So You Want To Work from Home: Do’s, Don’ts and Miscellaneous Stuff
After having worked from home for 3 plus years, I’ve learned a bit I’d like to share. Not all tips will be right for all people, but they are a good rule of thumb for most.
DO’S
- Spend a little to make a living. You want to be comfortable in your home office. Investing in a nice chair and an appropriate height desk are a major way to insure that you do this. Another very wise investment are corded phones that have headset jacks, as well as a great headset. Wal*mart headsets will work in a pinch, or until you can afford a better one, but there are many reasons to invest in a good one. The main things to look for in a headset are volume control, ability to mute, ear comfort and background noise filtering. I personally do not recommend any headset that fits in the ear. You are always going to find that one person that is positive they must yell in order to be heard. Over the head types with a speaker that fit over the ear are the most comfortable, if not the most fashionable. I highly recommend THE BOOM Headsets. They cost a bit but are well worth the money. I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful friend who found one for me on ebay and i treasure it. It cannot be beat in any measure. I also recommend a corded phone for practical reasons. The battery doesn’t go dead and potential interference isn’t an issue. Remember you get what you pay for, make a wise investment when you can.
- Take the time to keep your computer clean of viruses, adware and spyware. Most applications can be told to run at specific times that will not interfere with your day to day tasks. My favorite Anti-virus program is AVAST! Antivirus. It runs without taking up all your RAM and scans everything while being completely free and customizable. For spyware, my favorites are Adaware SE and Spybot: Search & Destroy. Both are free and easy to use. Last, you want to be sure that your computer is kept as clean as possible of old files and such. For this I use Easy Cleaner. It’s also free, extremely easy to use and does a great job.
- Try to schedule breaks. This is SO important. I love to work. I can sit and work for hours upon hours a day. Guess what? My legs hurt, I get burned out and that helps no one. Even if it’s just 5 minutes. Get up and walk around. Start laundry, get a drink, do some spot cleaning. Do whatever you want. You will find this to be a major help to your day to day wellbeing.
- If you HAVE to sit there, there are excercises you can do in your chair even while on the phone or between calls and they feel GREAT! I do these during long shifts to help my back and legs as well as keep me awake if i’m bored. My favorite sites to find these exercises are Sitting Exercises, Desk Fitness and Real Age Workout. Don’t try them all at once, just pick a few and you’ll be pleasantly surprised in how these will help you and how good you’ll feel.
- If you have kids, plan your work schedule around them, don’t try to fit them into your work schedule. I know, especially for single moms, you want to work as much as possible to make as much as you can. That’s not a bad thing and i completely understand. But a burned out mom helps no one. So plan well and the whole family will be happier for it.
- Sit your family, friends, whoever you need to down and explain your work schedule. Let them know when they should not come to visit, or interrupt. Set up an emergency system if needed for your family. Establish when you can be interrupted. My rules are, if fever, blood, vomiting, fire or cops aren’t involved, it can wait. My kids write me notes and wait til i can answer if i’m on a call. If it’s an emergency i will ask the customer to hold and transfer them or i’ll finish the call if possible. Keep in mind my kids are older and able to do most things themselves, smaller children would need a more tailored system.
- Last, keep receipts. All your expenses are tax deductible. Even some of your home expenses are deductible, like portions of your electricity, home repairs made to your office, phone service, you name it. Keep those receipts, they’ll really save you at tax time, especially if you are considered self employed. For more info on what exactly is an allowable expense, visit the IRS website.
DON’TS
- If a company wants money to start off, it’s most likely a business opportunity, not a job. Don’t be confused there. I waded through a good deal of scams before i realized there were legitimate companies that would hire me to do what i do. I don’t need to refer friends, i don’t have to get anyone to sign up, I don’t need to advertise for them and I certainly didn’t pay them anything to work for them. I do sell Avon, and I paid the fee, but that IS a Business Opportunity and frankly i do it more to buy stuff for myself than selling to anyone else lol. The bottom line here is there are too many companies now that truly hire you to work for them, to be seiged with scams and get rich quick schemes.
- Don’t expect to make a million but do make sure it’s worth your time. In an 18 month period i made $39,000 with my primary job ( Working Solutions ). I don’t know where it all went but i made it. When you factor in that I don’t commute, don’t buy work clothes, don’t have to go buy lunches and I don’t add wear and tear to my vehicle, that’s not bad money at all. Now that being said, I worked alot of hours and it’s not probably typical of all my fellow employees but the point is that the money IS there to be made. Go claim it.
- Most importantly don’t forget life outside of work/your office. I can’t tell you the last time i spent in my living room lol. I see it on the way to the kitchen, but that’s about as far as it goes. It sounds funny, but when i had directtv installed, i didn’t know for 3 weeks that the moron installed it at eye level in a most tacky way. It looks awful, but it works, i guess that’s what matters. Point being, i got so wrapped up in work for awhile that i didn’t really ever leave it. This is a VERY bad habit. Don’t do it. As i said before, make your plans and stick to them. You’ll be happier that you did.
Miscellaneous Stuff:
When your friends & family realize that you work from home, their usual reaction is ” Oh great so you can go with me to do this, and that anytime I want”. “I can drop by anytime now”. AS i said before, talk to anyone who could be a potential issue. Reason being, your schedule adherence can affect whether you continue working with any company. Lets not forget the ringing doorbell either. Most companies do not want it known that they hire work from home agents. A doorbell is quite the clue that you may indeed be working at home. A good headset can sometimes filter that out, but what’s harder is the doorbell rings and then the dog barks and the kids yell ” Mommmmmmmm, someone is here!!!!!!!”. I once convinced someone that it was my cell phone ringtone that i had cleverly customized. They were impressed and bought a cell phone from me, but it’s not often that the scenario works out that way. I also did that once when my Chihuahua barked but again, that’s was unique. Most companies require a quiet background and you can actually lose your job for violating that policy, so set rules for EVERYONE you know. It works out much better in the long run and any hurt feelings can be assuaged by a nice invitation to lunch to celebrate your first paycheck.
Last but not least, have FUN! Just because you are now working from home, doesn’t mean you can’t be social with your fellow workers. With free chat clients such as Yahoo Messenger and AOL Instant Messenger, to name a couple, you can really get to know the people you work with. Myspace also offers great opportunities to get to know who you chat with during work hours. My friends and I or ” The Heffers” as we lovingly call ourselves, don’t get together and have coffee but we probably know each other better than we do some of our family. Now don’t get me wrong, this doesn’t take the place of real world socializing but it IS a way to handle things that happen on the job. If you have a customer with a nasty attitude, you can chat with your friends about it. They know what you mean, how you feel and might even have ideas on how to defuse the situation, or if nothing else, they’ll be able help you make fun of the customer so that you at least feel better aftwerwards.
Well, there you go, good luck in your decision on whether or not to work from home. Whatever you decide, you now have some things to ponder and a bit of advice from someone who actually knows how it goes.
~Vanessa~
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