Hi Derek,
Loved the article! I'm a fellow Chicagoan (former city gal, now in the suburbs) who also works at home. I've been working from home for over five years now (ever since CA bought PLATINUM and I just couldn't work for CA.) I've been both a consultant and an employee for companies based on either coast. Luckily, these companies were primarily "results within reason" organizations, where I would fly in for some face time on occasion and otherwise work from home. The flexibility is paramount to me, as I have two kids, now six and eight, and I love participating in their school and after-school activities.

Here are some things I've noticed about working at home:

1. I have to remember to actually pick up the phone sometimes instead of relying on e-mail. I have ended up in e-mail conversations in which a colleague and I would be trading single-sentence e-mails instead of talking. E-mail definitely is useful, but sometimes talking live is better.
2. It takes more discipline to stop working than to start working. There are many, many times I have thought "I'll just check e-mail real fast" on a weekend or at night, and then two hours later I realize I've gotten into something interesting and work-related and it's time to get back to life!
3. "Part time" can be a misnomer. See #2 above.
4. Weekly conference calls via phone are great for what my boss calls "air traffic control." We keep tabs with others in our groups, hear cool stuff that's going on, and often realize that one colleague's project has an effect on something we're doing. It's water cooler talk in a structured way, without the water cooler, of course.

I believe that if companies can embrace the work-at-home philosophy, at least partially (some days in, some days out), then they will reap real benefits. These companies will be able to hire talented, hardworking parents (mostly moms, but dads too) who also want/need the flexibility to do school activities. The companies may be able to save space, as employees like me provide our own offices, equipment, supplies, phone lines, Internet service, etc. Perhaps most important, they will have employees with a great deal of dedication and loyalty. When you have a good job that also allows for a good life outside of work, you're not likely to go looking elsewhere! And you'll be determined to show good results, because you know that's what counts.

Thanks for the article...and stay away from that breakfast cereal!

P.S. I was thinking about it later too, and realized that there's a very real environmental bonus as well. I haven't had a commute for five years now, and I know people who are in their cars over an hour every day getting to/from work.