You've made the decision to work from home. You might be working as an employee, and independent contractor, or you might be self-employed. In any event there are certain things you should have in place to ensure success.
In an ideal world, you will have a home office. We all know we don't exist in an ideal world. If we did, I would have won the lottery last weekend and be on my way to Key West. So let's be realistic. You need a space to work. Hopefully this can be some sort of permanent space so you aren't setting up and cleaning up each day. I know some people who work in a walk-in closet. Do what you can to make this happen. If you can stay out of your kitchen, your waist line and family will thank you.
Background noise can literally be a career killer. Barking dogs, meowing cats, and crying children scream un-professionalism. Along the same vein, police sirens and school buses aren't much help. Think about the location of your work space and the ambient noise. Also have a contingency plan. The company I work for allows dogs in the office (pretty awesome company). As such, I am always ready to explain we have a dog-friendly workplace if either of my pups should happen to bark while I am working form home.
Your choice in phone is extremely important. Even if you are doing transcription or bookkeeping, there is a good chance you will have to speak with people via phone. Think this through. You are on the phone, speaking with a customer, typing information into the computer. How many hands do you have free? Um, none. You need a headset and a phone which is compatible. Not only that, you need to make sure that headset is comfortable because you might be wearing it for 8 hours a day.
Ok - that's a few things to think about. Tomorrow I will give you some headset recommendations.
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