Road Warriors: Who Needs an Office?

July 3, 2007 — -- What is a home office? Who needs it? Veterans of the basement desk, the toddler-ravaged desk top and the peanut butter-encrusted phone say home office often means no office.

Road warriors who spend most of their day in a car or on a plane say the home office is where they leave their briefcase on Sundays.

The hazards of working at home are legendary, especially when there are 5-year-old assistants at the work place. No one wants to be on a conference call when that toddler makes a bathroom announcement.

Go ahead and try Google or Yahoo for advice. What will you get? Deals on office furniture you might not use or need.

But, there is help. There are professional organizers, virtual office companies, and technology providers who service the brave and sometimes lonely home office worker.

Veteran telecommuters and home business entrepreneurs know working from home takes more discipline. It's not about things — computers, phones or printers. It's about you.

"Organizing is an emotional process," says professional organizer Cynthia Diamond. "We all like to do things we enjoy, but if it's a task that seems frustrating boring or overwhelming, we tend to procrastinate."

Those who work at home have less support but more distractions and temptations — like ice cream in the freezer or the latest episode of "Oprah." You have to be organized.

"It's a tuffy, a real tuffy," says Debbie Williams, who calls herself an organizing strategist. "You have no one looking over your shoulder, there is no peer or supervisor to answer to."

Not only do you have to be disciplined and self motivated, she says, but when you are at home, "you are it — you are the receptionist, writer, salesperson — you have to do all of that."

Williams started her business at home when her son was 2. She sets priorities. A-list priorities have to be done today.

B-list tasks are those things that you should do but can be put off a day without creating a disaster.

The C-list "is those things you'll never do" — like updating files or reading old e-mails.