Hard at work

As promised here are a few thoughts and tips that you may find useful if you find yourself in the position of working from home. Many of them will be common sense and can be found by looking at sites dedicated to home working.

1. You really must have your own work area which can be cut off from the rest of the house. This is your work environment and there should be no mistake about what you should be doing while in it. My home office is a converted spare bedroom, fully kitted out with a huge desk, masses of storage, comfy gas lift chair and enough computing power to solve the riddle of why orange smarties taste of orange. Health and Safety law applies to your company whether you're working from home or in the office so if they need to provide you with a comfy chair then get it.

2. The telephone should have a speaker/conference facility. Unless you have the luxury of a separate telephone line installed for work you'll be surprised how much your private phone rings during the day when you're normally out. Get a speaker phone and use it, it's very satisfying just pressing a button to some nuisance call while still working away.

3. I use the company supplied mobile for all business calls to and from the office, conference calls with colleagues in the US and China etc. Get yourself a proper handsfree device and use it.

4. Get a desktop charger for the mobile so you can see it at all times. Remember to take it with you if you have to "pop" out for some reason. The boss will be suspicious if you don't answer it immediately (that is, if you give a stuff what your boss thinks, but I suppose it's best not to rock the boat in the early stages).

5. Depending on the location of your home office you may need to get blackout curtains (I do) to block out too much sunlight, again your company should supply or reimburse you for these items.

6. Get a desk fan. The heat generated by my company workstation and monstrous screen may be dissipated in a large office but in a home environment it can become stifling.

7. Music. Free from the musical tastes of your colleagues and the disapproving glances of the boss crank up the tunes. Makes the whole work thing much more enjoyable. Use a keyboard which has shortcut keys for instantly muting the sound though.

8. Call the office regularly to keep up to speed with all the latest gossip and news. Occasionally, even talk to the boss, it makes them feel important and useful.

9. Don't work too hard, they may expect you to carry your new found efficiency back to the office with you.

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