Ahhh, I love my home office! The garden view inspires me (when my nose isn’t buried in my computer, that is). But it’s taken me years to learn focus, super efficiency and tricks for working at home. My colleague Sharon (@beamva on twitter) at Beam Virtual Assistant in San Francisco is an expert with tips on this topic. And my friend Alison Marks of Inside Out Coaching brings what is inside of you out into your environment with her dual expertise in management & feng shui: http://www.insideoutdesigncoaching.com/about.html.
WHAT ARE BUSINESS ADVANTAGES TO A HOME OFFICE?
I’d love to hear your ideas?
Here’s a few of mine:
1. you get more done with less distraction: you can manage interruptions of employees or colleagues by not answering hte phone for a few minutes, or holding off on all email or social media responses til your primary deadline is accomplished.
2. you don’t have to inflate your prices making your clients pay for your rent! That’s a huge tactic for keeping our prices affordable while still offering top quality, uninterrupted action for our clients: https://allisonbliss.sitedistrict.com/services.htm.
3. you can work whenever you’re inspired. Oh, you have to watch this one at 10am on Saturday – or 3am anytime! But sometimes I feel more creative at 7am or 11pm and want to give my clients that best time.
4. here’s a common myth: “people aren’t as efficient working at home”. My experience is that those of us who have home offices work far harder than our colleagues who chit chat 20% of their time at the office- I know, I’ve done that! I’m not so easily distracted at home with my cats since they rarely tell me about boyfriend troubles, awful haircuts, frustrations with fellow employees, or work issues (well, unless they’re hungry and then I hear about it!).
But I’m lucky enough to have some space in my office, places to put things away to stay uncluttered. It wasn’t always like this but I’ve learned from experts like Sharon and Alison.
WHAT ARE YOUR SUCCESSES? DISTRACTIONS? SOLUTIONS? Let’s share this because after all, “Knowledge is Bliss”. ahhhhhh
Thanks for the introduction Allison! Another business advantage of working from home is that it is so green to ditch a commute. The time (and traffic frustration) I save not-commuting also converts into prime working time for clients. More hours are available, as you mention above, and there are no travel charges. Often I can start working virtually for a client sooner than I could than if we had to find a mutually convenient time to meet in person.
Thank you Allison for reminding me of all the benefits working from my home office provides. I totally agree with your list.
The greatest value to me however, is the fact that I am near to my children’s lives at all times. If they leave their lunch at home, I can take a break and bring it to them. If they’re sick, I can pick them up; tuck them into bed and head back into my home office to continue working.
My dogs love that I work from home too. They cuddle around my feet as I talk on the phone and I lull them to sleep with the “click, clack” of my keyboard.
I couldn’t even imagine working in a cubicle again – I’ve completely lost my “office-tan” (which is the complete loss of skin pigment from being under florescent lights all day).
Thank you Internet, PC, MAC and all the other wonderful technology that allows me to maximize my true potential just down the hall from my washer and dryer!