Women at work

There is a small but steady category of women who, while having a job, never leave the house to accomplish it. They are home workers. Apart from being home makers, as the Americans like to describe a housewife, they decide to work from home in a bid to be closer to the family, or for other viable reasons.

Visualise the situation - a young mother who has a special skill, say in crafts, arts or teaching, wants to use some of her free time to keep up the practice, or to help plump up her partner's financial contribution.

It may be the case that she cannot place her skills on the job market and decides to go solo. Or she may simply be keeping up the tradition of generations of women who have worked from home, as in the case of dressmakers.

There are a host of jobs that were traditionally carried out at home - dressmakers spring to mind once again - a typical example which has seen dwindling numbers with the onset of the high street boutique phenomenon. But dressmakers still exist and specialise in tailor-made creations or simply carry out more mundane sewing jobs, like adjusting hems, altering clothes to fit to size or fixing buttons that fell off.

Jobs at home nowadays vary - the data input clerk who utilises her own home computer to service bigger companies; the flower arranger who creates bouquets, headdresses or floral decorations for special events; the music teacher; the arts and crafts teacher; the home-cooked meals service provider; the clothes-ironing service provider; the artist; the freelance Web designer; the translator; the sales co-ordinator; the telephone survey processor.

The self-occupied or self-employed woman must see that all her tax procedures are in line with her current requirements, and it would be wise to get the professional advice of an accountant who can help you organise yourself in this regard, especially since there are specific rules and regulations that must be abided by.

In the meantime, she must, of necessity, create her own niche within the house from which to work. Many women opt to work from a basement or from a rooftop room. Others sort out a corner of the living room or an unutilized space under a staircase that can be transformed into something more functional.

Whichever the option, the idea is to create a den of sorts that will not be violated especially since whatever is at hand, be it company papers, flowers, crafts materials, or clothes, is virtually somebody else's property in the long run.

Another more important aspect of working from home is finding the time to do so. Many women believe that once they are at home, they will have all the time in the world to dedicate to their home job. It depends.

Housework can beckon treacherously and the unmade beds, unsorted shopping, clutter and cobwebs can tantalise one enough to forget the other 'work' and get carried away with what was not planned on that particular morning. Here are a few important guidelines that should set you on the right track:

• It is wise to wake up just as early as if you are going to out to work anyway. Get things done at home as you would before embarking on a journey to work.

• Decide what time you are going to start your work. Set time limits for housework, cooking or whatever must be necessarily done before leaving the house for the factory or office, and once the time limit is over, stop what you were doing and 'open shop'.

• Naturally if you have small children in the house, this starting procedure may not be so streamlined. You may decide to work while the babies or children are having their nap, out for a stroll with daddy, during the early hours of the mornings when they're still asleep, or late at night when they are doing likewise.

• Alternately, if the children are old enough to collaborate, you may give them some 'quieter' things to do while you see to the jobs requiring less concentration. Try involving them in reading, drawing or playing quietly. Always remember that small children must be supervised, so don't go overboard and forget they're in the house! This is about balancing duties, and with some patience and forethought, a happy balance can be reached for all.

• If you have decided to start work at, say, 8 a.m. and yet feel fidgety by 9, grant yourself a short 10-minute break. In this break, don't switch on the TV - you wouldn't be able to do that if you were in an office, would you? But since you're your own boss, you must use this 'free' time wisely. Carry out one or two manageable chores or things - say throw a load of washing into the machine and switch it on; phone the dentist for your next appointment; toss a salad for a later lunch; stack that shopping.

• The important thing is to always set time limits. Fix an alarm clock if need be to time yourself initially until you get the gist of things going.

By the time your next 50 minutes of work are through, the wash will be ready in time for you to put it on the line during your second 10-minute break. Carry out similar small tasks in the interim of working.

You can call it a work-from-work procedure, but it can function excellently and since we women are gifted with the skill of multi-tasking, we can get more accomplished in less time. By the end of the morning, you'll be pleased to see that you've completed quite a lot of work and quite a lot of housework in the bargain.

• If you simply cannot work in this manner, then you must discipline yourself to concentrate totally on the paid work and not allow the housework to intrude. In this case it might be wiser to really choose a location within the house, that is 'away from it all'. Don't place yourself at the centre of it all, but close a door, set up a divider, take the phone off the hook - anything to help you keep your mind away from other niggling duties.

• Let all your family and friends know that you work. So, your working hours are not ideal for them to phone you for chats, or to drop in unexpectedly for a coffee. Neither can you be depended upon to drive relations to shops, or to run errands because you have time on your hands.

At least they must allow you the benefit of fixing time in your diary, when your work would not be hampered or disrupted. Be firm in asserting your right to this time of 'work' and explain that it is the only time you can do it to earn the money you need or to be creative.

• If this is a job that is earning you money, don't frizzle it all away. You want to show that your work produces results and having money in the bank is not such a bad way to prove that you are being successful at what you are doing.

If you need to purchase things for your home office or home base, don't go all out and splash on the most expensive gadgets or accessories or stationery items. Start small, and work your way up the spending ladder.

• If you can make do with an old desk donated by your sister, use it. If you can utilise scrap paper for scribbling notes and making labels on items, do. You'll be saving a lot of necessary income that can prove useful when you will need to invest in more useful things to help run your job - like a pair of professional tools or some electronic machine that will make your work that much easier.

Invest in your own training. Keeping yourself abreast with latest developments, skills, techniques through attending lectures, seminars or classes, will eventually help you present your work in a more professional and up-to-date manner.

Although you are your own boss, you cannot rely on paid holidays, bonuses or perks. Meaning, that you have to plan ahead. If you want to stop work for a week to spend holidays with your family, you will probably have to invest just a bit more shortly before or after, to compensate financially.

Working from home is the envy of many job-tied people who have to travel to work each day of the week, month after. Home workers can truly have the best of both worlds.