Probably one on the first steps in starting a career where you work at home is setting up a quiet, private and comfortable office space. Sometimes finding a quiet, not to mention private place in a house full of kids can be a challenge. Now if you plan on working while the kids are at school, that may not be a problem, and of course that depends on the kind of work from home job you seek as to whether having your kids making noise or interrupting you will matter. If you are working for a company doing customer service, then it is required to have no background noise. If you are an ebayer, website owner or a freelance writer you can certainly get away with a little bit of cartoon noise or an occasional question from your family. For me, I have done all those types of jobs and do prefer my quiet out of the way office in the basement.
The next step you will want to take is to have a very comfortable chair. Why is this at the top of my list? Well you will understand when you have to sit in one place for 6 hours straight taking customer service calls back to back. When I first started doing this type of work, my back and neck were in pain even though I had a very nice leather office chair to sit in. I ended up trading my "do nothing all day cause I own this place" chair for a small compact typist chair with a very straight back.
Another necessity is a large desk. You just don't realize how much paperwork and other stuff is accumulated by a work at home job. When I was working a technical support job, I had more print outs of scripts, tips, diagrams and notes then the companies engineers had. Which also brings in the importance of a file cabinet and my favorite, a bulletin board.
Of course you will need the basic equipment like a computer, printer, high speed Internet and a business phone. And if you decide to work for a company that involves taking calls you will more than likely need your phone to be a landline with a corded phone and a corded headset.
In the long run, having the perfect setup is great, but not particularly necessary for all work at home jobs or to even have while you are looking for work. Why invest in a landline or a headset until you are sure the job you get requires that particular type of equipment.
For me I think the most important thing this is to make sure that your home office is a pleasant place to be. Surround yourself with things you love. Make it a happy, warm and cheerful environment. You will be spending a lot of time there when you start your work from home career.
The Work From Home Office
Labels: home office, wahm, work at home, work from home