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.

Pretend Office

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.

Williams encourages clients to delegate, but how do you delegate when there is just one person? She suggests a virtual assistant. She uses someone to handle business details. It's important, Williams says, to network with others and find help just as you would at the office. "I look for people who will help me. Surround yourself with people that will make you look good.

"Manage both time and space, which are really the same thing, at home." Her strategy is to create what might be called a pretend office. Her tips include setting hours, closing the door, or using a screen and establishing boundaries for children. She has a laminated stop sign to warn the family she is staking out territory and time.

Standolyn Robertson is president of the National Association of Professional Organizers. Setting a boundary is key, she says. She also warns people to avoid "the zigzag."

"You go to freshen up your coffee and see that the mail has come ... then, while you check the mail, you get a phone call. While you are on hold, you decide to start a load of laundry. Next thing you know, it's noon."

"Limit interruptions," says Williams. "Just because you can, doesn't mean you should." She doesn't always answer the phone, screens calls and lets the door bell ring when she needs to focus.

Diamond agrees and says one of the most common wastes of time is e-mail. "Set a specific time for e-mails and calls, and don't get sidetracked."

If you have to, Williams suggests organizing work in time blocks. "A lot of people have just a laptop in the corner of the kitchen — bless their heart, do what they can when chaos is ensuing," she says.

"If you can't get quiet time to focus, then take ten minutes and set a reasonable goal." Take a break, do what you need to do, she says, and come back later for another time block and another task.

Williams is a big promoter of kid math. "Give them five minutes and they'll give you 15 back." When they absolutely need attention to "avoid a meltdown," then she's there. It's five minutes well spent. Kid math "works on spouses, too."

Virtual Office

There will inevitably be times when the home office doesn't work.

An entire industry has been created to serve customers who need temporary space or virtual space. The Regus company motto is "work without boundaries." They have space in hundreds of cities all over the world, which they offer for as little as $10 an hour.

Their virtual office solution gives the home office soldier or road warrior a high profile address, mail service, phone answering and access to conference rooms. It's common for clients to come to them in an emergency, in need of a room to meet clients or back office help to organize a presentation. "The day to day headaches," says company vice president Sande Golgart, "are taken by our team."

Whether you end up with a short-term rent-an-office or a virtual office, you'll still need to be organized. That not only means the desktop, but also the data base, e-mail and other computer files

Diamond includes those in her list of seven spaces. The others include paper files, desk, reference material and supplies. The most common mistake, says Diamond, is to have a file bin. "It's the worse thing you can do. You will never file that stuff and then it gets lost."

The skills used to organize time are "the same as in any office," says Robertson. The problem is, when you are at home and overwhelmed, it's easy to seek refuge on the living room sofa. There are other differences.

"You are a one-man show and you can burn out quickly ... you need to be aware of that," says Robertson. "And there's also the lonely factor. That can be hard and draining." People miss the water cooler talk, she says.

"Maybe the coffee shop would take care of that. It's the new water cooler. There's nothing wrong with taking the laptop to the coffee shop two or three afternoons a week."

Robertson, Williams and Diamond all have home offices. None answered their phones on the first call, but they all called back.