Whether you’re a recruiter just setting up your independent office or you’re an attorney making a go of it at consulting, telecommuting can offer many benefits and an opportunity to increase productivity.  But there is a dark side to telecommuting that many fail to address.  Below are some of the negatives associated with telecommuting and a few tips on how you can overcome them:

1. Lack of work boundaries.  While it’s convenient to work from home, the failure to implement clear and hard boundaries between work and family life can create chaos and/or burnout.  When working from home make sure you create a specific space and time for your work activities and do not allow anyone or anything to violate those boundaries except in case of a true emergency.  If you know that you have start work at nine o’clock, don’t procrastinate with household chores or surfing the web.  By the same token, don’t make a habit of putting in overtime.  Set a time to end work activities and stick with it.
2. Using the wrong tools.  When working from home make sure you have all the tools you would use in the workplace.  You don’t want to stop your workday to drive to Kinkos because you need a copy or want to send a fax.  Equip your home office with all tools needed for work, including a fax, copy machine and the appropriate software.
3. Setting unrealistic deadlines.  While working at home definitely saves time on commuting, it does not add exponentially more hours to the day.  This means that you’re still left with the same amount of time you would normally have during a workday spent in an office, plan accordingly.