If you work from home, you undoubtedly appreciate the numerous benefits associated with telecommuting, including:

• increased productivity
• healthier work-life balance
• increased job satisfaction
• reduction in commute time
• flexible work hours
• decreased operating costs
• reduced energy consumption

Teleworkers have decreased our nationwide gasoline consumption and carbon dioxide emission levels significantly. By including telecommuting in your work-life balance, you contribute to our planet’s health. Of course, telecommuters must also consider the challenges that working offsite entails: data security, access, and the possibility of increased work hours. How can you avoid being a victim of these perils? I offer these solutions for achieving a healthy, gratifying, and productive work-life balance:

Easy Access
Tools should make our work simpler.  Working from home becomes exponentially more beneficial—to you and to your employer—with wireless connections and cloud computing. Anywhere, anytime access enables a seamless, integrated work experience that promotes the fluid creation of thought and facilitates quick communication with coworkers. With the addition of virtual meetings—specifically video conferencing technologies—communications are transformed from simple text-based messages to interpersonal two-way dialogues. Using advanced technology, iMeet unites remote team members, erasing geographic boundaries and creating tangible relationships through personal connections and social media networking tools.

Data security
Wireless and cloud computing technologies provide teleworkers invaluable access and flexibility. Be advised that these technologies can pose certain security risks when not used judiciously. Employees who use home computers are often not properly protected from malicious spyware, malware, or viruses. To effectively reduce potential data leaks, employers should consider supplying teleworkers with laptops, smartphones, and secure cloud software technologies.

Working longer hours
Reports vary, but most experts agree that telecommuters demonstrate increased productivity and job satisfaction. Employees who work from home often admit that they work longer hours simply because they want to; at home they feel more at ease and are inclined to work at hours that correspond to their creative impulses; however, other factors are at work. Distractions characterize the average office workday. Most of these cannot be politely dismissed, given office dynamics. When working from home, the dynamic changes. You are in your own element, and most telecommuters have an identified workspace that distinguishes work from play. This raises a crucial point for those of us who telecommute: the code of ethics that employees are expected to honor at the office also apply to those who work from home. Whether at the office or at home, we must maintain the productivity, quality, and timeliness expected of us.

When you work in a traditional office environment, your intellectual as well as hourly contributions are easily recognized by teammates and supervisors. But when you’re working offsite—without face-to-face interactions—how can you ensure that your intellectual contributions will be recognized by your peers and bosses? While telecommuting, I engage clients, vendors, and coworkers with iMeet, which allows real-time video interactions, giving me a visual presence and a sense of connectedness with my contacts.

Always remember that a necessary boundary separates your work- and home-life. Avoid your home computer for an hour or so when you get home and embrace other priorities: your family, your friends, or your solitude. I have found that a transition from one world to the other is necessary to a healthy and gratifying work-life balance. Work out, play with the kids, take a walk—focus on something you enjoy. It’s all too easy to forget the importance of ritual; however, most of us are creatures of habit. Because we consciously compartmentalize our lives and assimilate concepts, the terms “work” and “home” will eventually coalesce.

Telecommuting is here to stay. Corporations are recognizing the advantages of a virtual workforce, and technology now provides the means. An ever-increasing percentage of America’s workforce now works a portion of each week from home, reducing corporate overhead, increasing employee morale and productivity, and reducing harmful carbon emissions. To those of you who are considering telecommuting, please do.