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"  &amp;quot;I want to telecommute a few days a month. How can I bring this up with my boss?&amp;quot; First, bosses hate surprises, so make an appointment in advance and tell her you have an idea you&amp;#039;d like to discuss. Next, do your homework. Look for a precedent of someone else at your firm telecommuting. Are they full- or part-time, and what&amp;#039;s their job description? If you can&amp;#039;t find an example within your company, find one outside -- one in four workers today telecommute.   You should also know that your boss might harbor some negative stereotypes about telecommuters -- such as that telecommuters are lazy and get away with doing less work -- which you&amp;#039;ll need to address. If you&amp;#039;re often on your cell phone or laptop after hours or work some nights and weekends, you can point out that you&amp;#039;re already telecommuting part-time. Volunteer answers to the questions she may be reluctant to ask, like where your kids will be during the day or who&amp;#039;ll provide care for your dependent parents while you&amp;#039;re working. Bring a picture of your home office to show her, and if your pitch needs a sweetener, offer a trade-off like putting in a few extra work hours in lieu of what would have been your commuting time.   Finally, walk in with a list of ways it benefits your company to have you work off-site. They&amp;#039;ll save on office space and other day-to-day expenses (Merrill Lynch estimates it saves $6,000 per telecommuting employee each year), and more importantly, gain an exceedingly satisfied and productive worker.   Barbara Corcoran started a small New York City real estate office that grew into The Corcoran Group, a $5 billion business. She&amp;#039;s also the coauthor of the best-selling book If You Don&amp;#039;t Have Big Breasts, Put Ribbons on Your Pigtails and the real estate contributor to NBC&amp;#039;s Today. Her new book, Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life, will be released in April.   Have a question for Barbara? Email her at worklife@redbookmag.com. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.redbookmag.com/life/money-career/advice/a2563/free-career-advice/>