1. Will you be able to work regular hours at home?
This seems to be everyone's chief concern. I wondered about it myself and have answered the question dozens of times since starting out. Well, the right answer might not be yes. Says Madeline Bailey, owner of Quail Creek Computing in Austin, Texas, and an adviser to small businesses, "Do not, I repeat, do not try to keep regular working hours. Why did you bother to work at home in the first place if not to control your own schedule?"
What a refreshing point of view! And she's right, of course. One great thing about working at home is the opportunity to put in your time when you're most ready, willing and able to do so and that doesn't necessarily happen on a 9 to 5 schedule. My most productive hours are between 6 AM and 9 AM, when I can count on solid creative time before business hours calls start interrupting or redirecting my day. Also very valuable: the odd hours of reading and record keeping I can put in during the evening, or on rainy day weekends, or whenever.
By getting things done when opportunities arise sometimes even in little bits of time I prepare myself for other opportunities (including personal and family pursuits) that present themselves during "regular" working hours.
2. How do you avoid all the distractions at home?
Again, the answer for me is to question the question: Why would I want to avoid all the distractions? Don't I enjoy being at home? True, it's important to be able to create privacy and quiet at key times. My office has a door. But I also love playing with my kids when the spirit moves us, and being around to make a meal, mow the lawn or what have you.
When people ask, "How do you get anything done?" I say, "It's easy because I love my work." If I didn't love my work that would be a problem, because yes, there are lots of distractions and I enjoy a lot of them! Fortunately, because I enjoy my work at least as much as everything else that goes on around here, I have no trouble putting in enough hours to get my work done. To me, that approach makes working at home an achievable balance rather than an impossible conflict. If, on the other hand, your work is tough and you resent any distractions, you're asking for trouble by setting up at home. You really can't screen them all out.
That said, there are some obvious detours to avoid:
1. The refrigerator. How easy it is to decide that a little smackeral right now would be just the thing to go with this chapter I'm writing! .... Okay, I'm back, with a glass of water. For all those moments tense, thoughtful, frustrated, undecided when something else to nibble on would be great, I try to settle (at least some of the time) for a big glass of New Hampshire well water. Keep a good supply around at all times.
2. Other people. Maybe this is too broad a category. Some people your spouse, your children and parents will always have priority over your work when they need you. On the other hand, you have: close friends with too much time on their hands; acquaintances with idle thoughts; volunteer organizers pitching your opportunity to help the community; distant friends and relatives wondering what you're up to; and parents of your kids' friends who were hoping you wouldn't mind doing the driving today because, well, you work at home anyway, don't you?
These folks may need a gentle reminder now and then that you indeed have to work as many hours as they do, even if you're not making a public display of heading off to the salt mines daily (anymore). Otherwise, the rumor will continue to spread that your vague ramblings about being in business for yourself are just a polite cover for the massive inheritance that came your way last year so they can take advantage of your every waking hour.
3. Yourself. (Excuse me. Just a few more minutes on this crossword puzzle and I'll get back to telling you what I was going to say here. . . . Okay, I'm back.) Healthy curiosity about the world can take on frightening dimensions when you're unleashed with a world of multimedia to explore every day, a houseful of great little projects there never used to be enough time for, the opportunity to stay in shape with a good long walk or workout morning and afternoon, the occasional business meeting on the golf course, those great books you've been waiting all your life to actually read, and so on. Remind yourself that even such constructive play needs to take a back seat to the work you're doing that buys the groceries.
4. Your big ideas. This route to nowhere isn't specific to home office workers. Anyone can fall on their face chasing a bogus business opportunity. Allot time for brainstorming, but be rigorous about the true potential of each project before you begin to spend large amounts of your only unique asset: your time.
That's about it: If you can stay away from just these four minor diversions the refrigerator, other people, yourself and your big ideas you'll have no trouble working at home.
