Cosmo, an English bull terrier, relaxes in Denise Van Sickel's home office while she works on the computer. Van Sickel runs a pet-sitting business out of her home.

Denise Van Sickel walks her dog, Cosmo. Van Sickel spends time outside her home office in part through networking efforts.

Stay-at-home workers have a simple way to stay sane while working at home: Don’t do all the work at home.

“I have to get out at some point during the day,” says Robin Ward, who’s been handling freelance design projects out of her western Lawrence residence since coming to town in 2000. “I feel like I do get a lot more done, here, working by myself. But I’m kind of a social person and probably would talk a lot if I were still in an office. So I have to get out.

“If it means just going to the post office, at least I get to stand in line forever and talk to people. That can be the highlight of my day.”

While working at home isn’t for everyone, many find it offers a perfect combination of opportunities for flexible scheduling, timely parenting and call-your-own-shots working.

Here are some tips for staying sane while working at home:

¢ Denise Van Sickel, founder and owner of Lawrence Pet Friends, suggests joining a networking group such as the Douglas County Connection, which puts her in regular contact with about 30 people also intent on building their businesses and expanding their clienteles.

“They became my peers,” Van Sickel says. “I viewed them as my coworkers.”

¢ Bobbie Flory, executive director of the Lawrence Home Builders Association, says out-of-the-office contacts are a foundation for building a successful home-based occupation.

Join advisory boards. Participate in committees. Attend community events, set up meetings and otherwise make time to see real people.

“I interact with people enough that I don’t have the sense of being isolated,” says Flory, whose farm house is just south of Lone Star Lake. “We’re a membership organization, so I don’t feel particularly isolated because of my home office. I meet with people all the time.”

¢ Ward, owner of The Write Design, suggests partnering with others who can make your own work better.

A lunch with other freelance designers led to one of her own work partnerships: Another designer came up with logos for a new hotel project, while Ward is concentrating on making the logos work on everything from signs to stationery.