Telecommuting isn’t for everyone, but if you can do it–you rock

I’ve been a tele-worker for over eight years now.  Yeah, a long time.  Since I’ve started I’ve moved from working with one phone line and 33.6 dialup to digital phone and highspeed cable Internet access.  Through it all though, I’ve tried to keep with some basic “rules” like trying not to “work” all the time (I fail at that one often).

If you want some great advice, Rachel Segal has some great points in a recent post:

• It’s *not* working from home.
• Regular work hours are important.
• Take a shower already.
• You can curb feeling isolated.

Source: Debanter » Blog Archive » Telecommuting Misnomers

Her dad, Rick Segal (yes partner at JLA Ventures and b5media’s VC), adds and expands on them with these:

• You rock. 
• Your mantra is Fire and forget.
• Work is a discipline.
• People will forget you and it isn’t personal.

Source: The Post Money Value: One person and the remote, over there office: Your badge of honor

Lots of people think I have a dream job, working from home, and yes, I do.  I get to do what I love (write and help people with tech) and do it without a commute or anything but…yes it is hard.  You do wonder if people have forgotten you.  Skype is my life-line with the rest of the b5 team.  Darren Rowse is my boss, and he is half a world away (luckily we overlap in timezones okay, though it’s “tomorrow” for him).

I do enjoy being able to timeshift a bit, getting up later in the morning (I’m not a morning person anymore) and work later into the night (one and two am blogging sessions are not uncommon), but there is something to be said for “okay I’m going home now…”.

Of course if I need to be away or away from home, work is only a Blackberry or WiFi hotspot away.  Yes, I have taken “days off” where I snuck some work in…

One of my best buds at b5 is Content Manager Christina (CJ) Jones and she left this comment on Rick’s post:

Rick – I have to say, as a remote worker, you and Rachel have it exactly right. So many people tell me how lucky I am to be able to work at home, and I sure am – but no one that doesn’t do it (including my own family) realizes how much extra stress it adds. Your #1 and #4 are the things I struggle with the most. It definitely can a head game at times, and often it is totally mentally exhausting to have to work so hard to be “in the loop.” But I love every minute of it, I wouldn’t trade anything for the opportunities I have had.

If you’re looking for advice, the biggest thing I can say is to use technology to its fullest.  IM, web-based collaboration tools, email, these are your best friends.  Phone?  I don’t use it all that often.  Skype does a lot of the heavy lifting for voice stuff.  And if you’re the kind of person who would rather watch TV than work, this isn’t for you.  I don’t have a “no TV” rule when I’m working, because it can be good background noise, but I do make sure I don’t take a “TV break”.

Naps?  Naps are key.  This is also known as “lunch hour” for me.  Remembering to get up off my tush to take a break, that’s a hard one, but I’m trying.  Now that the weather is better, maybe I’ll finally get a bike and start a habit of working from a cafe or something for fun.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, my tush is telling me that I’ve been sitting a wee too long.