Working From Home

A few months ago, my company made the decision to allow people in the IT department to choose to work from home at least a few days each week. This was partly to help with rising gas prices, and partly to help retain employees, since we've had a hard time filling vacancies recently. I gladly took them up on this, even though I only live about 4 miles from work.

In the time I've been telecommuting, I've learned a few things about how to make it work, at least for me.

• Have somewhere private. If you have a spouse and/or kids at home, you must have someplace you can go to be totally isolated from them. Having them interrupt you just doesn't work. I'm lucky in that we just finished our basement, and I have a nice office to work from.
• Have a comfortable chair and a good desk. Before I got my new office, both my chair and my desk were over 10 years old, and would not have made a good environment to to real work in. They were fine for casual use, but not 8 hours a day. I bough an all new desk and chair, and have been happy with that ever since.
• Have the right equipment. I already had a company-supplied laptop, and I supplement it at home by plugging in a keyboard and mouse, and attaching to my personal monitor, so I can have dual screens. I've had dual screens at work for several years now, and I don't think I could live without it anymore, so that was a must for me. (Some people may be lucky and have their company buy these, but part of the conditions for this was that no extra equipment, beyond a USB headset, would be purchased).
  
• Treat going to work just like you would on a normal day where you actually leave home. I still get up at my normal time, shower, get dressed, have breakfast, etc. Then, when 8:00 comes around, I say goodbye to my wife and kids and retreat into my office. I do come out occasionally for breaks, and for lunch, but I try to keep that to a minimum. I know for some people, the attraction of telecommuting is that they can dress like a slob or not shower, but for me, that is part of getting into the right mindset to go to work.
• Keep track of what you do each day. My manager requires a quick email at the end of the day listing what we accomplished that day. I think that's a good idea, because it keeps me focused on getting as much done as I can so I can show that I've been productive, even though nobody can see me.
• Keep in touch with your co-workers. We have IP phones and a corporate instant message program in addition to email that helps us all communicate even when nobody's in the office. This is key, since you can't just holler over the cube wall when you need to talk to someone.

Telecommuting has worked out great for me. There are usually fewer distractions, and when I have something intense to work on, I can really focus and get it done. It isn't for everyone; some people may miss the daily interaction with co-workers. But if you can handle it, it can be a real productivity booster. I'm really grateful that my company has allowed us to do this.