Re: Need working-at-home advice

["Susan W. Gallagher" <sgallagher -at- EXPERSOFT -dot- COM>]

At 11:10 AM 4/20/99 -0700, Bob Morrisette wrote:
>I'll be working at home 4 days a week soon and this is new to me.
>I'll have an ISDN line with access to my Intranet just as if I
>was in my office. The office will be available when I am at work.
>I'd appreciate anyone who has experience working at home
>to help me with the following questions:

I just finished a year of 4 days at home while I was on the
injured list. You're lucky. I did it over a telephone dial-up
connection.
>
>How do you stay away from the refrigerator and TV?
>I know - will power.

TV wasn't a problem for me. AAMOF, my biggest fear when I got
diagnosed was that they'd strap me into a chair and force me
to watch daytime TV during treatments. Luckily, I was able to
avoid daytime TV completely. But if it's a problem for you,
make it a habit to turn the radio on or to arm yourself with
a big pile of music CDs before you start work. Realistically,
you can't (well, at least I can't) watch TV and be on the
computer too, so even when the TV is on, I ignore it.
>
>Does your boss expect more (or less) output?

Although I always felt as if they expected less of me because
I was "out sick", I always tried to produce at least as much.
>
>My contacts with SMEs are now mostly by phone or e-mail,
>but I wonder if they will work with me the same knowing
>that I am at home.

The one major problem I had was in having people forget about
me or not want to bother me. This was especially bad because
I'm lone writer here and had nobody else to be my eyes and
ears on new projects,  etc.

Also, even tho I preached that "I'm *at work* and you can
call me", they never did, even when they should have.

>I expect to be doing a lot of editing. I've always preferred
>to edit hard copy and wonder if screen editing is practical.

I still prefer paper for the "big picture" stuff, but for editing
on the sentence/paragraph level, on screen works fine -- and you
only have to make the change once, not twice (on paper, then on
screen).

That said, use your one day in the office to print out long docs
to take home and find a way to recycle paper from home.
>
>Do your co-workers treat you any differently?

Nope.
>
>Any other advice and pitfalls to avoid will be much
>appreciated.

Family members are a major pitfall! Make sure they understand that
you're working -- keep the door closed if you have to -- otherwise
you'll find your day gone and your work just beginning.

HTH! Good luck!

-Sue Gallagher               http://pw1.netcom.com/~gscale/susanwg/
sgallagher -at- expersoft -dot- com     http://www.expersoft.com

The _Guide_ is definitive.
Reality is frequently inaccurate.  --Douglas Adams


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