A Home Office That Does the Job

Here's how one BusinessWeek reporter figured out what setup he needed so he could best work from home

By Jay Greene

The home office of BusinessWeek's Jay Greene

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A year ago, my bosses at BusinessWeek (MHP) gave me a year off to write a book. It was a terrific opportunity, but it also meant that after two decades of working in the comfortable confines of an employer's office, I'd be on my own. I had to set up an office in my home, without the luxury of company-owned technology, a built-in support network, and all that top-notch office furniture.

I'm hardly alone. According to the National Federation of Independent Business, more than 21 million Americans worked from their homes in 2007, the most recent period for which data are available. That number has undoubtedly grown with the recession as laid off workers find themselves trying to generate income on their own.

To the new group of home office workers, let me share a few of lessons I learned. I didn't make too many mistakes, except for one expensive piece of technology I shouldn't have purchased. Indeed, I'm quite happy with my setup, mostly because I took the right first steps, creating the office that worked best for me.

Picking a Location

Figuring out how to set up a spot in my home where I could be productive was a significant undertaking. Most important was picking a location where I knew I'd be happy spending hours at a time. I had shared a tiny office in the basement with my wife, where we did all of our home computing. But it's dark and somewhat claustrophobic. We call it the dungeon. There was no way I was going to spend all of my working hours there. So my wife and I got creative. We figured out a way to turn a playroom into a bedroom for my youngest son, and I took over his old room on the second floor for my office.

Once you find your space, you'll need to consider what you'll need to do your job best. There's no one right way to do this, of course. Much will depend on your space, your budget, and your job requirements. After moving my son downstairs, I brought in a contractor to rewire the room. It wasn't inexpensive, about $900 for the work, a bill that also included some painting and supplies, The new wiring, though, allowed me to move my wireless router from the old office in my basement to my new workspace to ensure I'd have a solid connection to the Internet access provided by my cable company. The contractor also added a second electrical outlet near where I'd be putting my desk, so I'd have enough spots to plug in all the gadgetry—everything from lights to computers and my iPod speaker system.

My office is hardly gold-plated, and where I probably saved the most money was on furniture. I wasn't planning on any visitors, and I wanted to make sure I made the most of the advance my publisher gave me to write the book. So I bought a used desk from a friend for $100 and a couple of inexpensive filing cabinets from Staples (SPLS) for $285. Lighting is key, particularly in the dark winter months in the Pacific Northwest. My money-saving answer: a $25 desk lamp from Ikea to augment the ceiling fixture already in the room. I already had a good office chair. Most ergonomists will tell you that it's one area where you shouldn't skimp.

My biggest expense was technology. I couldn't use my BusinessWeek-issed laptop while I was on leave. So after shopping around, I decided on a MacBook Air. It was not an inexpensive option, at $1,750. But I've been increasingly impressed by Apple's (AAPL) software. And while the MacBook Air has some limitations—it doesn't have a DVD drive, it has only one USB port, and enterprise software programs aren't always optimized for Macs—it's perfect for my needs.

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