I’ve been fortunate enough to be a full-time teleworker for more than two years now. It has been huge plus, particularly now with two small children. Before I started working from home, our then infant/toddler son was prone to ear infections (and an assorted other rubric of common childhood ailments), and there would be a frequent debate between myself and my wife on who had the ‘easier’ task of getting from the city to our suburban town where my son’s daycare is to pick up the lil’ fighter. Being home during the work week changes everything. So for those who may find themselves in a teleworking position in the future, I submit these five suggestions:

1) If you drink coffee, buy a Keurig. Got a rough 3 hour conference call coming up? Boom! Instant hot coffee action. Sure, the sealed-by-nitrogen-gas cups have a bit of an aftertaste, but it sure beats slumping over and drooling on the phone handset.

2) Be prepared to make quick, short meals, if you plan to eat at home. If your food requires leaving your oven or stove on while you’re continuing to work, make sure that your smoke detector isn’t your first-line warning of readiness. Nothing says “awesomely productive day” like having to tend to a kitchen fire…

3) It’s perfectly acceptable to work at home wearing pajamas… unless you’re doing training via video conference.

4) If possible, work in a room with windows. I used to work in a windowless office, and would sometimes close the door. I’d emerge several hours into the workday, look up and down the hallway, and double-check my surroundings to make sure I hadn’t missed anything apocalyptic while hidden away from the rest of society. This does not apply if your line of work involves the wearing of corpse paint.

5) For those days when you’re on the phone with your office’s tech-support department because your lifeline, the VPN is down, make sure a hefty tome is handy. I recommend this 1400 page book on the history of New York City. And if by some chance you can’t take the phone into the bathroom and you simply cannot disconnect from your support call, one of these is handy too.