How to Work from Home

As part of our virtual company experiment, Inc.'s editorial staff is working from home this month. We've been getting help from lots of outside experts--consultants, entrepreneurs, and, of course, the people reading this blog--but we've also turned to one of our own.

For the past four years, Inc. editor at large Leigh Buchanan has been working remotely from her home in Boston. During that time, she's learned a lot about how to stay productive when you're all by yourself. For instance,

Language is important. Tell people you "work out of my home office" or that you "work from home." Never say, "I work at home." That suggests you create window treatments freelance in your spare time. "Home office" sounds more professional when you're giving someone your phone number for work. Also, if friends and relatives believe you are less than seriously employed they will start adding you to their lists of People Who Can Easily Host a Last-Minute Book-Club Meeting or Pick Up My Child After School.

Check out the rest of her eight rules for working from home. And jump into the comments and let us know how you work best.

Max Chafkin

Senior writer Max Chafkin has profiled companies such as Yelp, Zappos, Twitter, Threadless, and Tesla for the magazine. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.