The Chief Home Officer has a great post today called Taste of Reality: Stiflin’ the Home Office Ruckus.

Jeff points out a very important consideration we as Home Officer Warriors should take to heart.

Transparency in the SOHO vernacular is not about being vain and shallow. It’s about presenting a more sanitized and acceptable front by masking the sounds that make the home office distinctly home. For example, if you had release instructions on file with FedEx, UPS, Airborne and DHL, they wouldn’t knock or ring the bell persistently to get your attention; they would drop the parcel and move on. Ask the postman to not knock at all, or at least quietly drop mail in the box or gently close the lid – especially if the box is attached to the house.

Have a plan on how to deal with the possible interruptions we may face working from home. I tell clients that want to drop items off at the house, that I most likely will not be available to visit. This is a policy of mine. And why should our clients or customers think just because we work at home, we are available to visit whenever they want? We are running a business, and we should position ourselves that way.

But there is more to this transparency the Chief Home Officer is talking about.

[T]ransparency goes beyond what you can do to reclaim your space. It includes fostering the respect of others. Married with children? Get the spouse to help coordinate the family’s whereabouts to ensure they’re scarce if you have a big conference call scheduled. Keep the desk stocked with a few bribes – crayons, new Matchbox cars, a buck or two – so little once can be enticed to scatter if you can’t be bothered. Hire a adolescent “Mother’s Helper” to watch the kids after school and keep their focus off you.

I am lucky in this respect. My youngest is 14, almost 15. So I don’t have young children under my feet while I am trying to work. But, he does come to the office everyday after he gets home from school. Not something him and I planned, just something HE started this, his first year of high school. But, he knows if I am on the phone, he will wait a bit to visit.

My point and I know Jeff’s point is that we have to have rules. Everyone needs to remember we are running a business out of the home office and not on a 24/7/365 day vacation.