•Set up a workspace. You are entitled to a tax deduction for a home office if you have a dedicated space in your home for your workday activities. Consult the IRS website (www.irs.gov) for specific questions regarding the special requirements for a home office deduction from your taxes.

•Distractions. You may have seen those pictures in magazines of a happy worker perusing a spreadsheet in the computer while the children play quietly in the same room. If you have small children, you need to focus on the task at hand with no distractions and you will be doing yourself and your children a favor if you hire a caregiver to help while you work.

•Set a work schedule. You need to have a specific and regular time set aside for work. One of the dangers of “living” so close to your desk is that your working hours become fuzzy and you may find yourself answering the phone at all hours. Set limits early on and let the answering machine take a message when your workday is over.

•Get Organized. That means having filing cabinets, a desk, files, calendars, and even labels available and in use.

Make sure you have the right equipment. Besides needing an extra phone line, a DSL or cable connection to your computer, a fax machine, a printer, possibly a scanner and any other equipment you would use in the course of a business day, if you find yourself going to your office on occasion or having to make visits to clients, a laptop computer may be more convenient than a desktop model. You can use a docking station that will allow you to have a “normal” monitor, mouse and keyboard but use the hard drive from your laptop. That way you will never forget a file at home that you may need.

Now for some individual differences in each one of us: You are basically alone; there are no more meetings around the water bottle, no interchange between co-workers, and since there is no need to leave your home, you will not have the physical contact with others or the distinct separation between your professional and your personal time. How will that affect your state of mind? You may love it or it may make you feel isolated.

And finally, honestly, how disciplined are you? Now that you have access to a TV, radio, newspapers, books and all those tempting distractions that would patiently wait for you at home, will you be able to resist giving them your attention “just to find out what’s happening in the real world”?

Let me share with you that I love working from home. Everyone in my family (except my boxers who absolutely despise the UPS man) respects my time at work. My husband, on the other hand, really needs to dress for work and get out of the house in order to do his professional best.

Before you commit yourself to the possible expense and inconvenience of moving your office, ask yourself these questions. I wish you the best.