by Pops » Tue 01 Dec 2015, 10:52:54
As someone who has been telecommuting full time for over a dozen years (freelance graphics), here are some tips.
1) Connection
If your tool is the internet you must pay utmost attention to your connection! Most folks nowadays live in town and have access to DSL or cable. For me it is imperative to have a good connection PLUS a backup.
Living in the sticks is a lot harder but doable, I did it in the Ozarks in 2004 and have used just about every connection you can name. Nowadays it is easy, but don't take it for granted.
2) Space
My first home office was a small bedroom I outfitted just like an office, Mac work machine, MS Office machine, high end scanner, proofing printer, fax, files, phones, CD storage, printed work order board, blah, blah.
Now I'm very casual. I just have a small desk in the bedroom, laptop, digitizing tablet and big monitor. Everything is digital, no files, no faxes, no scanner and the printer is in a closet. I don't even backup to CDs or DVDs any more, just a couple little pocket drives and a cloud account. In fact I've purposely set myself up to be completely mobile.
3) Style
When I first set up at home fulltime I would get up in the morning and get ready just like I was heading into town, except I walked into the bedroom/office and closed the door. I did it that way consciously because I was afraid I would be distracted. When I was at work everyone pretended I was out of the house and I did too. In the early days I was making good - and needed all I could make.
Turns out that even I, possibly adult ADD, have little trouble getting my work done simply because I am on my own. I had the same 1960s outlook as most managers whose job it is to crack the whip and squeeze every little drop of labor possible from the serfs. Partly it is due to the fact that I'd been exempt for a long while, salaried then owner/partner. It really isn't such a big deal, I'm pretty sure if a person is not motivated enough to get the work done they probably know it and will cling to the cubical and the coattails of the producers with their final ounce of strength.
I also lowered my overhead, or as has been pontificated, I "crashed early to avoid the rush." But early on if my inbox was not packed I was worried and felt as if I should be keeping my seat warm even if I was not doing anything billable... old habits die hard. This time of year especially is always slow in my biz because retailers have everything set and are busy doing their thing and "institutions" are partying.
Over time I've become confident enough to simply walk away from the screen when my work is finished and go do something else. For a while I did some little farming and cattle, now I'm fixing up an old house.
By the same token I've become much less rigid about the door to my office; wife, kids, grandkids wander through, no biggie. Turns out one of the great benefits of working at home is working at home.
[ETA one more]
4) Turn It Off!
If you allow customers to contact you 24/7 they will. The only way to not become a drone is simply not respond outside whatever regular hours you set. Mine are M-Th, 9-3 & friday some. I can and do work late and weekends but I charge double. I respond tout de suite during my hours and can and will drop everything for an "emergency." But the thing to understand is your clients know immediately how much you value your time, if you act like it is worthless, they will too.
The legitimate object of government, is to do for a community of people, whatever they need to have done, but can not do, at all, or can not, so well do, for themselves -- in their separate, and individual capacities.
-- Abraham Lincoln, Fragment on Government (July 1, 1854)