There was a ray of hope for premises-seeking freelancers yesterday when David Cameron announced that the Government would be offering up its vast inventory of vacant office buildings to small businesses and entrepreneurs at subsidised rates, making a dedicated office space suddenly a more realistic proposition.
Jon Norris | Working From Home
Working from home is one of the greatest perks of freelancing. No horrible commute, no noisy office, no stale Tesco sandwiches for lunch – just you, your laptop and your underwear. Once you’ve got your home office all set up, it’s time to start tweaking your working habits to ensure maximum happiness and productivity.
Jon Norris | Working From Home
One of the few drawbacks of working from home is that you’re often stuck with whatever food you have in the house for lunch – you won’t find any sandwich vans visiting like you would at an office. If you’re anything like me you probably are also not very good at grocery shopping, so after a morning’s hard work you’ll venture to the kitchen and groan at your choices upon opening the cupboard.
Rachel Papworth | Resources,Working From Home
Working from home is one of the things many freelancers love about our working model. No morning or evening commute. Eating healthy, home-cooked meals instead of expensive, shop-bought lunches. Not spending Saturday mornings queueing at the sorting office for parcels that arrived while you were out.
A survey of 2,000 employees has revealed that the colleagues of accountants and lawyers believe they are guilty of having the messiest desks. The research which was carried out by Viking, an office supplies firm, showed that 56% of respondents admitted to knowing a colleague who suffered from messy desk syndrome.
Most freelancers would agree that a broadband connection is the one thing that they couldn’t do without. No internet access means no web-based research, no social networking, no staying in touch with colleagues: no job. So what should home workers and freelancers look for in a broadband package?
Jon Norris | News,Working From Home
British Gas has been fined £2.5 million by Ofgem for failing to deal with customer complaints – especially those of small businesses – correctly. The utilities company, which supplies around half of UK homes, was deemed to have prematurely closed cases when customers still said they were unresolved.
Rachel Soothill | Guides,Working From Home
Working from home with minimal social interaction is an unfortunate, but common scenario for many of us freelance writers. Some might see this as the perk of the job while others might find it has hindering effects on creativity. If you fall under the latter then it is imperative that you take heed of the advice I am about to impart…
Jon Norris | Guides,Lifestyle & Time out
One of the toughest parts of being a freelancer (apart from getting those pesky invoices in on time) can be separating your personal and business lives. If you’re a Sole Trader (rather than a Limited Company) this can be especially hard, as you may use your personal email address and phone number. There’s nothing more annoying than getting a call from a client when you’re trying to relax on a sunny Sunday.
Jon Norris | Resources,Working From Home
Now the summer is here (or so we’re led to believe), its time to escape the dusty home office and take your work out onto the patio. Nothing is better than working outside on a sunny day, lemonade in hand. To make the most of the summer months, you could do a lot worse than pick up a few accessories for your garden office.
Selina Murray | Guides,Lifestyle & Time out
It’s become a bit of a standing joke hasn’t it? There you are, standing up a ladder, drinking a beer, waving a power tool around, and some interfering person appears and gets very upset at you about you breaching health and safety procedures, and when you’re out of the office it can be even more annoying.
Jon Norris | News,Working From Home
The Government, in their infinite wisdom, has suggested that to avoid the national travel melee that will erupt during the 2012 Olympic Games, office workers are allowed to work from home. The Government’s ineptitudes aside, the advice has loosed some interesting figures about working from home and the advantages it can bring.
Selina Murray | Working From Home
As a freelancer you’re probably quite used to working alone. Just like Clint Eastwood. Or Lady Gaga. If you’re not in an office you can dress like her too, if you want to. And have the time. It must be tricky being Gaga in the shower when the doorbell rings. She can’t possibly get dressed that way in a hurry.
Rachel Soothill | Guides,Working From Home
Working from home is one of the advantages of being a freelancer. However, with the perks there can be lots of distractions to watch out for, such as the television, family members, cats walking across keyboards and the numerous tea breaks. While distractions aren’t a problem from time-to-time, it is important not to let them occur on a regular basis otherwise they will start to have an impact on your work.
After the recent hot weather and with summer around the corner (allegedly), is your client happy with what you wear to the office? The warm weather naturally lends itself to a different dress styles but what if you turn up to work in shorts, vests, mini-skirts and halter-necks?
David Sumner | Working From Home
It’s not hard to see why the freelancing bug has caught on for so many. Being able to work from home and work to your own schedule (with no boss telling you what to do) sounds like heaven to most of us. However, if you are going to succeed in the world of freelancing then you must be able to balance the freedom and flexibility with discipline and ground rules.
Jon Norris | Lifestyle & Time out
You may remember a couple of weeks ago we had a competition to win a Lexmark printer – it was a huge success (thanks to everybody that entered by the way), and provided everybody with some excellent green printing advice.
Michael Rose | Technology,Working From Home
The Lexmark Pinnacle Pro 901 wifi printer is an absolute delight to use — it solves so many problems it feels like an Angel has descended into my home office. It’s also a bit of a monster.
Its dark brooding looks help hide some of its bulk, the footprint is large so I had to place it on the bottom of the bookshelf rather than having it hanging ominously in mid-air. But the size is understandable as there seems to be nothing this machine cannot do.
If you read our office chairs guide recently and were suddenly gripped by the desire to upgrade your current seating, we may have found just the thing for you!
Jon Norris | Working From Home
Everybody knows about working from home – you get to have a lie-in, don’t have to trudge to the train station in the rain, you can even work in your underwear if you so choose (just remember to keep a shirt on in case of any incoming Skype calls).
For the freelancer who works from a home office there are a whole range of legitimate business expenses which can be claimed.
This poses the question: what are they? And how do you calculate the amount you can claim? What follows is a simple guide.
For the home office worker distractions are rife. With no clients looking over your shoulder and only your own discretion between you and an unwarranted break, discipline is key.
Are you the freelancer with an unfathomable desire to watch daytime television? Are you having trouble keeping your eye on the task in hand?
Clare Evans | Working From Home
You’ve decided to go down the freelance route and now you’re working from home. Balancing work within the home environment can often be difficult. You may be working around children and family while focusing on your business. There are all the distractions of being at home but needing to be in work mode.
Freelance productivity expert Clare Evans explains how to create a balance between ensuring work gets done and enjoying the flexibility of working from home.
Ofcom has recently revealed the results of its latest broadband speed tests and it makes interesting reading for any freelancers looking to achieve the swiftest possible broadband connection in their home office.
If you’re like me – a freelancer who occasionally works from home and who happens to live in an old, listed or converted flat – you’re no stranger to fluctuating wireless signals, and the headache they can cause when you’re trying to work.
Thick concrete walls, organic (horsehair) insulation and poor telephone infrastructure make working from home in these types of flats something of a struggle. It makes matters worse when the one room in your flat where you get the most work done just happens to be out of range from your wireless router. So, when you run a business that relies heavily on a stable internet connection, what’s a freelancer to do?
Joycellyn Akuffo | Working From Home
Do you like bashing the snooze button as many times as you like? Do you hate those gossipy water cooler conversations? While there are lots of side-benefits from working from home there are some real benefits too. Joycellyn Akuffo editor of MothersWhoWork.co.uk lists her Top Ten reasons why working from home is so appealing to so many.
Michael Rose | Working From Home
Whiteboard are great for brainstorming, making quick notes, adding important phone numbers or targets… but they’re not cheap.
Whiteyboard is a brilliant ‘stick-on’ solution and, starting at $10, won’t break the bank. If you’ve got a spare space on your wall and want a quick, cheap whiteboard solution then this looks like a really smart solution.
Emma Jones | Working From Home
Working from Home. If you need to work from home unexpectedly then these online tools and services will help you get the job done. Freelance Advisor Emma Jones shares her tips for staying connected with co-workers and clients.
As part of our #GreenOffice series we’re looking at neat tips and technology for keeping costs down and running an efficient eco-friendly office.
While most new PCs come with a decent keyboard and mouse these days (Dell’s keyboards are still a personal favourite of mine) the Solargizer package has all you’d expect from a keyboard (you know, keys with numbers and letters on them, all in the right places) but adds a nice little ‘solar powered’ feature for anyone concerned about chewing up batteries.
Jim Hatley | Technology,Working From Home
If you’re freelancing from home on a regular basis a well-lit, well kitted-out office is essential – not just a luxury. Freelance Advisor’s resident gadget guru Jim Hatley takes a look at some home office must-haves. Home office heaven: Screens, scanners, DAB and desk-lamps Last year I have covered a few bits of kit to [...]
Jo Blood | Lifestyle & Time out,Working From Home
It’s no fun being average… but at least your desk and workstation have been designed with you in mind. If you’re above-average height you will know that it’s not quite so easy. Posture professional Jo Blood gives tall guys and gals a few hints on how to make their working environment work for them. Tall [...]
The top 5 home-business occupations in 2009 Whether it is a second income to make ends meet, a result of reduncancy or a decision to make a fresh start as a freelancer, the home business and startup sector looks like it will continue to grow in 2009. Freelance Advisor and home business startup supremo Emma [...]
