Sole practitioners: Working from home or living at work?
Separating your home life from your work can be especially tough for sole practitioners, so professional accountants’ coach Carol McLachlan is on hand with advice for making the most of your flexible working arrangements.
Does working from home offer an end to the work/life balance conundrum? On the one hand, it means no more manic morning rushes into commuterdom and perhaps more time spent with the family, but there's also the potential for day upon day of seeing no one except the cat, and fighting for work space among the toys, dirty dishes and ironing.
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Yes
It sounds like you've got it sorted but I have heard this lots from sole practitioners especially. Not everyone understands that despite your office being at home, when you're at work, you're working!
I am attempting to work from home this afternoon but technology keeps getting in my way! (Rubbish wireless connection, trouble with remote desktops, etc.) Does anyone else have this problem? If so, how do you get around it?
IT problems and working from home
I've been working from home ever since I qualified as an accountant. I love it as I found the office working environment rather stressful (especially internal office politics!).
However, you do need fantastic IT support which can nowadays be provided remotely, to stop you throwing the PC out of the window when it goes wrong! My IT support guys are on the end of the phone all day long and are just so patient! They normally have me up and running again very quickly. I wouldn't consider running my business without them.
All good stuff..
I would add only a few other points..
Get a seperate work phone line - This can be pretty simple (and cheap) now, as you can get an Internet-phone with a 'normal' number. BT Internet will give you an Internet-phone service as part of some of their bundles - with a handset.
With small children in the house - you MUST find a way of working that doesn't involve them wandering in asking to be read a story every five minutes (sigh). If your office is upstairs - put the stair gates back up!
I am seriously considering one of those 'garden office' things (fancy garden sheds with proper insulation, heating, wiring, flooring, etc). They don't need planning permission, and the physical process of leaving the house to 'go to work' helps you to switch your work head on. Prices from £6K from lots of specialist suppliers.
I have been advised, by the way, that the setup costs of garden offices cannot be claimed by the business. You just have to treat it as an extra room for the house, and use the normal calculations.
Working from Home
My husband works from home as well as I - in a completely different sphere. We can separate work from home as we have an office each in our roofspace but the main problem is family (his) dropping by with relatives who are visiting from out of the area. I think they now have the message but I feel rather an ogre and I am sure I am seen as one, too. It is especially difficult if clients call. Luckily we have two reception rooms and can separate callers/clients but it must be difficult for those without the benefit of the separate reception rooms we have. Being able to say no to relatives and not to answer telephones outside of office hours is extremely important to keep your sanity. Total self organisation is the key.
TheAncientOne