Great tech for a 10-second commute

Paul Hochman TODAY gear and technology editor

Last week, when we featured some back-to-school ideas for the fast-approaching school year, some of my pals e-mailed me with ironic complaints: Everything in their world is speeding up, they said — lightning-fast gadgets, 800-horsepower hybrid cars, cable TV delivered at the speed of light across fibers of glass. And now, even the calendar: “We’re supposed to get ready for ‘back to school’ one month after our kids have gotten out of school?” wrote one of my closest buddies. “What’s next? Speed dating?” Um, well, yes. But more on that in a later column.

Back to business: There’s one aspect of our modern world that could really benefit from a little acceleration — our daily commute. Many of us hate it. It causes stress and, now that we’re in an energy crunch, costs a lot. There are 220 million of us averaging 1.5 hours in our cars, every day. Couldn’t it go faster?

Relief is in sight. There’s a major new trend afoot (pun intended) that could reduce your commute time to seconds and cut your stress to near zero: It’s called a home office. And if trends hold, it will be the first building boom that helps us climb out of our current housing crisis.

There are a few reasons that more than 30 million Americans work at least part time from home and, according to the American Home Furnishings Alliance, that more than 200 million Americans have offices or dedicated work places in their home, up 100 percent from 2000: high gas prices, new, more attractive technology and … gardening sheds. More on the sheds in a moment.

First, here are a few tips on how to set up your own home office, followed by some recommendations on brands and techniques that could save you money and help you shrink your commute to a few yards.

Setting up your home office

1. Make sure it looks good. If your office is attractive, it can help you want to go to work. Companies like IKEA not only sell well-designed, inexpensive office furniture, they also offer free layout and design services.
   
   
2. Your technology is part of your furniture. It should be attractive, too. Think of your computer monitor, printer and other gadgets as design features, not tools. Many manufacturers are starting to pay attention and are creating good-looking tech (see below).
   
   
3. Go away. Completely. Even if your home office is in your house and you don’t have an extra room, create a separate space. Give yourself visual cues that show everybody (including you) that it’s a separate, defined, work space. Inexpensive rice-paper walls work. So do hanging beads. If you delineate the space properly, you’ll be able to deduct the expense of your office (including part of your rent) from your taxes. Check with an accountant for the formula.
   
   
4. Video conference technology is getting very inexpensive. Video cameras are now part of many laptop setups. Make sure you get one, so you can “be there” without going there.

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