Nowadays, it seems as though just about everyone has a Home Office.  Some people dedicate a corner of their bedroom, others might use the dining room table, and some just sit down and work where ever it's convenient at the time.  It's important, however, to keep a solid line between work and home or work and family, for as soon as you start to blur that line, it can affect you and your family in ways you didn't expect.

A friend of mine - we'll call him Henry - recently got the opportunity to work from home a couple of days each week. This was something he had been hoping for, and now it was a reality.  He was pretty excited to not have to endure the commute for those days.  Since he was only going to be working from home twice a week, and his main work location was still at the office, he didn't think it was necessary to stake out a dedicated location at home for his work.  He already had a computer in the kitchen, and if he needed to spread out, he could just move to the dining room - as long as he cleaned up in time for dinner.

Henry's job is pretty demanding, and this wasn't changing.  On the days he worked from home, he still got up early, ate breakfast, then got down to work.  He's a focused kind of guy, so he got his work done and cleaned up where he was working in time for the family to sit down to dinner.  Everything seemed to be going pretty well.

Things were different, though.  The dinner table was getting quieter.  It turned out that Henry was often still focused on his work since he was sitting in the same chair in the same room where he was working just minutes earlier, and his family was also getting used to having to "keep things down" when they were around him.  The normal hustle and bustle of the house was too much of a distraction while he was working, and his family respected that.  Unfortunately, his work was slowly and subtly working its way into his family life. 

In a conversation with me one day over lunch, Henry told me he was considering returning to working at the office full-time as he reflected on the impact things were having on his family.  While he didn't come into the office twice a week, it seemed as though he was always at work.  And in fact, it was true.  Even in the evenings, he would see the computer or the dining room table, and it would cause his thoughts to wander toward work. He might even slip off to get "just one more thing done" before bed.

I suggested to Henry that he actually did need to return to a separation between work and home, but not in the way he was thinking.  All he really needed to do was to find a place he could use as an office - a place where he could shut out the noise when he needed, and where he could shut off the work when he wasn't actually working. He considered two options.  He had a room in the basement that was very separate from the rest of the house, but he didn't like the seclusion.  He also had a spare room that was rarely ever used.  This room was closer to everything, but it still had a door so it could be closed off whenever he needed.  This was the perfect place.  Close enough to the active parts of the house so he wouldn't feel secluded, but able to be shut off when necessary just by closing the door.  Now his family didn't have to tip-toe around while he was working, and when the day was done, he could simply close the door and put the workday behind him.  He also didn't have to clean up his workspace every day.

I'm happy to say that Henry continued working from home twice a week, and things have returned to normal at home.  He's even gotten good at not completely secluding himself during the day.  He still works very hard, but he breaks for lunch with the family, and even strolls around the house to have fun with his family when he just needs a short break.  He especially enjoys welcoming the kids home from school.

Ask most people holding down the typical 9-5 office job, and they'll tell you that they would love to be able to telecommute a day or two, or even more, each week.  Telecommuting is simply being able to work from home, using the Internet and your home resources, to get your regular office work done virtually the same as you would if you were at the office.

Add in the fact that gasoline prices are at an all-time-high, with no end in site, and you'll see why so many more people are attracted to the potential of telecommuting.

Personally, I spend about $16.50 for gas each day I drive to work.  This isn't something I'm proud of.  I don't like the expense, I don't like the wasted time, and I certainly don't like the impact my drive has on the environment.  Luckily, I am an independent contractor, which affords me some flexibility in how I do my work.  I'm currently only doing this commute 3 times a week, which still means I'm spending over $2500.00 a year on gas alone (at today's prices).  Now I'm considering putting some effort in to setting up the tools I use to do my work to allow for even more of it to be done remotely.  Maybe I can knock this down to twice each week, but that certainly would be the lower limit.

I realize that I'm lucky, and that all too many people are stuck having to commute to their jobs every day.  As such, I'm putting forth this call to action by both employers and employees alike.

Employees: Talk to your employer and encourage them to establish a telecommuting program in your company.  Let them know you understand not all jobs are telecommuting-friendly, but that many are.  Let them know that telecommuters are often more productive at home than they are at the office. Just perform a search on "telecommuters are more productive at home", and you'll find the results of studies that back this up.  But don't put the burden solely on your employer.  Be prepared for telecommuting.  I found a great article online, 20 Great Ways to Be a More Productive Telecommuter.  

Employers: Seriously consider the benefits of telecommuters.  Recognize that they can be more productive and happier employees, which means more/better work done and better job retention.  If part of your benefits include parking or commuting reimbursement, you may even save some money there, too.

Based on the recent reduction in American driving, I estimate we put half-a-trillion miles on the road each month.  (In November to April, we cut back 1% in driving, which totaled 30 billion fewer miles.  Staggering!)  Just imagine the reduction in fuel use and in the impact on the environment if just a few of us could telecommute a few days to work.

Comment about this article.

It's very disheartening to know that there are people out there who will take advantage of our dreams as a way to launch attacks on us.  It just goes to show that we have to remain ever diligent, keeping our guard up against scammers and Internet villains.

I just received an email message with the subject line, "Make $75 per online survey".  The text of the message asked, "How would you like to make 75 - 250 every single day just for clicking your mouse?" It then said that I needed to read the attached .html file for full details.

Fortunately for me, I won't ever open an attachment sent to me from an untrusted site, especially one that I know might be lurking in my inbox ready to launch an attack on my computer.  I have a trick for examining such files, so I did that on this file, and I saw clear as day programming code that could only have only one purpose, and that wasn't to help me make money.  This program was ready to drop some sort of virus on me.

The lesson here is to remember that there are people out there who want to cause us harm, and they're willing to do whatever it takes to reach their goal.  They clearly don't care if they're stealing our last $10.00,

Be sure to visit our Internet Security Forum for ongoing tips on protecting yourself, as well as my trick on how to examine files like what was in this email.