Unlike 9 to 5 ‘ers, the work at home professional’s productivity is results based. Back in cubicle-land, you were expected to hang out from 8 am to 5 or 6 pm — no matter how you felt or what you accomplished. The measure was how many hours you put in. Not necessarily how effective you were.

For work at home professionals, the nature of our “workplace” can be . . . well, a barrier. Traditional work relationships are based on manning a desk or cubicle in an office. Colleagues pool resources to produce, sell and maintain a product or service. When you work at home or on the go, “out of sight, out of mind” can easily prevail. Whether you are a home-based entrepreneur or a telecommuter, you don’t want to be forgotten by clients or colleagues.

The It’s a Smart Decision! Online Community is expressly for geographically dispersed teams, telecommuters, work at home entreprenuers — or soloprenuers, as I call them — and other “virtuals” who want to share all the ways you find balance and stave off insanity in your home office. It’s just getting started, but you can bet people like you will make it well worth the two minutes it might take you to sign up.