1. There’s no commute
2. You’re not stuck in a cubicle
3. Technology lets you keep up with your corporate counterparts
4. You save money on rent
5. You have the freedom to have a life
6. Your clothing and dry cleaning bills drop significantly
7. There’s no boss looming over your shoulder
8. You can wear whatever you want or better yet, nothing at all.  A non-scratchy chair is key to working naked comfortably!

What’s keeping you from stripping yourself of the corporate workplace?

Mistakes are part of any business.

In several of my posts I’ve written about how those of us working naked want to do everything ourselves. Of course we can’t and at some point we have to hire others to help us.

Whether you hire freelancers or employees, their qualifications matter but their work ethic matters even more. The article, “The nightmare employee,” was a harsh reminder of what can happen if you don’t carefully screen those who work for you. It sent a chill up my spine.

Make no mistake
No one wants to make mistakes in business—I’ve shared a few on this blog— but they’re part of the hazing process of working from home. In the article, “101 Small Business Mistakes (and What You Can Learn From Them),” you may recognize a few mistakes you’ve made (I know I did) and others you probably don’t want to make. The article includes insight from business owners around the country and links to their sites. I discovered a few new sites I’ll be checking out often.

You can work anywhere when you're working naked.

I love my home office. It’s comfortable, stylish, and of course, functional. Normally I enjoy sitting down at my large, L-shape desk—some people enjoy jewelry but office furniture really does it for me—but last week everything changed. I was burned out, sick of my home office and desperately in need of a change of scenery.

So throughout the week—thanks to my wireless Internet connection—I worked on my front porch, in my family room, and at my dining room table. Most of my work didn’t involve paper so it was easy to move from room to room and outside without worrying about losing anything.

This goes against the advice I’ve given for years: work in one place to make it easier to keep track of paper and other information. But after spending a week away from my home office and realizing it wasn’t affecting my productivity, I’ve changed my mind. There’s nothing wrong with working naked somewhere other than in your home office every now and then.

This week I’m back to working in my home office but I may shake things up later on in the week and ditch my desk for my deck.

Never a dull moment when you’re working naked.

This company took working naked to a whole new level (Telegraph.co.uk).

According to the Telegraph.co.uk, Taylor convinced the staff of a design and marketing firm in the UK to hold “Naked Friday” to “strip away inhibitions and talk to each other more openly and honestly.” The entire company worked completely naked except for two female workers who kept on their black underwear and a man who wore a “posing pouch.” (Check it out on Google.)

This poses a few questions.

• Is a leather chair more comfortable than a fabric one?

• Do you avoid bringing in a hot lunch for fear of singeing important bits while microwaving?

• How do you avoid laughing uncontrollably when the way you imagined someone naked is completely wrong?

Gives Casual Friday a whole new meaning.

Do you know when to quit and move on?

We home office professionals are a different breed from our corporate counterparts. Mostly it’s because we get to spend each day doing what we love. I’ve met several people working naked who said that if they weren’t paid to run their company, they wouldn’t mind. Of course their mortgage company, utility companies and their families would mind. The point is that they enjoy what they do.

Some folks working naked say that they’ve made a pact with themselves. They’ve promised that when they stop enjoying what they’re doing and their business turns into a dark cloud over their head, they’ll quit and do something else. It wasn’t easy for me to quit one business and start another, but looking back, I’d do the same thing again.

If someone doesn’t want to give up their business completely, they can phase out a division of their company, or discontinue a product or service that no one wants anymore. Sometimes offering a product or service isn’t worth the frustration it causes.

I’m proud of being a quitter. How else could I spend my days doing what I love?

Add furniture, technology, and a rug and you're ready to go.

• Make sure you have enough electricity. A licensed electrician can install extra outlets.

• You’ll need Internet access. If your house has wireless access, you’ll be fine.

• Add a business phone line or use your cell phone. Unless someone in your family is involved with your business, make sure you’re the only one who answers your phone when clients call.

• Install adequate heating and air conditioning. A simple solution is to run off your existing system if it has enough capacity. Check with a local heating/air conditioning contractor if you’re not sure. Another option is to install a common form of HVAC called ptac (packaged terminal air conditioners) that you see in hotels and small areas. A window unit is a last resort but it’s noisy and not very attractive.

• Make sure there is enough lighting. You can always supplement ceiling lights with floor and desk lamps.

• Install carpeting, use area rugs or paint the floor. Even if you paint the floor, you’ll still need something on the floor to absorb sound. An area rug or (if looks don’t matter) carpet you have left over from an inside job would work.

• If you have separate garage doors and you’re only going to use half of the garage, disable the side with your office so papers don’t fly everywhere. You may even consider adding a three-foot door to go in and out of your garage without having to open the overhead doors.

• Of course you can always do a major remodeling project, replace your garage doors with large windows and do away with your garage completely. But keep resale in mind. Down the road will someone be interested in buying your home if there’s no garage?

Working from home should be pleasurable, not painful.

• Use a desk or a computer workstation that is ergonomically correct. Look for a non-reflective work surface (if you have a glass desktop, add a desk pad to cut down on glare) and a pullout keyboard tray. An articulating keyboard tray makes it easy to adjust your keyboard to the right height.

• Use an ergonomically correct office chair that has:1) lumbar support to reduce the strain on your lower back
  2) a waterfall seat (The front edge of the seat is rounded to prevent restricted circulation and compression of nerves behind your knees.)
  3) seat height and back height adjustments
  4) tilt mechanisms and tilt lock to reduce strain and fatigue of your leg muscles
  5) tension control that adjusts to your body weight for easier reclining. (Steelcase chairs are reasonably priced and usually fit the decor of any home office.)

• Keep frequently-used equipment and supplies within reach to avoid back strain. Rather than play a game of Twister to grab what you need, store items logically and within reach.

• Minimize eyestrain and fatigue by selecting one or several lighting options. Your options include ambient or general lighting, natural lighting, fluorescent lighting, and task lighting. You can use one or a combination of these lighting sources to achieve the right amount of light.

• Reduce the risk of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome by using an ergonomic wrist rest, mouse, and adjustable and articulating keyboard. Wrist and mouse rests (Fellowes is one of my favorite brands) are made from foam-like and gel materials, and are available in interesting colors and patterns. Remember to take breaks throughout the day to give your wrist (and your entire body) a break from being in the same position for a long period of time.