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Bon Journal

Independence and flexibility

Last year I arrived in Manhattan on a muggy day. Since the downtown Hilton was deserted, I joined the crowd near Brooklyn Bridge to catch a glimpse of the Independence Day hoo-hah.

It's much nicer in my garden by myself, away from the maddening crowd. The ability to work from home allows me to stretch the work throughout the entire day, with intermittent breaks on the piano, the bicycle, and the hammock.

It took me awhile to get used to working from home. At first I thought it was a perk. I could save two hours of commuting time and another half-hour of making up and dressing up. First I had to get over the guilt that I'm not in the office. Would people think I'm not working?

With Internet connection from home and a mobile phone, it has become a lot easier. I could be anywhere and people can still get hold of me. I don't have to be physically in the office to be seen or heard. In cyberspace and in mobile airspace, I am working away.

Still, there is a certain psychology to working from home. I read that some people need to separate the work space from the living space. In my case, I work everywhere: the kitchen, dining room, the garden, the living room, and sometimes even the bathroom.

One thing I realised though: I have to clean up my home before I can begin to work. Another thing: consecutive days of working from home can sometimes drive me nuts. So I go to the office just to be around other people. Luckily I don't work with anyone in the office - so I end up going to the office to get my sanity back.

4 July 2001

Home-working web sites:
www.flexibility.co.uk information for home workers with helpful web links
www.gilgordon.com a US-based resource for teleworkers with a global reach
hhrc in-depth study on home working
www.tca.org.uk a UK-based teleworking group with links to other European sites
Digital Peninsula an innovative site connecting Cornwall homeworkers