Telecommute options

Question for the hive mind... I have a layoff notice of 3/31 and have been looking for employment. A friend of my wife's is a consultant in the DC-area and they seem to be interested in bringing me on for remote support. They have their clients routers, desktops, servers, etc setup for remote use so thats not( hopefully... ) an issue, but Im kinda nervous about the setup on my end. We've got 4kids(4yrs and triplet 13month) and live in a small 3 bdrm house. Im not seeing how/where I can setup in the house as a work area, so Ive been trying to investigate other options.

Has anyone else had similar issues, and if so how did you handle them? There will be some phone usage involved, so Im not sure if the coffee house idea is a good one but then again I dont know. Basically, I need reliable high speed internet, reasonable noise levels and some kind of consistant availability.

GRM, any ideas??

Edit.... There is a guy offering a free 8'x10' building on CL. Im thinking that I could run power and a network drop and call it golden? Maybe some plants and a fish bowl? What do you think?

Outside of Starbucks and internet cafes, there are telework/meeting space business in many cities specifically designed to meet this need (see meetatroam.com for example). I'm sure there's something similar in Raleigh. They offer a little more climate protection than a shed ;)

Cell phone and a headset should meet your phone needs.
Do you have a friend or acquaintance that would charge you $100 or less per month if all you needed was a small desk in an already heated office with a wifi network?

Cool places like this have websites:
http://executiveofficesuitesraleigh.com/
You may check CL and look for somewhere less glitzy.
Glitzy (and pricey) is good if you are having customers in but may not be needed for your situation.

Here is a sample CL listing at $275 per month.

Ive looked at a few of the local CL places, but they're out of my price range. And I dont know of anyone that I can sublet from, but I'll explore that more. Maybe Im overlooking someone....

And Im digging the meetatroam site. I'll keep looking for a local place like that.

@nderwater -- Im old school. A box fan and an open window can do wonders at times. Not ideal, but def. low budget

Thanks for the ideas!! Keep 'em coming.

In reply to JohnRW1621:

I didnt see this one b4. Thats alot for $275. I need more like this one. Maybe I can get it included in the offer, not sure yet though.

I like the work-shed idea. no commute.

My wife recently started working from home and we are in a similar situation (3 kids, small house) except my kids are school age. We set up a workstation in the corner of our bedroom, which happened to be where the router lived. She does help desk stuff for a antivirus company. Her company provided a VoIP phone and headset while we provided the rest of the hardware. We already had high speed cable internet. One downside is no one else is supposed to use the internet during her shift (8-4) so no wifi for the kiddos on snow days, like today. Its been a week or so now and, other than buying a better chair, its been hassle free.

I telecommute one day a week (and mild snowdays), starbucks/etc is not an option as a secured internet connection is a requirement with my job. They also require knowing the physical location I telework from. That said, there is no limitation on others using bandwith though my source.

Might just have to find the quietest corner of your house and close it off to your kids when your working.

Brother in law has his office out in the garage/shed. It has worked superbly for him for well over a decade now. Gives the physical separation that is oh so very important for everyone. Him, the kids, and his wife. Very much a "daddy is going to work now".

Could be done in your home by repurposing one of the bedrooms. Trying to gets kids, especially little ones, to understand the boundary.... Not fun or easy.

I tried it myself, using the kitchen table. Semi successful when no one was around, but a total disaster before school and such. It was darn hard for me to get into work mode, there at the table.

You could advertise in CL for office space needed. You might find someone with some extra space looking for a roomie to share the cost.

Whatever you do, do it at your house. A bedroom or garage can work. The savings from not commuting or paying for more property are too much to pass up.

i work at home 3 days a week, i dont have any kids and work from the sofa, which means i soemtimes find myself working until bedtime while the wife watches tv, they know they get more hours out of us by having us work from home not to mention the cost they save utilities etc, we do get 45 bucks a month for our ineternet bill, but i love it, i do use the company cell phone for conf calls, i also take the laptop to the garage and work on a project at the same time....

I work from home occasionally - often when I need to get more stuff done than I would in a normal workday, because as mentioned above I now have an extra ~hour that I'm not spending driving to/from work. I work at our kitchen island which is nice because it gives me the flexibility to stand or sit while working. The kids are old enough that they're generally not an interruption, and I very rarely have any contact with coworkers/clients/etc.

Long term, I want to build a music studio/office downstairs, but that's going to be a project as I want to build it like a true studio - double, isolated walls on all sides, isolated ceiling, and floating floor. I have the space, and even some of the materials, but the area is occupied by a bunch of crap(including the materials), so I need to figure out a plan for that stuff first.

Other than me physically not having extra space to set aside, the little ones follow daddy wherever and whenever they can. It got so bad at my current job, I would either stay up most of the night or get up early to do stuff. Neither is good, long term. I would rather not invest alot of money up in this, but am also a person that likes/needs to separate work from home. I would literally work in a closet if could get the focus that I need. If I cant get the owner to spring for office rental, Im gonna start by going to the library to see how that works. Between the university and the public library I can hopefully find something. Does anyone have a recommendation for a good cell phone headset? Im not certain if they provide work phones or not, but Ive got a samsung relay for personal use. Is there a big difference in the call quality between a bluetooth and a corded hands-free device?

Has anyone used this model or have one that they reccomend.....

http://www.headsets.com/headset/Executive-Pro-Series-Overture-Cellular-Headset-with-noise-canceling-microphone/

On the plus side, if you can set up a distinct home office area and can prove that you telework for your employers benefit (not needing a central office, etc.), it gives you a good tax deduction. (wish I was elgible for it!)

Call me crazy but I like a wired headset like you have shown more than a wireless bluetooth headset though I have no specific brand experience to share.
When working from home, I would/could often walk far enough away from the handset that I would loose the connection. Bluetooth only broadcasts about 35 ft so once your earbud moves 35 ft from the handset the call quality gets worse or drops. Having the wire attached is less convenient but harder/impossible to drop. If the wire is attached, your call is attached. Also, no earbud charging issues. But, note that the handset will use battery quicker as some of the handsets juice is used to power the headset speaker and mic. Keep a second charger on the desk and have the phone plugged in while on some longer calls.

You have IT skills.
If you could find this cheap desk deal in an existing office there may be some sort of trade/share/reduced rate IT services that you could provide to that office.
Sort of an in-house, on demand (within reason) IT guy who they really do not need full time but is handy as hell to have on hand when needed.

mrwillie wrote: Is there a big difference in the call quality between a bluetooth and a corded hands-free device?

Bluetooth vs. corded doesn't make a difference but the particular model does...just read online reviews before you buy.

DaveEstey wrote: I like the work-shed idea. no commute.

The shed turned out to be more like 6x6 and falling apart everywhere. Not really worth it, and the wife wasnt crazy about the idea anyway.

I have a good, noise cancelling BT headset, cell phone w/ data plan, cable modem at home and a laptop. I have a home office but I can make my phone a hotspot anywhere I have signal.

More than once that place has been my trailer in a paddock at a weekday race. In summer when the kids are home from school I sometimes go hide out on the deck or at a cafe to gain some sanity and get E36 M3 done.

That's an interesting idea - search CraigsList for a small, cheap travel trailer. Not only would there be amenities inside (lights, outlets, windows, hvac, toilet, insulation...), but come vacation time or race weekends you can use it for its intended purpose too.

I think a library would work assuming you aren't on a call most of the day. I doubt they would be ok with constant talking assuming that is what would happen.

There is a very quiet coffee shop near my house with some rooms you can go and close the doors. It's very adult and tranquil during the day. Maybe there is one like that near your place? That does cut out the benefit of no commute unfortunately.

About a headset, I like bluetooth (BT) because I don't like cords. You do have to charge them and they will eventually need to be recharged. I usually charge mine while I'm away at lunch. I'm not a heavy call person at work so that works for me. I typically don't walk away from my phone much so BT connection distance isn't an issue. I also find it easier to mute my line on calls if I have a BT headset.

If the shed didn't work...what about a trailer? You can laugh. Consider this: * Get a travel trailer. * Set up in the driveway * Title, tag it so no hassle from the neighborhood. * Use it for family vacations when you take them. * TADA! Mobile Office of THE FUTURE.

I like the trailer idea. I'll start looking at those. The libraries that I mentioned both have small study rooms that can be reserved. My goal is to grab one on an upper floor and use that.

This place just opened up next door to my office: http://www.mycafeinc.com/ It's a place designed for telecommuting, they have various styles of work stations along with conference rooms, mail and Fedex delivery, and other amenities.

This doesn't help unless you live in Edina, MN but it's an interesting concept and chances are there are similar places in other cities across the country.

Hey all. Just as an update, I started my consulting job yesterday. Im a systems engineer working remotely, that also has some PM duties. Im still working out a few kinks( home base, laptop, phone headset, etc ), but its good so far. Thanks again for all of the words of encouragement and advice!!

Now for a few questions: 1) Do any of you "hourly billable people" have a time tracking tool/tip/etc that you recommend? Just something quick until I do my weekly update in our time tracking tool.

2) Anyone have headset recommendations? Has to work w/ a cell phone, not really stuck on bluetooth. That said, Ive not found a bluetooth headset that I like. They're all either not loud enough, have bad call quality, etc

3) Not sure if I'll be out of my house, or do the coffee house thing yet. Any more tips for working remotely?

Thanks and take care!!