In one form or another I have been working form home and/or self-employed for 15 years. Holy cow. This does not mean I have been successful at it. All it mean is I have, for the past 15 years, attempted to earn some portion of my income working from home.
The most frequent question I am asked is how do I keep from being isolated? For me, I leave my house every single day. Maybe I go for a quick bike ride to the store, or maybe I walk around the Walmart realizing that no matter how poorly I am dressed, there is always someone at Walmart wearing pajamas and curlers. The woman who monitors the self-checkout stands at my local grocery store knows me by name and knows I work from home. Come to think of it, almost all the people at the 4 local grocery stores I frequent know me. So my secret is doing my grocery shopping throughout the week, not all at once.
The second question is what equipment is needed? I think the biggest consideration for working from home is high-speed internet and a dedicated phone line. You probably cannot use your current phone line because an incoming call (even if you turn off call waiting) can disrupt a work call. High-speed internet is an absolute necessity. Even if you did not do phone work but other types of contracting, most require an integration with their software which will be impossible without high-speed. Also the age and operating system of your computer will impact which companies will contract you. The good news here is you can get a perfectly adequate laptop for $300 which will do everything you need and let you work while in bed. There is more, but this is the basics to get you started.
Part 2 will discuss additional equipment and work environment.
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