Home Office Know-How
It would be a rare worker, when given a moment of contemplation from his or her cubicle in a corporate business tower, who didn’t fantasize about chucking the trappings of the corporate world and joining the 32 million workers now working from home. Think about it: at your desk at the crack of dawn in your creatively decorated home office dressed in pajamas, or pushing into the wee hours in your sweats with your favorite music on to finish that project. In his first book, Home Office Know-How, Jeffery D. Zbar, a work-at-home freelance writer from Fort Lauderdale, Fla., seeks to advise you on “the 1990’s version of the American Dream.”
Zbar does take into account that you are still at that cubicle in the corporate office. Written for the time-crunched, his book is formatted in a bulleted-list style under such headings as “Taking the Plunge,” “Kids and Family,” “Money,” “Functional Efficiency,” “Connecting” and “Zen and the Home Office.” A few of the subheads under “Taking the Plunge” include: “Get Psyched,” “Choose Wisely,” “Look Sharp,” and “Save Something for Uncle Sam.” Under each of his subheads, Zbar provides a succinct paragraph or two summarizing key points. “Looking Sharp” advises creating attractive stationery, particularly business and Rolodex cards, and spreading them freely. A rather unique feature at the end of some chapters is a resources list, which documents useful Internet sites germane to that chapter.
This book is perfect reading for those who are still in that feet-on-the-desk, daydreaming-about-it phase of self-employment. It can be browsed quickly; it touches on all of the common issues, as well as some uncommon ones, faced by anyone making the transition to working at home. But when you’ve actually handed in your resignation and cleared out your junk room, you may want to make use of Zbar’s resource list. Other, albeit more time-consuming, sites and books treat these topics in more depth.
Reviewed by
Vicki Gervickas
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
