it. So, if you're considering working from home, here are some tips for making it an easier task. A few of these items are specific to working next to your partner at home, but most of them apply to anyone who is telecommuting.

Must Have/Do:

1. Designated workspace with a door.
You need to be able to shut the door on your work, literally and figuratively. There are times when you just need to put physical and mental space between you and your work. Also, there are times when the creative process takes control and your desk becomes a mess of outlandish proportions. Most importantly, though, you need to find a way to feel that you’re not always at work when you're at home and a door is a good starting point.

2. Separate workspace from your partner.
I’m not advocating that you need two rooms in your house set aside for offices (our desks share the same room), but each person needs a defined "my" space. This means that you need two desks, two computers, and two phones. Experience shows that the minute you need to make a phone call is the minute one of his clients calls with an emergency.

3. Knowledge of your UPS/FedEx/Mail carrier’s first name.
Delivery people are not accustomed to your being home during the day. Make friends with these people so that they will actually ring the doorbell and wait for you to answer the door when they have deliveries.

4. A cleaning service.
Feel like procrastinating from your work? It’s amazing what you’ll clean when you don’t want to write a report. Additionally, it keeps you from being upset about working somewhere that isn’t clean. An office building has a cleaning staff, you need to afford yourself the same luxury. I’m serious about this one, even if it’s just twice a month.

5. Earphones.
Ultimately, there will come a time when you’re in "the zone" and your spouse decides to play music, talk loudly on the phone, or feels compelled to tell you about something funny one of his clients just e-mailed to him. Music playing through the earphones allows you to tune out his conversation or bad music selection. Additionally, if he wants to be chatty and distract you from work, he most often chooses not to do so if you’re wearing earphones — even if you’re not actually listening to music.

6. A dedicated work phone line with a Do Not Disturb button.
Often, clients assume that because you work from home that it's okay to call you at all hours of the night and on the weekends. If you worked in an office building, they would never have the expectation that you would answer your phone at 2:00 a.m. Just because your office is in your home doesn't mean that your home is in your office. When your work day is finished, press the Do Not Disturb button on your work phone and let it ring straight to voice mail.

7. Your desk and television in separate rooms.
You won't be tempted to watch television when you should be working if work and the television are in different rooms.

Good to Have/Do:

1. Single brew coffee maker.
My husband likes dark coffees and I despise the foul nastiness, preferring milder blends. Instead of brewing two pots, we simply brew our own cups. I highly recommend the Nespresso C190. Plus, you order your coffee over the internet and the nice UPS delivery person you’ve befriended delivers them right to your door. Yes, the machine is expensive. However, it’s much cheaper than going to the local coffee shop everyday. We learned that the hard way.

2. Get ready at least a little bit every morning for work.
It’s fun to work in pajamas, but it’s not fun to work next to someone who hasn’t showered in three days. Brush your teeth, it’s good for your teeth and your relationship with your family.

3. Leave the house once a day.
You need to get out into the big blue room at least once a day, if not more.

4. Agree when work will be done for the day.
I usually finish working around 6:00 and my husband typically finishes around 6:30. I will answer e-mails, start a load of laundry, or just play busy quietly until 6:30. Flipping on the tv or doing something to rub in the fact that you're done isn't fair to the other person. The same applies to family members coming home before your work day is complete. They need to know that you're in the office until a set time and respect that boundary.

5. Have breakfast and/or lunch together.
Take turns making meals and spend time together. One of the benefits of working at home together is being able to spend quality time with each other.

Do you telecommute? What must have/do or good to have/do items would you add to this list? I'm interested in hearing your advice.

Top Recipe Searches

Search Simply Stated