Part of the reason is that I’m from a family of five kids which makes me want my own space, my own supplies and as much privacy as possible. This site is called Working Naked, after all.

The other part is that too much of a good thing can be bad. You may adore your spouse but if you spend every day and night with him or her, you may drain the fun out of your business and your relationship.

If you’re still willing to work with your spouse, there are a few ways to keep the peace so no one considers hiring a hit man by closing time.

• Buy duplicate supplies. No one likes to reach for a stapler and realize it’s on someone else’s desk or in another room. Get creative and buy two sets of office supplies in different colors.

• Use separate equipment. There’s nothing wrong with cutting costs, but sharing a computer to save money will cost you in the long run. Whether you use a desktop and your spouse uses a laptop, each of you should have your own equipment. If neither one of you needs to print often, share a printer.

• Leave the room when you need to take a call. Unless you can talk quietly and not bother your spouse while he or she is in the office, leave the room. Anyway, it’s good to get away from your desk throughout the day.

• Use separate desks. Whether you install a long counter with two workspaces or use two desks, keep them away from each other.

• Stay in your own territory. If you and your spouse have different working styles, a neat freak spouse doesn’t want to find stacks of paper on his or her desk. Keep your piles to yourself. If you’re the pack rat spouse and like to work with papers piled everywhere, your picky spouse may drive you nuts when he or she tries to straighten the piles or convince you to toss everything.

• Compromise on the temperature. You may like the office to be as cold as a meat locker, but not everyone likes to wear three sweaters, a hat and gloves to work. Consider using a fan for your side of the room and keep the thermostat at a reasonable temperature.

I’m a firm believer in everyone working together, but not always in the same space.

Do you know how your business looks to the outside world? As your client base grows and your business gets busier, you may start to ignore the basics. Take time to look at your business from an outsider’s point of view.

• Analyze your Web site. Does it reflect the tone and style of your business today?  Your product photos and blog should be up-to-date. You don’t need to blog every day but a few times a week is ideal. If you want honest feedback about your site, ask for it. Six months ago I sent a short survey to friends, acquaintances and clients to get their input and insight. Their feedback helped me make a few changes to improve my site.

• Read a few of your outgoing messages. If you were supposed to attach a document, did you? Are there typos? Spell check will catch misspelled words but it can’t tell you automatically whether you’re using the right version of a word.

• Listen to your voice mail message. Can you hear your kids or spouse in the background? Make sure that your voice is clear and easy to understand.  Don’t forget to ask the caller to leave a detailed message that includes their phone number and the best time to return their call.

• Check to make sure the contact information on your business card is current. Business cards are cheap. Instead of crossing out an old phone number, order new cards. Also, make sure that your card is easy to read. A business card I saw last week had a light background, which made the white type hard to read.

Sometimes the image you have of your business can be a bit distorted. Make sure that what others see is a true reflection.

Here’s the deal: just because we’re working from home doesn’t mean that we’re available to wait for repair calls, UPS deliveries, or to pick up a friend’s kids from school when that friend can’t leave work.  Of course when it’s an emergency, there’s no question whether you should help out. But there’s a point where others can take advantage of you.

One woman in Zaslow’s article who was asked constantly for help from friends and neighbors, turned errand requests into a job.  She works part-time for a new online company called taskrabbit, that matches “senders” (people who need someone to do an errand for them) with “runners” (people who will handle the errand).  Now she’s paid for her time.

The bottom line is that someone who works from home is no different from her corporate counterpart except for having a more flexible schedule, dressing casually (if at all) and being available to handle last-minute emergencies.  She also has the freedom to say no to requests for favors when she’s doing what the person asking for the favor is doing, which is working.

Later that day, I called a mutual friend and she told me that six months ago my friend started his own business and was doing well over six figures. As I clicked off the call, I realized that I did to him what others have done to me for years. I’d assumed that because he was running an errand in the middle of the day and was casually dressed, he wasn’t working.

It’s no wonder that others have trouble taking us seriously when we work from home. Consider why:

• You can go to your child’s events during school or anytime in the summer.
• If you want to take the day off to spend with your family, you can.
• You can sleep late and work through the night because you don’t have to wake up early to get to work.
• You can schedule repair calls or deliveries anytime during the day.

Those of us who work from home “get it.” We have flexibility that our corporate counterparts don’t have and at times, don’t understand. There are a few things you can do to help others realize that even though you have a home office, you’re still working.

• Set guidelines and boundaries with your family and friends. They need to understand that you can’t take personal calls all day or at times you need to work uninterrupted. It’s a balancing act that can be challenging.

• Learn to say no when friends or family ask you to wait for the repair person or a UPS delivery. They need to know that although you’re working from home, you’re still working.

• Treat your business as a business, not a hobby. That means that you don’t work for free. Your time is worth something to your clients. It should be worth the same (or more) to your friends and family.

• Use one e-mail address for personal use and another for business. The goal is to keep your business e-mail address clear for clients and important messages while your personal address is for annoying joke e-mails that your friends can’t resist sending.

• Set up two Twitter accounts: one for business and one for personal use. Your personal tweets can include cryptic messages to friends and the latest update of where you are, while your business tweets should be professional and helpful to others who can use your services.

The bottom line is that you can’t get everyone to take you seriously but then again, who cares? You have the freedom that others only dream about during their daily commute to work. Eventually they’ll come around — probably when they’re working from home too.

Between the orange walls (Benjamin Moore Soft Glow) and paw prints climbing up the walls and across the ceiling, this isn’t your typical home office.  But don’t be fooled by the whimsical look of this space.  If you look closely, you’ll find plenty of organizing systems in place (yes, I tend to look at that first).

Dwight’s desk holds a laptop and two monitors, while his printer is off to the side and in the corner (the best place to put a printer because it’s out of the way but still accessible). His open hutch has room for a hanging file rack, books and personal photos. These items are within reach but aren’t cluttering his desk.  The two-drawer file cabinet gives him additional storage space on top.

There’s even room in his home office for a “junior” work area complete with a small desk and a laptop for his kids to use. A tiger rug and tiger-striped draperies finish off the zoo-themed look.

Who needs a traditional home office when you can bring out your wild side and run a business from home?

For some people, fear is a motivator.  For others it’s the first step to feeling discouraged. While being motivated is a good thing, being paralyzed with fear and weighted with worry can dampen your spirits and possibly keep you from growing your business.

You can’t get rid of all of your fears but there are a few ways to tame them.

• Don’t quit your day job. Lately I’ve been reading about business owners I thought were doing well but it turns out that they work full time during the day and work on their business at night. When they make enough money, they’re going to quit their job and focus on their business full time.

• Go for the low-hanging fruit. If you left a corporate job to work from home, turn to your old employer as your first client. The company won’t have to train you, pay your health insurance and give you two weeks off each year. If you left your last job on bad terms, skip to the next tip.

• Use skills not related to your business to make money. If you’re handy with a hammer, have an eye for design, or can landscape like nobody’s business, get to work. There’s nothing wrong with taking odd jobs to supplement your income or in some cases to serve as income until your business takes off.

Not long after that, my clients asked for a book about keeping their home office in shape and their homebased business on track. After I did some research and found out that a home office book that would help my clients didn’t exist, I listened to my clients.

I wrote a book outline and then contacted a literary agent who had a home office, and she agreed to represent my book.  (This is a simplified version of events, but you get the idea.) She sold the book within three weeks and four books later I credit my clients for directing my business.

If I hadn’t listened to my clients, I wouldn’t have changed my business focus as soon as I did. Also, I wouldn’t have a series of books under my belt and a blog that gives me the opportunity to share home office advice and tips for working from home.

Are you listening to your clients?

Don't forget about safety when you work naked.

If you have kids, you probably remember the baby-proofing stage when you had to install cabinet latches, toilet locks and baby gates. I realized it was time to remove the locks when my younger son showed his babysitter how to use them.

Taking the time to make your house safe for your kids is important, but who’s keeping your office safe for you? All it takes is one fall to break a leg and you’re out of commission for weeks. (Although you can milk it and get your family to do tasks and errands for you that normally they wouldn’t.) Either way, an injury is still inconvenient. There are a few steps you can take to safety-proof your home office.

• Avoid accidental falls by securing loose cables and turning overflowing stacks of papers and magazines into organized files or next week’s recycling. I used to put things on the floor “for now” and would forget I did that until I tripped over whatever it was I should have moved earlier. Graceful is not my middle name!

• Set up your office so you can reach the equipment and supplies you use often and avoid straining your back. You may not notice the effects of regular up, down and twisting motions until you feel a sharp pain shooting up your spine or down your neck.

• Avoid neck, back and even wrist injury by using a chair that supports your back while absorbing and distributing your weight. In other words, don’t use your kitchen chair or dining room table chair in place of an ergonomically correct chair. By using an ergonomic wrist rest, mouse, and adjustable and articulating keyboard, you can reduce the likelihood of developing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome or causing damage to your wrist.

• Sharp pains or a throbbing in your neck are a sure sign that your monitor is either too low or too high (usually it’s too high). There are various monitor risers that can put your monitor at the right height to help you reduce neck strain.

• Make sure your home office has a smoke detector and a fire extinguisher that you know how to use. The time to figure out how to use your fire extinguisher is before, not during a fire.

I just finished reading Susan Wilson Solovic’s book, The Girls’ Guide to Building a Million-Dollar Business, and it was the fire under my tush that I needed during a long week of feeling burned out.  Some of my favorite morsels of motivation from her book include:

• There’s really no such thing as an overnight success. It takes time, and undoubtedly there will be a lot of No’s along the way. “No” is never the end of the story in the business world. “No” is merely an obstacle in the road to maneuver around.

• If you have a desire, a passion, to really build something—to create an entity that is bigger than you by yourself—then, embrace your dreams. Don’t ignore them.

• Don’t let life’s disappointments and hurts prevent you from going after your dreams and living your life to the fullest. Never, never, never give up. Every day take action to make it happen.

This computer cabinet from Hooker Furniture includes a drop-down desk, file drawer and pullout keyboard and printer shelves.

A computer cabinet, armoire or an “office-in-a-box” — they’re all the same thing — offer more storage shelves and file drawers than before. Between white boards, drawers and extra storage bins in the door, armoires are filled with function.  As with anything, including furniture, there are always advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:
•Compact and ideal for when space is limited
•You can close the doors at the end of the day
•All of your equipment fits inside
•Some have drop-down desks and file cabinets that roll inside
•It can blend in with the rest of your home

Disadvantages:
•Not all cabinets have legroom
•There’s not always enough space to spread out papers
•There’s limited filing space so you’ll need a cabinet nearby

Something to think about: If you decide to buy a computer cabinet or any other home office furniture, plan ahead and measure your space. One of my client’s enthusiasm for a new computer cabinet was squelched when she realized on delivery day that the cabinet she bought couldn’t make the turn at the top of the stairs.