Keeping Up With Your Schedule
Keeping up with your schedule is one of the most important things you do as you work at home. You just absolutely must have a good planner. My favorite by far is the
FranklinCovey Planner
. It is well worth every penny I have paid for it, and I have used the Franklin for about 10 years now. I have moved from a daily view to a weekly view so that I can see at a glance what my week is like. Very, very handy.
As I schedule my time, especially as a very busy mother, I try to remember to put the most important things in first. Family obligations get put in my planner first, and I schedule my work time around them. That is one of the great joys of working from home.
Since it is important to me to be there for my children, I schedule phone work at naptimes and bedtimes, and plan data entry and work that doesn't require the phone at other times.
Tax Time Tips
Most work at home companies will bring you in as an independent contractor. This means that you are self employed. Your tax form at the end of the year will be a 1099 form instead of a W-2 and the companies you work with will not pay taxes or benefits to you. This is a wonderful opportunity for you! Now, check with your accountant or tax preparer on these tips, but let me suggest some things.
You really want to keep reciepts on everything you spend that has anything remotely to do with your business. Your second line for work will be tax deductible; your headset, your phone if you needed a new one, a portion of your Internet access, office supplies... if you use it for work you may be able to deduct at least part of it for taxes. If you own your home and have an office set up somewhere that is used solely for working, you may even be able to deduct a portion of your mortgage!
Since no one is withholding taxes from your check, you will need to set up a separate account to put tax money aside till tax time rolls around. I suggest putting at least a third of your check into a separate account so you don't have any ugly surprises at the end of the year. Who knows, it may make a wonderful surprise if you end up not having to pay taxes at all! Better to be safe than sorry when dealing with the IRS.
Telephone and Travel Tips
If you travel and want to continue to work while you're gone, I strongly suggest a good voice-over-internet-protocol (VOIP) provider. You get a telephone adapter that you can plug into any broadband internet connection and be able to recieve calls at your very own telephone number anywhere you can get high speet internet access. You will not be able to take calls for a teleservices company on a cell phone because of security issues, so it seems that this is an excellent choice. Make sure your company does not forbid the use of VOIP before you order the service, however.
Do you have any tips and tricks for working at home that you would like to share? If you do, please send an email to info@at-home-agent.com.
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