Best Of | Home Office Warrior

Top 5 Lessons I’ve Learned in 5 Years of Working from Home

Oct 30, 2008

Alyssa Gregory owns avertua, LLC , a virtual assistant firm providing general business support, design services, and virtual assistant coaching and mentoring. She is the author of “VA Secrets Revealed! An Insider’s Guide to Being a Successful Virtual Assistant” and provides small business tips through her blog. She lives in New Jersey with her husband and two children.

This November marks the 5th anniversary of my virtual assistant company, avertua. I have learned many things over the past five years about business, marketing and working with clients. But perhaps some of the most important lessons I’ve learned are those that keep things moving behind the scenes when you work from home.

In honor of my anniversary, I have compiled the top five lessons I’ve learned while working from home. If you are a seasoned home-worker, you may nod in agreement as you read through my list. If you’re a new business owner or soon to be taking the plunge to work from home, hopefully you will get some ideas you can implement, and maybe even avoid some common mistakes many people who work from home make.

Here are my top lessons learned:

1 - Repeat After Me: I Am Working!

I have found that no matter how many times I tell family and friends that I’m working, there are always several people who don’t quite get it. They stop by unannounced; they call and want to talk for an hour; they make plans without checking with me. It’s been five years, and I am still telling the same people over and over again that I am not sitting around watching soap operas and eating bon-bons; I am WORKING.

My Lesson: If you’re repeating, “I can’t; I’m working,” over and over to the same people, it’s a lost cause. Don’t spend any more time getting frustrated or trying to get them to understand. Accept their misconceptions and realize that they are not going to change. Start to schedule time to get together way in advance and in the meantime, make your excuse, hang up the phone and get back to work!

2 - Discipline is a Must-Have

When you work from home distractions are everywhere. You’re in your own environment so you have constant reminders about what you will be doing when you’re not working: places you need to clean, yard work that needs to be done, and kids who want your attention. It is very easy to be distracted and sidetracked and without discipline it is virtually impossible to stay on track.

My Lesson: Set realistic goals for every day but don’t be set on strict adherence. Focus on your biggest priorities, but be flexible and be able to adjust if you are hit by distractions…because it’s inevitable you will be distracted from time-to-time.

3 - Treat Your Technology Like Royalty
Almost everyone I know that works from home relies on their computer. Your productivity can be negatively impacted by out-of-date, non-functional equipment and software. And heaven-forbid you ever experience a system crash! What are you doing to ensure you don’t experience costly downtime?

My Lesson: Make the necessary investment for the systems you need to do your job well. Update your software regularly, and run maintenance (virus check, system check, defrag) regularly. Create a contingency plan so you can continue to work in case of a problem with your primary computer. And please, back up your data!

4 - Get Organized and Create Systems NOW

When I started my business, I wasted many hours trying to find files misplaced on my computer, locating documents lost in the sea of paper on my desk, and recreating the wheel every time I needed to send a standard e-mail. It not only took its toll on my productivity, but it became frustrating and definitely didn’t create an environment conducive for work.

My Lesson: Get organized and make every effort to stay organized. Once you create your systems, manuals, and processes you will find you are able to get more done in less time, which is truly invaluable. Set aside time at least weekly to reevaluate, adjust and take action. The time you spend getting organized will serve you well for the life of your business.

5 - Setup (and Protect) Your Space
I have been lucky enough to have a room dedicated as my office since starting my business. And I have used my office to its fullest potential. But what if you don’t have the luxury of having a room just for your use? How do you create an area that “works” for your work?

My Lesson: Regardless of the location and the amount of area you have available, create a workspace that is off-limits to the family, separate from your living space, and functions as you need it to. You may have to be a little creative, but you absolutely need a space to call your own!

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned while working from home? Add to my list by commenting below!

If you would like to purchased Alyssa’s wonderful ebook, you can use this link:

Best Of, Guest Post, Home Office Warrior Written By Grant Griffiths Comments (9)

There’s one born every minute

Oct 22, 2008

Sui Generis--a New York law blog.jpg This is a guest post from Niki Black. Niki is a busy attorney who also blogs a lot. In fact she has 4 active blogs which I know of; Sui Generis — a New York law blog, Practicing Law in the 21st Century blog, Legal Antics and Women Lawyers — Back on Track.

One of the joys of working from home is being able to spend more time with your kids. On occasion there are priceless moments that I know I would have never experienced if I my work were confined to an office.

Case in point-one morning last summer, my kids, ages 4 and 6, were getting ready for their day. They had camp that morning and I had a lot of work that had to be done.

After rushing around, we had a few minutes to kill, so my kids were watching tv while I drank my coffee and posted to one of my blogs.

I glanced into the family room and noticed that the kids were watching an infomercial for the “Shark Mop.” My suggestion that we change the channel to PBS was met with resounding dissent. I was a bit surprised by their fervor, but shrugged my shoulders and figured what harm could come of it?

A short while later, my 4 year old wandered into the kitchen and tugged at my sleeve.

“Mommy?”

“Yes honey.”

“Did you know that when you clean the floor you sometimes miss places?”

I was fairly meticulous about keeping the floor clean, so I figured that perhaps she’d stepped in dirt brought in by the dog.

I replied, “I try my best. Sorry if you stepped in something.”

She looked up at me and replied earnestly, “If you had a Shark Mop, that wouldn’t happen, mom.”

I laughed and sent her off to the family room.

When it was time to leave the house, I figured that before we left, we should have a short talk about commercials and infomercials. I explained that the program they had watched was really a commercial. I also told them that not everything you see and hear on tv is true.

My 6 year old furrowed her brows, looked at me petulantly and stomped her foot. “But mom! They tested the Shark Mop. It really works! It’s true!”

“I know they said that, but…”

“Mom! It’s true! It really, really is!” she replied adamantly.

I couldn’t help but laugh out loud. A sucker’s born every minute. Only problem—in this particular case, I couldn’t decide if it was my kids or me.

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Top iPhone Applications for the Home Office Warrior

Oct 10, 2008

This post is long overdue as I have had my v.1 iPhone now for over a year. Like my other Mac computers, the iPhone has become an essential tool in my business. What has made the iPhone even better was the release the summer of iPhone 2.0 and the App Store. I have way too many applications on my iPhone, but I just can’t help myself.

I have been trying to decide over the last month or so what applications on my iPhone I could not live without and below is what I have come up with. Please add to it in the comments if you have some you feel I missed.

Evernote: This great applications lets you capture any moment or idea as it happens, wherever you are. And it has cloud-based sync so you are always sync’d to your desktop. I use it to take notes, take photos of stuff I want to file away. It also works great for taking a snapshot of a business card and then organize them with Evernote. You can even record a quick voice memo. It has so many uses, and some of them you don’t even know about until you dive in an use it.

Air Sharing: With this handy little app, you can take files with you on your iPhone and access them anywhere. You simply drag-drop files between your iPhone and your computers. And you can view documents in many common formats. What I liked best about this app, it was so easy to set up and then run.

Jott for iPhone: As you have read here before, I love Jott and it is also one of those essential tools. Jott is the ultimate mobile notepad for the iPhone that turns your voice into notes. Capture to-dos as quickly as you can say, “get new whiteboards for office.” Jott transcribes your voice into text and place the resulting notes in your lists.

beejive: This is the instant messaging application I am using on my iPhone. I can stay connected with all the people I IM with. And it works with all my accounts too.

Things: Is my task manager of choice for the iPhone. Things talks about how easy it it to use and they are exactly right. And best of all, it now sync’s with my MacBook so my task are always up-to-date on my iPhone and my computer. It is another one of those must haves in my book.

1Password: 1Password takes care of all your online passwords. And it sync’s with my iPhone so I can use it to autofill al those passwords I may need while using my iPhone to access accounts or websites. It securely stores your information and logs you into websites automatically with a simple tap. I no longer have to remember any passwords, with the exception of the Unlock Code for 1Password.

Instapaper: With this application you can read saved web pages on the go, even offline. I use Instapaper on my MacBook to mark items I want to read later. Just one of the bookmarking tools I use. And I can sync my iPhone to this list of reading so when I am out of the office waiting, I can open up one of items in my list and read it right on my iPhone.

TwitterFon: TwitterFon is a simple, fast twitter client for your iPhone. I have tried many of the apps for twitter on my iPhone and I like this one the best. It gives me what I want in a twitter client for the iPhone. No fancy features or useless functions. I get my friend feeds, replies and direct messages. Each has its own tab.

I could keep going and list even more applications I am using on my iPhone. However the list above are those I would not be without for now. In a future post, I will list some more and if you leave your suggestions in the comments, I will include a “Reader’s List of iPhone Applications” too.

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The Power of Blogging and Twitter

Oct 09, 2008

This has been a busy week for me as far as having a chance to both guest post and have a recorded interview too.

Guest Post

MIchael Martine offered a chance to be part of a series on “Blogger Biographies” and I jumped at the chance. I love Michael’s blog Remarkablogger. And Michael is a pretty cool guy too. And getting to know Michael is another one of those benefits you get from blogging and even using twitter. Because twitter is where I really got to know Michael.

My Blogger Biography was published by Michael yesterday. And I was humbled to say the least by the great comments people left. Thank you to all of you who did.

Walter Reaves

I enjoyed writing the guest post and it was wonderful to have a chance to be even a small part of such a great blog as Remarkablogger. I subscribe to Michael’s blog and read it everyday. If you don’t,you should.

Podcast Guest

If there is one thing George & Mary-Lynn over at BIGG success now know, I love talking about working from a home office and about blogging. A few weeks ago Mary-Lynn contacted me to ask if I would be interested in do a spot on their wonderful blog BIGG success. It took me all of 2 seconds to decide of course.

I have come to know George & Mary-Lynn through their blog, through email exchanges over the last few months and even by having conversations on twitter. Just one more example of the power of using social media and then following up with an in person phone call.

The three of us had a great conversation a week or so ago and you can listen to the podcast and read part of the interview by visiting TIps to Manage More than One Business from Home.

George & Mary-Lynn are wonderful people and while the podcast is only so long, we had a great conversation which I know could have lasted hours. I plan to visit Chicago in the very near future and they are certainly on my list of must see people.

And while you are there listening to the interview, click that little orange button in the browser address bar and subscribe to their blog. If you are in business, you owe it to yourself to read and listen to BIGG success.

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Are those who work from home more productive?

Oct 07, 2008

In a word, yes. A recent survey released by CompTIA Reseach indicates that when companies give workers the option of telecommuting, they are seeing greater productivity, lower costs, improved employee health and greater employee retention. And this was also talked about today in a great post on ZDNet called “Trying to increase productivity? Send your employees home.”

Like Sam Diaz who wrote the post on ZDNet, I am sitting at my desk in my home office with my MacBook and extra display. Printer and even my own 20″ flat screen TV with the music channel on. Polo shirt, shorts and flip flops are my office attire too. I could not imagine having to get up, getting dressed and commuting to an office job ever again.

While I am my own boss unlike those who telework for a company, I too appreciate that I am working as soon as I pour my own cup of coffee and sit down in my chair. My commute is down 11 steps and across the basement to my office. And that is a huge upside for me and for those bosses who have employees working out of a home office.

Among the findings of the survey:

67 percent of the companies polled said employees were more productive, largely because they spent less time getting to and from work.

59 percent reported seeing cost savings from reduced use of office-related materials and resources.

39 percent said they have access to a more qualified staff, expanding their options to people who are located in - and not willing to relocate from - other regions. Likewise, 37 percent said telecommuting improved employee retention.

25 percent said employee health was improved, largely by reducing stress levels associated with the commute.

Other benefits included promotion of safety through reduced highway use (18 percent) and environmental benefits (17 percent).

As Sam Diaz also mentions,

Today’s tech tools - things like VPNs, WiFi hotspots, faster broadband connections and online and video conferencing services - have made telecommuting easier. My favorite tool: a virtual phone number from Google’s Grand Central service allows me to give my business contacts one phone number that simultaneously rings my home phone, office phone and cell phone so I never miss a call.

I could not do what I do without the same tools. And I would venture to guess, everyone who works from a home office has the same list of items they would not live without.

ZDNet in their post provided a really sharp graph which takes the numbers above and puts them side by side. Improved productivity is clearly at the top.

Trying to increase productivity? Send your employees home. | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com.jpg

If you are trying to convince your employer to give you the chance to work at home, show them the above survey results and sell them on it. They will be happy and so will you.

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