No place like home

Writers, according to their own accounts, can seldom do it except in a shed at the bottom of a garden. Painters have to find quiet attics with broad, north-facing windows. And psychopaths in Hollywood thriller-chillers cant operate their businesses domestically without deep, dark and lockable basements. All three preferences seem to suggest that homeworking presents a unique set of problems.

But its all a con, claim office-bound cynics: they think homeworking is a byword for an easy life of daytime television and emails in your pyjamas, admits Emma Williams, marketing manager at BTs Corporate Responsibility Unit, and herself a dedicated homeworker. The truth, as I've found out, is that for all its rewards it demands just as much application and self-discipline as an office regime, and then, perhaps, a little more.

Others whove experimented and failed believe its a lure to sanity-shredding indolence. I got to a state where emptying the washing machine seemed a more fascinating task than any of the priorities which were highlit in red on my cork-board, confessed one man (unsurprisingly, he wants to remain anonymous) who fled from the workplace hed established in a corner of his dining room back to the asylum of colleagues in a City tower block.

After six cups of coffee from my state-of-the-art espresso machine, the walls started to bounce around and close in on me, and when I finally did manage to apply my bum to the seat of my chair, I spent most of the time becoming a champion at solitaire.

Its true, according to Neil Winfield, a BT Commercial Energy Manager, and one of the 8,000 company employees whove made a successful transition to homeworking, that the solitude can be unnerving.

So why do it? In the first place because, at long last, its there for the taking: since the dawn of the office, prospects of homeworking have always tantalised like a vision of peaceful and sunny uplands, conceivable, desirable, but unattainable. Now barriers of distance and communication have finally dissolved, thanks to broadband, the internet, video-conferencing, wireless connections and VOIP systems which allow telephone extension numbers, for example, to be switched seamlessly and remotely not just between desks, but between locations. As pioneers of the technology which is enabling this metamorphosis, its hardly inappropriate the BTs staff are among the first to be relishing the fruits. In the second place, liberating workers who can - and want - to enjoy working at home is a critical strand in BTs strategy for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The well-being of staff and the satisfaction of customers are two lanes on the same highway, explains Adrian Hosford, the companys director of Corporate Responsibility. And its common sense, as well as ethical good practice, to ensure that we care - and demonstrate that we care - as much about the quality of life of our internal stakeholders as we do about the quality of the transactions we conduct with all our external stakeholders.

1, This is work, so treat it like work: start at a specific time, and stop at a specific time. Switch everything off and leave work in the evening and at weekends, just as you would if you were employed in an office. Working longer hours than office colleagues is a common trap that many homeworkers unwittingly fall into, so -

2, Dont feel guilty: the temptation is to suppose, for example, that the hour or so you used to spend travelling to and from work should now be spent at a desk. No - it shouldnt. Potter in the garden, walk the dog, go for a bike-ride, read a book take pleasure from your circumstances. Psychologists recognise that a lot of what jealous spectators might call not-working (e.g., the recreational activities described) is actually an oblique way of working: of problem solving with the mind in neutral and the body relaxed. Likewise, take regular breaks during the day, pause for lunch (a meal which is emphatically not just for wimps) and, if youre sick, then youre sick: stop working until you feel better.

3, Mark out the territory: if you havent the space at home to create a dedicated area which you can open and close, then commute by laying out at the beginning of the day and putting away at its end the equipment, papers and other paraphernalia of your job.

4, Be part of a community: make sure you regularly attend meetings, conferences, seminars and so on; keep in touch with managers and colleagues by virtual means; if it helps, keep a radio playing quietly in the background (but not, apparently, a television).

Home working, says Adrian Hosford, enables staff who can manage the transition to fly and flourish in their careers. You support them and make sure you have good measurement systems so that they know what success is. In my experience people rarely or never abuse this.

And BTs homeworkers still have to be restrained it seems, from rolling up their sleeves too often, too early, or too late: My biggest challenge, Hosford adds, is to make sure people dont work too hard. They are driven and they care. We dont have to motivate them because they know what they do makes a difference. In fact, we have to encourage them to respect their recreation time to ensure that they too get their work-life balance right.

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