Ah yes, working from home. Commute in your robe and slippers. It's idyllic. It's something close to Nerdvana. It's really freakin' hard sometimes. Huh? Yes, really. While I enjoyed working from home (which is did from 2003-2008), it could be very challenging at times. While some of the challenges were technical, the majority were often human. So, do you think you could hack it?

I was catching up on news and such and came across this post from WebWorkerDaily on Cisco's telecommuting efforts and it got me thinking about when I first started working from home.

When I first started telecommuting, Salt Spring Island didn't even have high-speed internet access. Yes, I know, the horror! In fact it wouldn't have helped if it did, because where I worked we could only connect to the office network via 33.6Kbps modem. Yes, 33.6. This was 2003 and yes, 56K modems were available, but IT in its infinite wisdom (I was in IT at the time), throttled back all the dial-in modems to 33.6. Sigh.

So with a couple phone lines to my office, I managed just fine. I had a really nice laser-fax-printer on my desk and things were ducky. Mostly.

You see even once we got high-speed access and VPNs into the network, some issues stayed the same. Technology isn't always the solution to all the problems in the world. Shocking, I know.

One of the biggest challenges was the out of sight, out of mind problem. It can be really hard to make sure you're included in things. Only with near constant IMs, phone calls, and emails do people keep you in mind.

Okay, people remember that you're there, that's fine. What's next?

You.

Me? Yes, you. There are people who either go stir crazy working at home or just don't get anything done. Productivity can take a serious blow if you can sleep in a bit (then a little bit more) or take a walk or go for coffee or watch some TV or ... Oh, wait, work.

So while this might not be very techie, one of the most important parts of working from home is your mindset about working from home. It isn't a vacation, it's work. You need an office. You need focus and quiet (-ish, I like to work to music and start to go nuts without it). I recommend making sure that your home office is just like an office.

Invest in a good desk, good chair (spending a premium on a chair now will save you backaches later), shelves, cabinets, etc. You can skimp a bit on technology. Maybe don't get the uber printer, but get something that can print and scan. Extra drives for back up are key. Paying a little extra to put more oomph in your home Internet connection makes a lot more difference than you can imagine.

I'm not telecommuting now. I work in an office. I get on the bus in the morning, wander to Vancouver's Gastown, and to my office. Would I telecommute again? Yes, but I would certainly do things differently.

While I have good office space at home, I would also pay for collective office space like at Workspace , because I did go stir crazy being in my office all day. I find being able (or forcing myself) to get out and about made me a lot more productive.

Even with web cams, Twitter, IM all the time, I know now that I would be a lot better off to have a morning routine to work at home until say 10 AM, then got into "the office", and work until the evening. Being able to see people, chat with people, even move to a Blenz or Waves to finish off the day is a great way to balance work and life.

So while having a good laptop, fast internet connection, and a few other tech goodies helps, they aren't all you need to be a successful teleworker.

Perhaps I'll let you in on a few of my telework tech secrets in future posts.