How To Work At Home part 1: Getting Started

I've worked a lot of different jobs in my life. I've worked retail. I've done fry-cook. For almost a year I worked in a packaging plant folding boxes and driving pallets around, but before Plain Black I had never worked at home.

If you're going to work at home, first you are going to need a job that allows it (see The Case For The Home Office to start convincing your boss). This is probably the most difficult step. The positives of telecommuting or completely virtual offices are not easy to compare to the perceived negatives.

Once you've found your telecommute job, even if it's only telecommute a few days a month, you have to start treating part of your home as your place of work. This can lead to many problems, most of which I have had the misfortune of running into. Now, with my help, you too can learn how to maximize the benefit of your telecommute experience.

How To Work At Home: The Home Office

Once you start to work at home, you're going to think "Yes! Now I can sit on my couch in my pajamas with the television on and type away on my laptop for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week." Let me warn you: This is the worst possible way to telecommute (except for the pajamas, those are the best thing to wear).

Your couch, while easy on the posterior and conveniently located in front of the TV, is a very bad place to work. First, it is located in a high-traffic area of your house. While you are working, somebody else is going to want to watch TV. While you are sitting on the couch, it is assumed you're relaxing, which makes it easy for other members of the house to start conversations with you (and makes them angry when you tell them you are working and cannot talk). Your spouse, child, cat, or dog will lay against you on the couch, making it difficult to type. The various CDs, papers, and electronics you will need to do your job will end up strewn about the living room, on the coffee table, or stuck in the cracks of the couch making them impossible to find when they are needed most. Your couch is not an office, and it's a mistake to treat it as such.

Instead, commandeer an entire room, with a door. Buy yourself a large desk, the more surface area the better. Make sure it has enough space underneath for your computer, enough drawers for your seldom-used but necessary office items, and enough room to keep everything you need conveniently within arm's reach. Go with a sturdy, nice-looking desk you can see yourself liking for years to come. It's cheaper in the long run to buy something that will last. I've purchased many many desks and my most recently-purchased desk I can see myself liking for a long time. Don't buy a "workstation", buy a desk. L-shaped desks are nice since they allow you to have one section for computers and another section for papers (or more computers).

Get the most comfortable office chair you can afford (good chairs are not cheap). You will be sitting in this chair for 8 or more hours a day. I cannot over-stress the importance of lower-back support. Your office chair should have it in abundance. Don't be afraid to spend $200 on the chair, your backside will thank you for it.

Once you have your desk and chair, you'll need some additional gadgets to make your workspace more workful. If your work computer is a laptop, consider buying an additional monitor to complement it. A larger monitor is easier on the eyes. A USB hub can make sense of the now-incredible amount of computer peripherals you probably use on a daily basis (headphones, external hard drive, mouse, keyboard, camera, phone, iPod, memory stick, external hard drive). The less frustrating your work area, the happier and more productive you will be.

The final, most-important touch on your home office is a simple one: Close the door. When you are in your office, you are at work and you are not at home. Make sure the rest of the house understands this, but most importantly make sure you understand this. The worst thing you can do is spend 14 hours a day "at work" because you keep taking breaks for home business. If necessary, make the others in your house call you on your cell phone or text message you or otherwise electronically get in contact with you. This will allow you to handle their need when you are able, and keep the work mindset.

My biggest mistake was making my living room my office. I never left my living room, I would get distracted by other people, and I would "be at work" from the time I woke up to the time I went back to bed. My stress levels went through the roof. I got angry at the people who would not leave me to do my work. Worst of all, the quality of my work suffered horribly. While I was at work for 16 hours, only 6-8 hours of real work would get done, leaving me to make up time on the weekend, alienating friends and family. Finally, after my couch was buried in work papers and completely unusable to sit on, I decided to turn my spare bedroom into my new office. It was the best decision I made. I'm less stressed and more productive.

Telecommuting can be the best way to work. You're in your own space, the nearest restaurant is a 30-second walk. The waiter may be a bit surly, but the prices are excellent. Your office is another 30-second walk. Your office is yours, not subject to the whim of the HR department. As long as you keep your office quiet, your chair comfortable, and your door closed, your work will be better than ever.

(Edit: Added the photos of my old office and my new office)