LIFE'S WORK

By LISA BELKIN
 

The term "telecommuter" has been part of the language for more than 20 years, and in that time the category of people it describes has exploded. The number of workers whose only office is at home has doubled over the last three years, according to the META Group, a technology consulting firm based in Stamford, Conn. The International Teleworkers Association estimates that there are 28 million workers who fit that description and predicts that this will increase by 6 million over the next three years.

However you measure it, these numbers mean there are vastly more of us lingering in our pajamas every morning while the rest of the working world dashes for a bus or train. It also means there are ever more of us having conference calls interrupted by barking dogs, or missing the meeting notice that was posted on a bulletin board miles from our desks.

Working from home is the future, and I am among its staunchest advocates. I not only report on this trend, I live it. And I've learned a few truths and tricks along the way. At least once a week I hear from a reader about to take the plunge, asking for advice. Here's a smattering:

First, be certain your employer is behind the idea. If your boss expects you to fail at this, you will, giving him the chance to say "I told you so." The happiest telecommuting relationships are like those at Sun Microsystems, where 13,000 of the company's 35,000 employees simply don't have their own offices. They use special flat-panel computer monitors and keyboards, which are activated by a Java smartcard to bring up their desktop screen anywhere - on the campus, or on their back porch.

Second, your boss probably isn't there yet, and the "tele" in your telecommute will most likely be by a slow telephone line. Try to make yours a fast broadband relationship, not a dial-up one. And try to get your employer to pay for it. Not only will it save you money but it will get your employer on board with the concept of telecommuting.

Next, treat your telecommuting job like a job, not a work-at-home weekend. Telecommuting should have the rhythm of a workweek, which means you will need a schedule. Gail Rubin works for Devillier Communications, which is based in Washington. She telecommutes from Albuquerque, meaning she lives in Mountain time but works on Eastern time. "I get started about 7 a.m. and finish about 3:30 p.m." she says, "however, by 9 p.m., my time, I am ready to go to bed."

You will also need solidly reliable child care. I get a lot of e-mail messages from people who plan to write reports and place sales calls while the baby naps. This is the best possible way to ensure that the baby never naps.

Another thing: you'll need space. Not necessarily wood-paneled, bookshelf-lined space. Not even your own desk if you don't have the room. But a place where the work stays, so it doesn't wander all over the house. Also, a chair that elicits a Pavlovian response: "When I sit here, I work."

Most of my advice, however, has less to do with getting your bottom into that chair than with getting it up and out. When you take a break, take a walk around the block. Go out for a cup of coffee. Collect a group of other telecommuters and make a weekly date for lunch. See other people or you will lose your mind.

Finally, the hardest lesson, and the most important: know when to stop working. The collective magic of technology - computers, faxes, cellphones, Blackberries - has made our telecommuting lives possible. We can work anywhere, and at any time. This also means we can work everywhere, and all the time.

Too many of us forget that all these gadgets have "off" buttons. Use them.

For three years, I worked from home with one phone line. As a result, every call could be for home or work and (particularly back in the days before caller ID) I found myself answering them all.

I finally broke down and added a second line when I found my 5-year-old had fielded a call from the governor of New Jersey, whom I had called for an interview. My greatest exercise in self-discipline, aside from not eating the leftover chocolate cake in the fridge, is not answering the office line after hours.

Maura Schreier-Fleming, a sales consultant in Dallas, also learned this lesson the hard way. She found herself exhausted all the time. "I finally had to make a rule that I absolutely follow,'' she said. "No work on Saturdays. I can work on Sunday, but not seven days a week."

Well, at least it's a start.

This column about the intersection of jobs and personal lives appears every other week. E-mail: Belkin@nytimes.com.

This article first appeared in the New York Times on Sunday October 26, 2003.

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