Читать книгу Start & Run a Creative Services Business - Susan Kirkland - Страница 24

If you live alone, you can turn your entire living space into your office, though this is not recommended, for obvious reasons. Most people have family, pets, and surprise visitors to consider when they work at home, not to mention the need to tidy up before a client appears. The ideal home office is a dedicated room with a door that locks. Why would you need a lock in your own home? The first time Junior accidentally deletes work to make room on your hard drive for his new computer game, the reason will become eminently clear. When your spouse needs poster board for a yard sale sign, locking the door will protect your five-dollar-a-sheet, double-weight, plate illustration board in your absence. Plus, the expensive photo-quality laser jet paper you bought to print out your client’s color comprehensives will not be reallocated without your knowledge for the family reunion snapshots.

To produce like a profesiional, your work space must be pared down to provide the necessary accoutrements for peak performance.

For a truly dedicated work space, remove all items not related to your work. First, you don’t want to allow your office to become a pseudo storage space packed with clutter. If you’re going to produce like a professional, your work space must be pared down to provide the necessary accoutrements for peak performance. That means no distractions like that old black-and-white tv you’ve held onto since your college days. Give it to charity and take a tax deduction for the donation.

Second, the tax department (aka the Internal Revenue Service or Canada Revenue Agency) will not allow you to write off a percentage of your monthly expenses on your income tax return if the space you call your office is also used as the laundry room or Little League equipment locker. It must be a dedicated space.

Spend a few dollars on proper cable clamps and arrange all the electrical cables, computer connections, and surge protectors so they don’t interfere with your movement. (You do have surge protectors on your equipment to protect your investment, don’t you?) Be prepared for the unexpected: My new computer arrived and I was ready to work when curiosity almost killed the cat. Up he jumped, ever so gracefully knocking over a large glass of iced tea — right into the keyboard. No work for me that day. My new keyboard arrived the next day, and you can bet the cat was outdoors. I had learned the importance of a dedicated work space.