Category Working Naked

Physical Preparation

Internet and Phone. Good connectivity is CRITICAL. High speed is nice, but high availability is much more important.

Downtime will destroy you.

My father used to build wonderful buildings. Offices, homes, shopping malls, all kinds of amazing accomplishments of wood, stone, steel, glass and concrete. When I was a kid I used to sneak into his office (yes, he had a home office way back then) and sit at his huge desk and imagine myself building great things. There were blueprints and drafts and plans and project notes in various rolls and bookcases and cabinets and nooks and crannies everywhere. He had various office equipment and gadgets and doodads as well. He even had an mathematical 10-key machine -not one of those fancy electric ones. I'm talking about the real thing, the one with a bazillion number punch keys on the front and a great big handle on the side you would pull on to make the machine perform whatever bit of arithmetic you needed.

His office was a treasure trove of cool stuff. It was also an example of proper planning. EVERYTHING had a reason for being there. Every project he ever did started out as a sketch or a drawing, and only after careful and thoughtful planning and design would it eventually be undertaken. Nobody showed up at a job site with a shovel or a hammer ready to start working on the project until every detail about the project had been carefully considered and added to the plan. Long before the workers showed up to start construction on one of his projects, my dad could tell you exactly what tasks they were going to do, what things (lumber, steel, tile, etc) they would need, and when they would need them.

All of this is analogous to your career as a home office worker. I'm not saying that you should plan out every detail down to the last brass door knob; but don't just jump in blindly either. Account for what tasks you will do, what things you will need to accomplish those tasks, and when you will need those things.

DSL? Cable? Satellite? Computer? Phone? Cell? Printer? Fax? Pens & Pencils? Notepads? Toner? Paper? Stamps? File Folders?

Who is providing these items? How are they supplied/stocked? And perhaps most importantly: Who is paying for them?

Running out of an office supply item when you are in a corporate environment isn't really that big of a deal. There is usually a supply cabinet stocked with the things you need. If not then there is usually somebody who handles getting those things for you. However, when you are working from home and you run out of toner in the middle of printing something critically important you simply do not have the luxury or time to drop everything and drive to the local office supply store. In short, you are screwed and no amount of bitching or moaning will change the fact that you screwed yourself by not planning ahead.

Plan these things out in advance.