Tips to work from home well

As I sit here drinking my morning coffee and catching up on e-mail I begin my day of working at home (WAH). WAH is a benefit that makes my job all the better.  I WAH when I have an appointment, a meeting, or weather(!) that keeps me from the office. There are folks at my work that work from home part of each day to be there when their kids step off the schoolbus.

Today, although it is April, it is snowing pretty hard here. I was already planning to work from home. Now I'm so glad I did.

I start each work day at 10 am (so here I am all caught up 20 minutes before my start time). The reason? It's because I did not sit in traffic in the snow. I logged in. I started my day. I get more done on a WAH day. I even have time to run errands (off to AAA and the drycleaners soon).

I have not had a job where I could WAH since 2002. And now, 1.5 years into this job--I realize what I've been missing all these years. I had a low level of employee satisfaction (and a high level of listening to the weekly recruiter calls & job-hopping every 6 months).

Some things that make working at home easier/how to maximize your SoHo (small office/home office) experience:

-Get eFax. It's free to get faxes and a flat fee covers all your inbound. Best part is--no need to purchase a fax machine.

-Download the nifty tool from FedEx Kinko's. This allows you to have a button in your Microsoft office programs to PRINT right to Kinko's. And yes, most are open 24/7. I don't know about you but my color printer really sucks. This is a great way to get stuff bound, and ready to be shipped--all with the click of a button.

-Get a FedEx or UPS account (or use your work's number)

-Get your own URL & e-mail address--free mail is cheesy. These days having your own domain is so much better. And really, people notice if they are e-mailing you files and it bounces back because your hotmail can't handle it. Usually you can bundle your eNeeds with your current cable or phone or ISP company.

-Get a computer that works. That way you'll get things done w/ out downtime and time spent on the phone with tech support.

-Read 'Be' and 'Do' by A.C. Ping. They are always on my coffee table, as is Anna Quindlen's 'Short Guide to a Happy Life' Forget most of the business books out there (no offfense--but I'm really tired of the normal biz books).

-Get an online subscription to your local (or favorite) newspaper. Mine is free. I still buy the Sunday paper,  but I don't have time to read the old fashioned one because I have to read so many magazines each day to look for prospects etc.

-Think about getting an IP phone. It seems to be the cheapest way to call around the entire globe. No kidding.

-Don't spend more than $50 on your cell phone. $20/month on your landline for unlimited nationwide long distance is a killer deal and is a lifesaver if you're tired of expense reports being so complicated.

-Track your expenses. All of my networking events and volunteer work I write off the miles.

-Track your business expenses (even if only with Excel or a folder). It will help you come tax time.

-One tip I did gather from a biz book ('The Girl's Guide to Starting a Business') is don't lie down during the work day if WAH. Trust me, it's a bad idea.

Well--just a few minutes before the start of the work day. Take it from me--I took a pay cut to have the abilty to WAH. And it was worth it for the increased family time.