The Corona virus outbreak got me thinking about the pros and cons of working from home. I am not in any way dismissing the huge and tragic effects of the virus, or the impact a lockdown would have on people, schools and businesses. These are just my thoughts on an issue that is ideal for some people, but not for others.

I, like my colleagues, muddled through long and difficult days using short-term, ad-hoc systems to ensure the various newspapers hit the presses on time and websites were up to date.

It was not sustainable, and even during my daily 60-90-minute morning rush-hour crawl along 10 miles of motorway, I never thought I would be better off working from home.

Having spent long days in the office, I wanted to come home and unwind. The last thing I wanted was to associate home with work.

When I set up my own business last year, the priority was to bring in enough money to pay the bills and keep the costs right down.

I was not in a position to rent an office or even a room in an office, so I got myself ready to work from home.

Computer and phone were already there - I just needed to set up an area dedicated to work.

I am disciplined anyway and with by journalistic background, working to deadlines was never going to be a problem.

But I couldn’t take a chance of my business failing because I wasn’t fully committed to the it and my clients.

I set my office hours and keep to them. It’s as important to switch off at the end of the day, as it is to be focused during working hours.

I wear a suit whenever I am working, even if I am not meeting clients. Whenever I leave the house, I am representing my business and I never know when the phone will ring and someone asks me to meet them in 15 minutes - hardly time to shower and change out of your tracksuit.

One of the major benefits of working from home is that I can be more flexible with my day. I’m not getting in at 7.30pm, seeing my family, having something to eat, then thinking about doing the supermarket shop. I can put on the washing, or pick up the odd thing from the shop, but, ultimately, it is a working day and the business comes first. 

A friend of mine who set up on his own after a senior role with an iconic British firm used to enjoy sharing tales of how he would wear his pyjamas all day, and how he secured a major client in the US while still in his dressing gown.

But he eventually found that what had been a couple of minutes to deal with the laundry became half-an-hour; the quick trip to the shops became an hour; being able to go to school plays became half a day, and so on.

Soon, his work ethic also slipped and clients threatened to leave unless things quickly improved. Now, he shaves, showers and puts on his work suit every day, does a full shift, and is earning more money than ever. I don’t begrudge him that one bit, especially as I still here his warning ringing in my ears.

Working from home was something I had never considered before but, if you are disciplined and professional, and it suits your business, there is no reason it cannot work for you.