The Kingdom of Hearts

Having the Right Stuff to Succeed in Life and Business

Millionaires for the most part are just like everyone else. The had to start somewhere, learn the ropes with some trial and error and make adjustments from there.

The facts are:

1) Everyone gets old and as you get older you actually need more money to survive than you do when you are young, that is if you live long enough to get old.

2) If you don't care about your future, why should someone else?

3) If you don't do anything about your future, then why should someone else?

4) Everyone somewhat has a choice what they do in life to make it in life and for retirement if you live in the any part of the free world. Mind you there are those that do not even have that option. In other words, what you do with your life is up to you. Do nothing for the future and likely you will have nothing for the future.

5) Most try to make it in life by working for someone else all of their lives, but that makes them dependent on others and a victim if things don't go right.

6) One option is to venture out on your own in some part time business. That is difficult to do (be totally on your own).

7) You can (if you can find them) mentors to help you step out on your own. The point of being in business is an opportunity to make more money and either retire early or not, but it is up the individual when you retire and not a company.

8) Success takes the following:

a) Commitment to what you are doing. Not partial commitment, but full commitment. That does not mean you have to work your business full time. It means when you work it you are fully committed to making it work.

b) A plan for you to get to where you want to be.

c) The knowledge and the practical usable wisdom on "how to work your plan."

d) Some investment, either cash or time or in many cases both.

e) A good work ethic and some mentorship to help you stay focused.

f) Ability to learn from both successes and failures, which are learning opportunities.

9) The ability to see it in your head and be able to work at what you see.

This manual is dedicated to those seeking to step out on their own and work to get ahead in life. It looks at both the pros and cons of many things you will more than likely be faced with. Each person needs some basic tools and a common place to start from and some resources to help you get there if you do not have all the things you need to be successful.

This manual is two parts. The first part deals with some of the things you will need to get going in business and some good practical information in how to set up and home office, develop a workable plan for yourself laying things out for you in somewhat a step by step method. The second part is a list of resources that you will need. Now it is true that you can do all the research yourself, but to coin a phrase "time is money."

You may wonder "why" we are doing all of this? That is a fair question and will attempt to answer that question. We at The Kingdom of Hearts serve our members. The reason we do this is to help each become successful in life and financially, so you can help others. Our belief is that it is difficult to help others succeed unless you have been there yourself and its difficult to help people financially if you can't pay your bills yourself. What we work to do is help each make a far above income so each can not only help others by giving good and practical advise to others, that works, but that you will be able to help the less fortunate.

The facts also are we have the ability to end starvation and homelessness, but it will take an effort to do so, and then help people go in the right path not only for themselves, but so they are in a position to help others with advise because they have lived it and have become wealthy enough to help those less fortunate.

That is what The Kingdom of Hearts is and what it is all about. The condition of our hearts to help others with information and guidance and financially if they are in area where people are totally dependent on others that do have a good heart to give.

There are three basic aspects to life and we at The Kingdom of Hearts work to serve each in these three aspects;

1) The body: Each of us have basic physical needs. We all need to survive. We all need to be loved. We all need to make an income, unless you win the lottery or have large inheritance. We all need to be protected from the elements, etc. We all need a plan for life to make it happen. To help our members we at TKOH, help each member (if they desire to) develop a plan for what they want to accomplish in life. This plan helps them understand who they are, their particular likes and dislikes and a plan which includes their income, either increasing it or how to achieve their financial goals in life. Information about how to increase income, starting with setting up a home office and how to balance work with the rest of life.

2) The Soul: This includes our minds and learning things we want to learn in how to make life better. This also includes a social network and community of people with like minds and spirits in an effort to get to know others that have the same interests. The soul is also about piece of mind and much of that piece of mind comes from the spiritual aspects of life in knowing we are going in the right direction.

3) The Spirit: This does not have to do with religion but has to do with walking the right path in life. We do not tell you which path you should go but walk with you on a path if you choose to walk with us. We believe in helping others as it's good for them but also good for us as well. In helping others we actually are able to focus more clearly on the things we need to do for our own families and well being. What we give to others or do for others or do to others, good or bad we receive.

There are five parts to learning:
1) Don't have a clue (beginners)
2) Data: which is simply the ability to remember information (beginners)
3) Knowledge: Which is having the data and knowing what it means. For example many can quote scripture backwards and forwards but they do not really understand what it all means. (beginners)
4) Application: One step up from knowledge and this is where we begin to have some practical experience not only on what scripture says, but begin to learn how to apply it. One ingredient still missing which is experience and how it all works and comes together. (intermediate)
5) Wisdom: which is having the information, knowing how to use it, being able to apply it in our own lives which will bring wisdom so we can help others. (advanced)

Wisdom comes from two places. First there is a spiritual aspect. Its is that voice inside you that lets you know if you seem to be going the right direction or not. We as children listen to that voice but as we grow up we tend to stop listening to that voice that is inside of each of us. It is because we are taught often not to listen to that voice in us. How do you know the voice is the right thing to listen to? Well if it tells us to go off and kill people, that probably is not the right thing to listen to, but mostly the voice in us can lead us in the right direction if our minds are open to listening. Secondly wisdom comes from from experience. That experience is what builds us up so we know the truth. Teachers for example that have never experienced anything in life make horrible teachers, because all they know how to do is work for the system and if you think about it, it is all they are qualified to teach. The odd part is we send our children to these very same teachers to teach them "how to make it in life." and then wonder why its not working too well? To make it in life one has to listen to the advice of those that have become success and glean from their experiences and then start doing those things that others have done to be successful.  If we have not experienced anything all we can do is thump on people with beliefs that may or may not be true and talk about things we have never experienced. 

About the Managing Your Home Office: Wisdom

The information is in two parts. First part is located here in how to start by organizing a home office and direction for you life and the second part is the resources that you may need in order to help you accomplish or achieve your goals in life. Those are the tools you will need to help you accomplish what you desire to accomplish in life for you and your family.

The information provided here help pare down the enormous amount of business financing information available and provides you with the essentials to finance your business. The focus is spirit of “less is more,” the book eliminates all schemes and recommends a straightforward financing and fundraising program with which business people can succeed. The fancy stuff is left behind because it is just too much extra baggage.

The information offered is outfitted with helpful information and resources and helps you develop a business plan as a part of your life's plan which is essential to helping each person stay focused in what they want to achieve in life. Do I want to work all my life? How much money do I want to make? What is it going to take to make the income I desire to make and do I have the knowledge to able to make that income and finally what are the options?

Managing your home office efficiently and effectively is the cornerstone to building your life and your work success and financial independence. Without this foundation in place, the rest of your efforts will languish due to your inefficient, ineffective, and frustrating work habits and organizational system.

The first part is easier to accomplish by definition because laying out a plan is easier than marshalling your resources to implement your plan consistently and effectively, as well as recovering from your inevitable lapses, and getting right back on to your plan again. In short, the hard part about a plan is the doing of it-not the thinking about it, which often takes mentorship and encouragement from those that have been were you are at currently. We all learn by experience and we all can learn from other peoples experiences, but were do we find people to even talk to about things of this nature? That is in part what we provide in The Kingdom of Hearts, people that have made it that you can communicate with and learn from their experiences. Why do they help others? It is because we have learned that what we give, we receive. So we help others to help solve family problems, community problems and when connected globally can take care of the needs of many.

Build on Your Successes

You can't do much about your weaknesses and failures other than crowd them out with your strengths and successes. Most of us have weaknesses longer than our arms. Focusing on correcting these can be a pretty discouraging activity for all of us. So reverse things. Build on your successes so they squeeze out and de-emphasize your weaknesses. What we focus on success or failure we become. Most people spend far too much time focusing on failure instead of solutions. Abraham Lincoln failed far more than he succeeded but he learned at an early age to focus on success and as a result he became president of the US. If you continually emphasize and focus on building on your strengths which will gradually diminish and crowd out your weaknesses. It is like any bad habit; it is hard to throw it out the window but you can coax it gradually down the stairs!

I. General Approach

How to Build on Your Successes: The simple things first.

Your first step in this process is to build on your successes by concentrating on doing the little things right. Your next step is to do them at the beginning of each work day or work period. This is part of the foundation and crucial to become successful. Habits good or bad can make you or break you. So we need to focus on good habits. This lets you get off on the right foot each day and the sailing will be much smoother. Those things that start right generally end the same way; however, those days that start wrong usually wind up a mess and are best forgotten. So focus each day on starting it quickly and effectively. This will build up your momentum for a better and more effective day. Conventional wisdom says "Start with the hardest project first or you will never get through it." This conventional wisdom is long on convention and short on wisdom. The largest projects tend to be sink holes unless carefully planned for in advance. They tend to absorb all your energy into them, distract you from your important daily routine work, and can cause considerable damage to your day in and day out responsibilities. The way to avoid this trap is to provide sufficient time each day to handle your routine activities while focusing on your larger projects.

Tip: Do your largest projects in your quiet periods early in the morning, late at night, or on the weekends. While this will inevitably impact your personal life, and all work does that to some extent, it will relieve stress on you and your work environment-as well as those dependent on you for your daily work production.

The Big Projects

Your first step is to acknowledge to yourself just how hard it is to do a large project. Life is a hard project. Well at least, to do life well, that is. This understanding takes the pressure off you to try to get the work done too quickly and without the inevitable back and forth's in a large project that usually requires many revisions before being completed in a satisfactory manner for all concerned.

Your next move is to step back and review in general what people, materials, and resources will be required to get the project done, plus how long it will take. If experience is any guide, consider that whatever your estimate, it will take three times longer. Taking this perspective gets you off the failure road and on to a solid performance as well as feeling successful about the results in the end.

Summary

With this general outline in mind, we can now address the specifics about managing your home office for success!

Managing Your Home Office

Your home office is the boiler room and the working center of your business. It provides the financial "heat" to keep your house and economic life in order. Don't skimp on the boiler room. This area should get the largest investment in your house-not your bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, or living room. These are the expense items; the boiler room generates your income.

First Practical Step: Name your home office "The Boiler Room"

Words have power if you speak the words over and over, then things become what you name them. Images are so powerful in conveying a sense of things. The very term boiler room suggests the gritty necessity of the activities coupled with an unglamorous way of viewing it. Perfect.

Lowest priority room in most houses.

As with a true boiler room, the office boiler room is usually relegated to the worst space in the house in most cases, even though it is a representation of your future and its either a mess with low priority or its high priority, organized and functional. Your office is representative of your commitment or lack of commitment to your future.  Everyone else's needs seem to take priority: the little used living room, the rec/playrooms, and bedrooms, but those places are not representative of your future, your office space is and it will take commitment to keeping your office and future straight so you stay on course and have a chance to succeed. In this you should glean from the voice of experience. It is a word to the wise and you should make this a top priority if you move to a new house once you have your home office established. Be sure to stake out at least an adequate room for your home office. In the case of two people working in different businesses at home, be sure to do the same for both.

The following is financially correct, but possibly not politically correct, nor may it be good for your future: The person who brings in the most money should get the better office space-always. If one person is going through college and the other is working to support that effort, the working person should get the better office. Space requirements or desires should not overwhelm financial needs. It takes a cooperative effort on both parts to make thins work. For example in my own marriage, my wife supplied the funds for the present, while I worked towards our future. Both of us respected each other and understood what we both worked towards. Attitude, agreement and love in a home is 99% of the battle. That way both can be supportive to the other and both are always equal. In any relationship it is always important to have equality, respect for ones self and the other and that creates freedom for both. There are spiritual aspects to making life and business successful.

II. Setting up Your office for success

Setting Up Your Office: Rules for Your Office in How Well it Will Operate

Desire to Spend; Desire to Earn: the lingering prejudice against getting your hands dirty.

Deal with this concept the best you can. The boiler room is the foundation of your feast. If you don't respect it, and those around you don't genuflect to it, your efforts will be substantially undermined and diminished. You will do better by getting your family to address this concept so you can then work together to elevate people's attitude towards your home office, respect its importance to the family, and treat it and you accordingly.

Impact on Children, Spouse, Associates and Friends

"Your actions scream so loudly I can't hear your words," said the great American philosopher, Ralph Waldo Emerson. Your children, friends and business associates follow your example not your preaching's or what you say. Actions speak louder than words, so if you don't respect your future and your space it will be difficult to get others to respect your work or your place of work. This is another major reason to feature the home office in your house. It sets a terrific example for your family. Work is gritty; it is hard; it must be done. Having a home office intrudes upon home life during office hours-this is the negative.

The positive factor, and a much larger one, is you are home more and available to your family versus having to commute and have your lunches away. If you can get to this place in life, then everyone in the family will do far better as mom or dad is at home everyday instead of going off somewhere. Your future and your families future are top priority. You may be to start with, working at another job while you are learning and building your home business. That is alright as long as you move forward with clear goals of what you want to accomplish and when. This goes directly to your business and life plan. Where do you want to be in a year, two or five years? What do you want to have accomplished and what will it take. Hard facts are, if you don't care, neither will anyone else.

Prohibitions and Rules

• No one uses your stuff: from pens and pencils to PCs and copiers.

• No one should come in during office hours and interrupt you-about anything, ever.

• No one should speak to you when you are on the phone-ever-even if in another room.

• No loud noises around it except after hours (defined by you).

• No self-interruptions through excessive Internet or game use.

It should be lockable and no one else gets the key. This is all easier said than done. Great patience is required. None of the above rules can be enforced all the time. You should work to have them enforced most of the time.

Family members will respect your office, if you respect the space and will learn to ask to use your stuff, and not just take it. Family members may occasionally want to talk you in your office, but will learn to ask if they can speak to you elsewhere. The home office is not a place to hide in, but work. Family is important which is a good reason to establish a good work ethic for working from home so you can make enough money to stay at home and take care of your family. There is a balance between work, family and play and you are the example to your family. If they can see it work with you, then you are also teaching them how to do well in life as well. The home office is and working at home is something learned, but also provides for you families future by working at home being a good role model, not only for you, but those you come in contact with in the business world.

Family members should consider your home office to be in another city or state. Yes they are first in your life, but the office is where you will be providing for them and needs to be balanced with the rest of your life. It is your space and your life and what you do with it is up to you. Focus is critical. Often times it makes work shorter if focus can be maintained by working smarter and not harder. This works if you are in control of your office. Many find that if they do not have interruptions they not only stay on task or focus, but can accomplish more in far less time than being interrupted all the time. Four hours of work can last two day if there are enough distractions, which also include TV or music. Working at home is much like learning a discipline and learning how to be disciplined in what you are working on. What? Don't like that aspect? Just know that if you are disciplined in what you are doing you have a much higher rate of success. Success in not like winning the lottery. It is something planed and that takes discipline.

Home Office Tools

The basics include:

Home PC

You do not need the latest greatest computer system, but you should get one with originally installed software that relates to your business. You should have a backup system should the primary PC go down especially for on line access. We at the KOH can provide you low cost solutions for computer equipment for both your primary and secondary system and have it set up so you can automatically transfer files so there is ever little or no time down.

Essential software programs

Depending on the type of business you choose to get into you may need Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Power Point, and others) and QuickBooks or Simply Money. If you get Office originally installed with your PC, this suite is much less expensive than as a stand alone purchase. At KOH we can supply you with the software solutions that will help you either way, in a business related to what we do or if you go in a different direction. TKOH is much like a buying group and simply the more people that use the resources we have to offer the better the prices we get and can pass on to our members.

Helpful software programs

In general this group relates to the industry you are in and the kind of work you do.

Act. Act is at the top of my list here. It is a cumbersome hard to use program; it has way too many features and users generally don't like it. Having said that, it is the best of these contact programs. You can integrate your family, financial, business, and other contacts. Note: many people use Microsoft Outlook for many of the same functions.

Simply Media's Legal Forms. You should have this to write up basic agreements. Simply Media's Business Startup, Sales Skills, Negotiations Handbook, and Finance Your Business to learn more about doing all of these key skills.

Adobe products. Acrobat Reader is free; a variety of their other products are extremely useful in terms of artwork, sell sheets, and various other communication projects. Having said that adobe maker runs about $395. A simple solution, if you have Word is to get either a free copy of Make PDF or pay a small fee.

Printer (s). Printers have become so inexpensive we recommend you get a stand alone one as well as a combination one with your Fax. Cartridges are the big expense these days; don't complain about it-cartridges haven't gone up in price; printers have gone down. If you do a lot of printing, consider buying a more expensive laser printer that uses less ink and therefore fewer cartridges.

Copier. Get the best you can afford. Sorters and various other helpful features are a wonderful thing when you are in a hurry. They also inspire you to do "more" as opposed to outsource it or not do it at all.

Other useful software online is the profile that The Kingdom of Hearts offers as it can be used as a web page to get you started. In addition, we also offer web hosting and design and publishing and marketing services, for our members. To help you promote your TKOH business or other business you also may want to sign up for free space in My Space for advertising purposes.

You will also find in our business section complete packages to increase income starting for as little as $2.95-$60, depending on the options you choose and the initial cost of set up. If you choose one of our packages there is also support for our services and products.

III. How to stock your home office

Stocking the Home Office

Tip: Plan to replace your printer every two years. Some for basic printers cost less than $100 and depending on the features run as much as $200 for printer, copier and fax machine all built in one unit. It is well worth replacing every couple of years as technology is better and faster and having broken printers at the wrong time can cause severe stress. One thing you will find is that replacement ink cartridges cost a lot of money from the OEM (original equipment manufacturer). We also supply a line of refill cartridges that will save you about 40% off retail if you are going to be doing a high volume of printing.

Another option and may be worth it as a stand alone fax. Consider getting one of the multitasking ones because they can serve as your back up printer and scanner (if you elect to use that feature) as well as fax. This provides another level of redundancy, always a good thing!

Tip: Keep a separate phone line for your fax so it works 24/7. Basic phone lines are inexpensive and this is a good investment.

Landline. Keep it under your name and you can usually get a single phone line for less than $60 a month with long distance included (Verizon calls it their Freedom Plan). Communications are important; you don't want the combination phone/fax because it doesn't work a lot, your customers will go nuts over it when it doesn't work, and the investment is well worth it.

Cable Modem/High Speed Internet

Connection. Essential in the world we live in. The prices will probably keep coming down and they are small as it is. Once you move from dial up to cable modem you won't know how you lived without it (happened to me). If you must have dial up, get a third dedicated line (don't share with the fax machine; I did that and several orders didn't get through-whoops)!

Peoplepc.com is the ideal solution in terms of low price and far quality. You can bank on them improving over the years while still maintaining their low price position in the marketplace. It does have its limitations especially if you are going to do a lot of on-line work and be at The Kingdom of Hearts Club and Learning Center, which is designed in part for fun, but also as a communications tool. Obviously if used for business, its also tax deductible, not only for your connection, but the costs of membership to RLC to have access to our club. It is way to meet people like yourself that are all over different parts of the globe. In addition, we also offer some training classes and it is a place where you can meet the founders of TKOH, at least by appointment. The club also serves as a place for you to introduce people to your business. It is free for our members and it can be used as a sales tool.

Helpful office supplies. Get the basics and multiple sets of each. The rest of the family has a habit of viewing your materials as a resource to them. Therefore, you must get more than you need or you will be forever frustrated.

Furniture. As one associate of mine said from American Power Conversion, in our start up days, "The second greatest invention was the flat surface." You need flat surfaces for many reasons.Be sure to try to put at least one flat table (inexpensive is fine) in your office space and leave it unencumbered. The mess will move to it so consider having a back up space. Get a great chair; as with a mattress, you'll be using it a lot too. Nothing is as expensive, time wasting, and aggravating as chasing down office stuff. Order on line through the links below, links on our separate

Online Resources button on your CD, or separately elsewhere. Whatever you do, don't waste time going to an office supply store; instead, take a walk, a swim, or just a well deserved break on your own!

Office supplies.

The best way to get office supplies is through a chain that delivers. Most will give you free freight at around $50 per order so you don't have to load up. Any office can use an "extra" case of copy paper and that's about $25 to $30 towards the minimum. Even if you must pay freight, it is much cheaper than your time, energy, and gas bill to get there.

Tip: Allocate a closet and/or cabinet in your garage or storage area if in an apartment for your office supplies.

Fedex.com.

A miracle! Set up your account at Fedex.com. If you do you will save 10% if you print things on line (do I sound like a commercial or what; except, the commercials don't tell you about the really good stuff...).

* Store your names so when in a hurry you can print your FedEx's quickly and accurately.

* Track your packages easily-both on your end and your recipient's.

* Include email addresses so people on the other end both relax and know it is coming.

* Put a note in the comments section-what it is and why you are sending it.

These features combine to have a strong marketing impact on your customers: they can "relax" immediately upon knowing the materials are on the way; FedEx is doing the emailing so it appears official and not intrusive; in big and/or bureaucratic companies, the recipient will be notified when "received" so they can hunt it down (and not blame you for the lateness). It also saves wear and tear on you!

Fedex.com stealth competition with the post office. FedEx has gradually reduced their costs for 2 Day and 3 Day Express Saver shipments to be more competitive with UPS and the post office. In most cases, you don't need overnight delivery but would like everyone to "know" they can sleep at night knowing it will arrive. If one day priority is 100%, Standard (PM delivery next day) is about 60% of that, 2 Day about 35%, and 3 Day about 25% of the cost. This means a $24 to $30 4 lb package priority can be only $6 to $8 Express 3 Day service. This is only a few dollar more than Priority Mail (which FedEx now carries a lot of for the Post Office already).

IV. Office services

Stamps.com

They provide 24/7 downloadable postage, 9 Code zip addressing with bar coding for faster deliveries, a handy address book for regular shipments, and a professional looking envelope. A trivial expense for such worthwhile time saving results.

E-invite

Lets you set up meetings on line in a professional non-intrusive way; people can email back at their leisure and your meeting is always up to date in terms of who is attending, who isn't, and who hasn't responded at all. Very useful.

00Inkjets.com and Ink Blvd??????????

These two services provide deep discounts on ink cartridges that we spend so much on. You can never be too rich, too thin, or have too many ink jet cartridges. Stay well stocked so that important document doesn't go unprinted!

Iprint and Vistaprint

Two sources for remote printing delivered to you.

Checks & Supplies

Go to our site at simplymedia.com, for a bargain on these due to our having the number three Check writing program, Simply Money.

American Stationery and ASAP Stationery

Two excellent discount priced sources of stationery and related supplies.

Bill Paying On Line

In the last year or so, I have started paying our company bills on line. This means I can be on the road and pay the bills. It also reduces the need for clerical staff, managerial review staff in accounting, bookkeeping, and various other costs. It also radically increases the privacy of these transactions.

Tip: Don't auto pay. It is hard to stop; hard to get refunds; and doesn't let you see what is going on month by month. On line payment is fast enough; auto pay introduces unwanted limitations upon you so we recommend against using it.

American Incorporator.com

At at certain point it may well be worth it for you to incorporate for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is to separate your business and personal life, limit your liability, and have a vehicle by which to sell your business should your home office develop into such an entity, depending on the type of business that you will be opperating..

You can pick up your faxes on the road or from your PC. You can also eliminate the cost of a separate fax line, no small thing over the years, unless you prefer a home fax which I do-and then you can use both.

Two services to check trade names and get logos made. This is primarily for home office businesses not workers per se.

Other services are available on our Printable Resources button in a 36 page document that is very handy to print out and use to decide which resources are best for you. You should store it and pass it around your company and family for a terrific list of places to shop on line for just about everything. The best part of these links is you don't have to talk to anyone, you can link on line and get exactly what you want, and you don't have to wait for call backs when you want to get something done-now.

All results are outside of your office. Only costs are inside your office. With this in mind, remember that income sources are what count most not costs, suppliers, contractors, employees, and the like. Having a home office usually makes this clearer to people. When people gather in larger offices they usually start to feel they "did" something by arriving, gathering, and discussing. In the home office, these activities aren't done at all, or rarely, so the emphasis tends to be more on the outside world. In addition, home office people usually tend to seek out outside people, which promotes meeting with customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders. Large office people tend to shy away from those activities and stay in their safe cocoon in their "office."

If you have a home based office, you immediately save on commuting time, aggravation of having to abide by strict start time requirements for daily work, and wear and tear on yourself and your car. Two people working for me have come to realize that working from their homes has doubled the life expectancy of their cars, no small matter, and cut down dramatically on the service times required to maintain their vehicles.

It also saves wear and tear on yourself because you can get up at a more leisurely pace, start work, take a break for breakfast, and move into higher gear at your own pace.

With those pluses come some real challenges:

Showing Up No Longer Counts

Showing up on time is the most important thing in clerical or factory work. It never has counted as much in management office work; however, many people have been deluded into thinking it does. With the enormous transition from physical to knowledge based work in the last 30 years or so, many people transitioned from families based on physical work to a new world of knowledge based activities. The result, I find, is that many well educated knowledge workers have a lingering sense of the physical approach to work of their childhood families: showing up was important; complaining was OK and in fact often expected; and getting away with not working part of the norm.

Home offices disrupt this point of view. Showing up doesn't matter; there is no one to complain to; and your work is judged by what you do not what you pretend to do.

Impact: Working from home is not for the average or poorer performer. If you view yourself in this light, watch out. The average performer tends to slide through work and centers their life on outside activities such as sports, hobbies, and the like. They tend to view work as a nuisance. If this is your situation, don't work at home. You'll be discovered and terminated.

If you are an above average performer, your star will shine at home. You can do your business at hours that best suit your work and family needs. You can go to the dentist, doctor, and children's games as you choose, without fuss or guilt. You aren't on the clock in the same way; results are what matter. You will be less subject to office politics and concerns.

If you are working for an employer, good home workers are a huge asset for their bosses; they get more done, don't require babysitting, and don't contribute to office time wasting activities. Having said this, you should stay in touch with the powers that be or you will lose the personal touch that gets you promoted, raises, and involved with the organization's mission.

You should take the initiative. Buy your boss coffee, lunch, something to get his or her attention. Don't wait for them. They will soon get used to the work being done and move on to their other priorities.

Note: No home based office worker has ever done this with me as the boss. They have all been under the impression it is my problem. It isn't. When people have been in traditional offices with me, they go out of their way, as a rule, to have some personal contact. In our age of employee resentment of bosses and companies, this has become less and less true. It also relates to a break down in manners which always hurts the employee more than the employer.

Reverse the table: if you are rude to the employer, they have less reason to feel badly about not giving you a raise, not considering you for a promotion, and so on and so on.

The hard workers discover that their home office is always there. It is harder to separate personal and work life. The plus is that you live the seamless life where work and play meld together in a continuum. The negative is that you can lose touch about where your work and personal life separate.

The home office is an ideal place to work from for above average to hard workers. It is not an ideal for average or below average workers because they can not hide from the boss as easily. You have to determine where you stand and how you want to deal with this issue. You are at home so can get a jump on those who must commute to offices. If you take the opportunity to get a jump on them, your reputation for communication and follow through will soar. Above all, bosses don't like to chase down people and loose ends. They want them done; they want them done promptly; and they don't want to worry about them.

All activities that impact others should be done first: return phone calls, even if only to leave a message; return emails; return faxes. Do this first thing in the morning. Be complete as possible. The objective should be to communicate in such a way that no one needs to call, email, or fax you back for clarification or discussion.

While this is not always possible, it is very doable for 90% of routine activities. For my own peace of mind, I usually check my email, phone, and fax just before going to bed to get a jump on the next day. The extra effort keeps things moving faster in my work life as well as letting me relax before going to sleep, a wonderful tonic.

ACT is a marvelous tool to save the times of day when people like to be contacted, when they don't, and what their communication preferences are in general. Some people prefer early, some late, some at specific times when they create a window to take calls, emails, or review documents. You can keep your notes on this and refine them as you learn more about your contacts.

Most people do not like to be phoned Monday morning or Friday afternoon. Use these times for your projects. Work against the grain. Sunday night is a marvelous time to work an hour or so to get a head start on the week. This is especially true for emails which don't intrude upon people on Monday morning or Friday afternoon. Doing the Saturday mail or late Friday emails cuts the Monday morning pile in half, no small thing.

The best image is Mercury versus Pluto orbiting the sun. Mercury does it in less than a year; Pluto in over 40. Don't get caught up in long loops while you try to be efficient. First and foremost be effective. What does this mean?

Answer all inbound calls. When people are calling you, they are thinking about you and what they are calling you about. Get the phone; deal with the problem; accept the interruption. Use a portable phone so you have it with you when you travel around your house. I do this at all times; it works. If you do this consistently, people will gain confidence that you will also answer the phone if you are there. Don't become a ducker. So many firms have people "ducking" calls using voice mail; they are hated; bosses will find out. Sooner or later they will pay the price. Don't you be one of them.

Answer your email promptly. Don't start complaining about "all the email" you get. If it is even 100 or so a day, that is awfully easy to plow through. Internet spam filters, for example, have become increasingly helpful as long as you do your part and mark them spam. Get with it; don't whine about it.

Answer your faxes. For some reason, people tend to attend to their faxes rather diligently. Be sure to do so yourself.

Answer your mail. There is far less of it than in the past so this should be a rather straightforward thing to do. Tip: Separate the junk mail immediately and dispose of it; don't get trapped into "having a look."

Open every box or package that comes in -- immediately. For some reason people often put these aside thinking they are not that important, they will get to them, and so on and so on. If you do this, at least once or twice a year you will be tormented in quest for the discarded box which may wind up being disposed of by then in the garbage or under some unexpected pile not to be seen within the timeframe you need it.

Open the box! Now!

Other People Handling Your Work

This is a greater challenge because they will undoubtedly have many sloppy habits and a need to feel important and busy. People stuck on being overworked tend to be the very ones who do little work at all but matter on and on about it. If this happens, terminate the relationship. If it is someone else in the house such as a spouse, roommate, child, or some other party, you cannot take this simple approach. But you must act.

Here are your choices:

Admit you won't reform them. Therefore, sidestep them. Don't let them handle your packages, mail, faxes, phone messages or the like. This often means being less efficient in order to be more effective. Two people may have to go to the post office, pickup packages, check messages and the like. This is far better than the consequences of not doing this.

Be a victim. Complain, struggle, and sink. Not an appealing alternative. There is no other. So decide. If you can't do this, get out of the house and get an office (many people have done this for exactly this reason).

Human nature at work. The truly busy person will get things done promptly; gets the mail early; drop packages off efficiently; the not busy person usually does none of these well, frets a lot (nothing like a lack of activity to cause worries in people-Freud recommended to his neurotic middle class patients to get work that kept them busy-to keep them sane; good advice then; good advice now), and take up your time and emotional resources.

Retail systems have a wonderful report: The End of Day report. A final wrap up. We should all follow their fine example. In the last hour or so of your day, put a wrap on it. Clean up the loose ends; get the final emails, faxes, and mail pieces out and completed. Don't start new projects.

Take a deep breath and outline your work for the next day. As one of my favorite friends Alan Harp said, "Get a Big Chief tablet, number 2 pencil, and make a list!"

Use this list to scope out the next day's work. Each person in your organization should use one and submit it to you by fax or email on a daily basis. A sample daily list is attached for printing out. It is deceptively simple-and therefore effective.

You must become a self-starter. If you are not one by nature, think twice about accepting a home office position. If you like independent projects, you will like this position. If you prefer to work in groups, socialize at work, and the like, you will not fit in well with this kind of work. If in doubt ask your family, friends, and office peers what they think. Tip: It has always been obvious to me how others will perform in a home office. It is much harder to judge yourself. So get their advice before starting out on the home office adventure because it is one indeed.

You can no longer think of yourself as labor or just an employee. You are now the boss. You can no longer take credit for just showing up at work; sitting in meetings; responding to incoming calls, emails, faxes, and other such office things. Output will be the final measurement. You are CEO of yourself-and responsible accordingly.

Setting and abiding by a schedule you set by day, by week, and by month. No one will be watching over you closely on these points. No easy peer pressure will be placed upon you. It is very much the challenge for the grammar school student transitioning to high school and on to college.

One is increasingly responsible for getting things done-or a terrible mess happens at the end. The same will happen in the home office since performance is what counts.

Tip: Get in the habit of daily email reports to your boss. This will serve to inform him or her as well as let you measure your own progress. Very few home office workers do this; it will make you stand out. If  you are the CEO of your company, do the same for yourself and monthly reports for your stakeholders.

You will be alone if you are doing a business on your own. Some, but few can handle this. People are social beings and this is a big challenge to one and all. You must find ways to get out and about. One of the big plusses that TKOH offers is connection with others like yourself of like mind and spirit and mentors to help you keep going. If you are a sales person this is perfect because it encourages calls, visits, and correspondence. Our best sales people always work out of their homes. If they start an office, they use up much of their social energy there as opposed to in the field where we employ them to work-and interact with other people, our customers and prospective customers.

Therefore this can be put off and off and off. If you consider yourself "labor" and "wait" for the boss to contact you, you may have a long wait. If your boss is shrewd, he or she will recognize that it is in their interest, and that of the organization, to let you do what you do quietly and peacefully without further involvement with you. If you want to stay doing what you are doing this is fine. If you want to move up then you have to work to get organizational and boss attention and time.