How to stay sane while working from home

The 25 million people in the US who work from home fall into two categories: those who dread the idea of ever going into an office again and those who find themselves so lonely they talk to the plants.

Erica Orloff is in the first group. A novelist, she's worked at home for years--going into an office never quite suited her. "I was always the woman putting on mascara in traffic and pantyhose in the parking lot," says Orloff. "I find it difficult to adhere to that nine-to-five rhythm of the typical office."

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But even for Orloff, there are issues. Family intrusions. Loneliness. A work week that never ends.

"People who don't work from home think I must have the cushiest life," says Orloff. She cautions that it isn't always so cushy, and to be successful, you need to have a strategy to make it work.

The mother of four and co-author of The 60-Second Commute: A Guide to Your 24/7 Home Office Life added up the hours she works and figured out it was more than the typical 40. Her recommendation: Keep a work diary for a week and writing down all the hours worked--even the 20 minutes of checking e-mail before bedtime.

Logging all those hours at home can be isolating. Alicia Rockmore struggled with that when she started a home-based company three years ago. Until then, she always worked in a large office. When her daughter was born, she figured it was the perfect time to start her own business so she could spend more time with her.

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Conversations with her infant daughter tended to be one-sided, and she craved interaction with co-workers. "Working from home was a huge adjustment," says Rockmore, whose company, Buttoned Up, helps women better organise their lives. "You're used to the stimulation of other people and casual contact." Rockmore soon realised she'd have to schedule contact with other adults. She found other women who work from home and meets them for coffee and lunch breaks.

That's something Teri Gault, who runs Thegrocerygame.com, struggled with, too. She handles it by taking breaks to spend time with her son. She has a snack with him and helps out with homework in the late afternoon or goes to his basketball games. If she does that, she puts in another hour after dinner.

She also integrates workouts into her schedule. It may sound strange, but she finds that being on her cross trainer is a nice way to break up the day. It's not strictly personal time, though. She checks messages and calls people who she knows don't mind talking while she's exercising.

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For Rockmore, another lesson was learning the value of setting boundaries. Now that her daughter is a bit older, she has a full-time nanny. Rockmore was explicit in explaining to her that when she's in her home office, she isn't to be disturbed unless it's an emergency. Still, working there allows her the flexibility of spending more time with her daughter if time permits. "If I want to take an hour and have lunch or go to her swimming lesson, that's a treat," says Rockmore.

Part of setting boundaries is keeping physical ones too. When Gault started Thegrocerygame.com seven years ago, she kept her computer and files in her bedroom. She soon learned that was a mistake. "When I went to bed at night, I saw the lights blinking or a fax would come in," says Gault, whose company provides coupons and regional listings of rock-bottom prices at grocery and drug stores. "Things would go beep in the night. I couldn't detach and get relaxed when it was time to go to sleep."

Now her office is in a separate bedroom. It's practically a holy site in the house. Family members know they're not allowed to go in there whenever they please, and they're certainly not allowed to use it as the supply closet when they run out of paper or staples.

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Gault has 36 employees and franchisees who also all work from home. Being in constant e-mail and phone contact with them alleviates feeling isolated. So do the monthly nights out she takes with nearby staff members. "We try not to talk work," says Gault. "It does a lot for team morale."

Still, the biggest challenge is not over-working. It's easy to hop on the computer before the rest of the household rises. The same goes for the time after dinner and before bed.

"It's so easy to extend my work hours, and I feel guilty because I feel I should always be working," says Rockmore. "The other issue is on the weekends, there aren't any boundaries. I can walk into office and spend a half hour checking e-mail. I wouldn't necessarily do that if I had an out-of-home office."

Orloff says the only solution to that is to train yourself to shut off at a certain time--and to stick to it.

Gault agrees. "You've got to be able to designate time off," she says. "Everybody needs time out."