Comments on: Tip of the Week: You Don't Need a Separate Home Office

By: Web Worker Daily » Archive Home Offices: Fancy or Plain, We Want Them «

Fri, 04 Jan 2008 14:08:06 +0000

[...] What if you don’t have a dedicated workspace at home? You can make do. [...]

By: I Need Separate Home Office Space

I Need Separate Home Office Space — Sat, 12 May 2007 07:54:54 +0000

[...] person who thought they could get away with out separate home office space should come live in my house for, oh, about a day. I can frequently hear my kids upstairs with the [...]

By: Working From Home Without An Office... « geeks guide to getting things done

Working From Home Without An Office... « geeks guide to getting things done — Tue, 08 May 2007 17:55:42 +0000

[...] can work anywhere with wifi and a decent supply of chai tea lattes. I found an interesting post on Web Worker Daily about how you can work from home without having a formal home [...]

By: Deb

Deb — Tue, 08 May 2007 00:42:51 +0000

Sorry about the typo – that’s Deb, not Den

By: Den

Den — Tue, 08 May 2007 00:42:33 +0000

I think it depends on the circumstances. I’m a freelance writer/blogger. All I need is my laptop. The hours I work (4 to 7 AM when the guys are sleeping, 9:30 t0o 11:30 when preschool is in session and evenings after my son is in bed) are hours when everyone is awake and the house is bustling. I have a filing cabinet in a spare bedroom for contracts and other paperwork, but really, there’s nothing else I need right now.

This isn’t to say I wouldn’t mind an office, there’s nothing I like more. We’re renovating though and right now there is no home office. My point is that the lack of an office shouldn’t keep one from working from home. My situation might not be ideal for some, but it works. On occasions when I do need lots and lots of quiet time, I move to a bedroom or even to a coffee shop or library.

I don’t deduct office expenses because I don’t really use any office supplies. Again, when I finally have an office, that will be a whole other issue.

By: Anne Zelenka

Anne Zelenka — Tue, 08 May 2007 00:35:59 +0000

It’s difficult to deduct an office space even if it is separate, because few people use their offices only for work. I use my office for paying bills, managing kids’ school paperwork, and surfing the net for fun. I don’t deduct it on my taxes.

At any rate, that’s kind of sideways to what Ng is saying. You can’t deduct a laser printer if you don’t own one and you can’t deduct a separate office if you don’t own it either. Seeking a tax deduction should be separate from the question of whether you want to try home-based work given you don’t have a separate space for it.

Personally, I rather enjoy working on my kitchen table on occasion. But I would have a hard time getting anything done without my office.

By: dave

dave — Mon, 07 May 2007 22:09:04 +0000

interesting that nobody has mentioned this yet, but the IRS requires a dedicated space for a whole category of deductions – hence i strongly suggest readers to take this posting with a grain of salt, as it is bad business sense to not organize around a sanctioned/dedicated space (unless you don’t care about deducting any such expenses)

By: clkl

clkl — Mon, 07 May 2007 21:09:57 +0000

I have a desk in my bedroom, but I often work out of a homemade cart I nicknamed the "GTDmobile". This allows me to work anywhere in the house. It might be a solution for people who work from the kitchen table.

By: serici

serici — Mon, 07 May 2007 20:06:50 +0000

This is fine for Ng because it’s just telecommuting. But should she (or you) ever become self-employed (ex: contract work for your boss) it could get very problematic when it comes time to file your income tax and want to deduct your work space, since it isn’t a dedicated space. Just a thought.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Mon, 07 May 2007 20:03:08 +0000

I have a separate office, but I have another way of handling the danger of getting obsessed with work. I share my home office with my husband. I work from home during the day while he is out on client sites. In the evening, he writes on his blog and spends more time on the computer than me. This keeps me away from the office in my off hours.