It sounds great. No more commuting, freedom to start and finish when you want. But some homeworkers describe it as a lonely experience, excluding them from opportunities available to office workers. Planning a home-based career and being aware of the pitfalls will help make it a positive experience.

The greatest benefit is being able to achieve a satisfying balance between all your commitments. The down side is the isolation and blurring of distinctions between your working and private life. No matter how much you enjoy your job, it's essential to be able to get away from it. I've combined working from home with going out to work for several years. A few days of the one always makes me appreciate the advantages of the other! My biggest problem with working from home is not being able to switch off. When I walk out of work at the end of the day I can forget about it. At home there's always a bit more I could do before I go to bed.

Here are a few things to remember that I've picked up along the way.

Keep in touch
A quiet home brings the luxury of few distractions. You can concentrate better than you would in an office full of interruptions and convivial tea breaks. It can also make your days dreadfully dull. Removing the social perks of going to work helps you to stay focused, but can leave you lacking motivation and ideas. There's often a need to talk to colleagues who understand what you're working on, rather than friends and loved ones who want something quite different from you. Another disadvantage of this way of working is that it's easy to be overlooked for promotion or interesting assignments if you're not physically there. Minimise these problems by:

• Developing new support networks that keep you in the loop
  
  
• Making time to socialise and meet new people, particularly if you live alone. It's easy to become a recluse!
  
  
• Arranging a day back at base every now and then. It's an effective way of keeping in touch if you're working for a specific employer
  
  
• If you're freelancing, arrange the occasional meeting with those you work for - personal contact is so much more memorable than email or phone conversations

Be kind to yourself
Being surrounded by the other parts of your life makes it all too easy to be distracted. If you're in the habit of doing bits of housework whenever you're in during the day educate yourself to ignore it. When everyone in a household goes out to work it's easy to split routine jobs such as washing up and cooking on a whoever's-home-first basis. If you stay at home it becomes trickier. Even in the most equal relationships one partner often has a keener eye for what needs to be done. If that's you, you can easily end up with two jobs which have no starting or finishing time. Be aware that the possibilities for procrastination at home are greater than they would be in a conventional workplace. A quick bit of cleaning can become immensely appealing when you have a piece of work to do that's less than inspiring.

• Treat your working time as seriously as you would time on an employer's premises
  
  
• Make sure those you share your home with see it that way too
  
  
• Indulge yourself in the freedom this way of working brings, make time for yourself
  
  
• Discipline yourself to ignore household jobs until you've finished your work
  
  
• Children and partners can always do more for themselves than you imagine. By encouraging self-sufficiency you're doing them a favour and, because you're physically there, you can always help out if things go wrong

Get equipped
If you're working from home with your employer's blessing, investigate the help they're prepared to give with furniture and other equipment. If you're self-employed, regard equipping yourself properly as an essential investment.

• Don't settle for something that will do for now. If you work at the kitchen table you'll waste a lot of time clearing it all away and getting it out again
  
  
• Aim for a definable, permanent workspace. One with a door that you can close when you want the rest of the world to leave you alone is best
  
  
• Installing a separate telephone line is an effective way of making clear distinctions between your work and home life. When you finish working let a machine answer business calls for you, likewise for personal calls while you're at work
  
  
• Timetable breaks - include sessions away from your work to eat, get some exercise and socialise. Although it can be tempting to get your head down and keep going, periods away will help you work more effectively

Shift your attitude
As well as modifying other people's perceptions of what home working involves take a look at your own. Many women undervalue and underestimate the demands of simultaneously running a home and a business when the two happen to be in the same place. You wouldn't dream of defrosting the fridge while talking on the phone in your office so why try that sort of thing at home? If you're tempted by the idea of combining working from home with looking after a young family think again. There's little else you can give full attention to if you've got a pre-school child in the house. The solution? Believing that it's just as valid to use childcare if you're working at home as it would be if you were out.