It's interesting.

Utter the word 'homework' to most people under the age of

seventeen. You will induce sneers, curled lips and muttered,

colourful language. Sighs will escape and heads will shake.

Eyes will roll and shoulders will sag. A dejected, beaten

creature will slink away from you to escape the horrors that

you've rudely evoked.

But then … school's out. The choice between work and

hunger looms.

Presumably work is the lesser of the two evils and the

routine begins. The alarm blasts you into the next room

before it seems even legal to be awake. You pick yourself up

and open your eyes. You stumble into furniture, computers

and the seventeen books that you've almost finished reading.

You stub your big toe on something and recall with affection

some of the colourful mutterings of your high school days.

You flick on the light.

After you have risen from your knees a second time, you

uncover your face and blink like a newborn baby until the

room begins to look familiar. By the time you are dressed

and have had your first coffee, the radio announcer is

wishing you a happy Monday.

Only five more days until the weekend, you think. I wish

I could work from home!

Homework!

It means something much different now. Working from home

sounds wonderful.

• It is.You don't get sacked if you're twenty minutes

  late sixteen days in a row.
  

   

• You don't need permission to have next Thursday off

  to watch your youngest perform as a watermelon in the

  school play.
  

   

• You can eat jam doughnuts at your desk.
  

   

• You can play solitaire on your computer any time you

  like without worrying about the boss breathing in your

  ear. "Put your ace up and then get me a coffee.
  

   

• You can wear your pyjamas and rainbow toe socks to

  work.
  

   

• If you decide not to wear your pyjamas to work

  because someone is coming to fix the fridge, you can

  wear the same outfit two, three, seven days in a row

  (although it helps to change occasionally as the odour

  can be distracting).

Working from home is all of these things and more.

Homework is the freedom to make choices.

BUT … with this freedom comes responsibility. If

you have decided that eating jam doughnuts and working in

your pyjamas is for you, there are a few things to keep in

mind.

• You get paid when you work. Full stop. No holiday pay,

  sick days, personal days. Sure, take as many days off as you

  like, just don't expect to be paid for them.
  

   

• It is up to you to market yourself. Paying work will not

  be placed in a neat pile in front of you. You have to find

  it. Sometimes this can be the hardest part of a home

  business.
  

   

• Yes, you can choose the hours you want to work. You can

  work from midnight until 9:00 am if you choose, but I think

  you will find that when you work from home, at least in the

  beginning, you will be working longer shifts than nine to

  five.
  

   

• It is impossible to leave your work and go home. You are

  home.
  

   

• You must be careful to keep track of your own payments

  and any business-related costs. No one will accept your

  dockets for stationery supplies and reimburse you. Get an

  accountant.
  

   

• If you live with a family or roommates, distractions will

  inevitably occur. Cows escape, dogs chew on shoes and kids

  get sick. The phone rings…a lot.
  

   

• The temptation to procrastinate lurks in every dusty,

  spider-infested corner. If you are working from home, you

  are on-site. The domestic issues tend to be left up to you.

  Without the strength to focus, cleaning, feeding, driving

  children and mowing the lawn can drag you away from your

  young business until it is gasping for breath and begging

  for sustenance.

I work from home. I am an author, copyeditor,

proofreader, teacher, mother, wife, farmer, cook,

taxi-driver and cleaner. I am much better at some of these

things than others.

In a series of articles, I would like to tell you how I

came to love 'doing homework' and how you can too. I will

provide tips on multi-tasking, time management, networking,

marketing your skills, writing quotes, finding work,

charging up your CV and meeting deadlines. Generally, I will

write about how you can make the most of your talents from

writing to proofreading.

Homework's not a dirty word anymore. It's still hard

work, but with dedication, patience and the right attitude

you can earn the freedom to make your own choices.

Your life will be your own.

©

copyright Ann Harth 2005. Comments and suggestions for specific topics pertaining

to writing, editing or working from home are welcome. Please

contact me at

annharth@writing4success.com

Ann Harth is a

freelance manuscript assessor, copyeditor, proofreader and

ghostwriter as well as a published author. She writes in all

genres of children's fiction from picture books to young

adult novels as well as adult fiction and non-fiction. She

has successfully completed several text-editing projects for

university students and authors, and is the assistant

fiction editor of www.moondance.com, a  literary on-line magazine. She is

also on the creative writing staff of

www.storydog.com, a website for children.

More information on the freelance services that Ann Harth

offers can be found on her website at

www.annharth.com.