Virtually There - October 2008

It seemed like a good idea at the time. As I left the office baby shower piled high with bibs, bonnets and bootees to start a new life of maternal bliss, my boss hissed like a serpent in my ear, “How about doing a little contract work from home?” And before I knew it I was huddled in the under-heated spare room, spreadsheeting like a maniac, rocking the baby in its pram with my foot and yelling down the phone to a client in Peru (or was that Porirua?). Welcome to the world of the home office.

 

 

Whether your home office is for full-time work, part-time work or just doing the family correspondence and paying the odd bill, I’m assuming you have the basics. A chair, a light, a bin, a desk with a drawer for files and another drawer for dead biros and staplers that don’t work, an in-tray and a decent computer, an external hard drive for backing up your data and an appropriate printer should do it. A cheapie scanner means you can throw that Stone Age fax in the bin. If you get a scanner/colour printer/copier combo (mine cost less than $90) you are covered for school projects too.

 

Let’s talk about that chair. Ergonomics are the thing. You need a pain in the butt like a pain in the butt, right? So spend the money on the right support. ACC (which obviously has an interest in keeping you working) has some great advice, not just for chair choosing but for setting up your entire home office.

 
The most common problem working from home is, believe it or not, working too hard. With no co-workers to distract you with gossip and doughnuts, it is possible to work yourself into a state of RSI-crippled exhaustion. To avoid this, you need break-reminder software. Workrave.org and Quickpause.com are two excellent free programs, but if you need to pay try StopNow  or Break Reminder . Use your microbreaks to stretch  or exercise. To help, you could consider Hammacher Schlemmer’s Armoire and Desk with Built-In Fitness Centre. It’s a desk with attached treadmill and weights – a bargain at a mere US$4400.

The home office product of the century is of course the Business Bib . This is a Velcro-attached suit facade for last-minute video conference calls – perfect for home workers who spend all day schlepping around in robe and undies. Of course, you’ll need ultra-high connection speeds for the video call. You do have broadband, right? If not, forget the stretching and the fancy chair and go straight to the boss to ask for your cubicle back. 

 

Site-seeing China Bear Rescue is a campaign organised by China-based Animals Asia Foundation  to rescue moon bears caged and “milked” for their bile. It’s impossible to visit the site and not want to donate to help the cause. Free the Bears  does similar work rescuing bile-farmed bears and bears used for bear baiting in South-east Asia. Choose a bear to sponsor, for yourself or as a gift.   Valentin Tinc (see NZ House & Garden, January 2007) is a Transylvanian designer (no, I’m not joking) now based in New Zealand and creating fluid, almost organic furniture (love that Anima XL chaise) and whimsical decorative pieces. If you’ve been searching for decorative tiles, original china sets or a life-sized ceramic stag’s head, look no further. Tinc is married to Christina Popovici, who has been known to use his furniture as a canvas . Fabulous.