Sometimes, a professional life can quite literally be a bumpy ride.

My friend Rachel, fresh out of teaching school, often hides out in her car during her lunch break. She needs a quiet place to prepare for her afternoon classes, and has a hard time finding privacy and relaxation at the busy, urban school where she currently teaches. “I loved hanging out in my car, and it became a sort of mini-office for me,” she says. “I’d play some good classical music, roll down the windows, and just decompress while catching up on work.” It was an idyllic situation until the day Rachel discovered the dark side of mobile offices: “One day, I was parked in the lot, minding my own business, when BAM. I got rear ended and ended up with whiplash. That probably wouldn’t have happened if I had worked in the teacher’s lounge like most people do, right?”

Rachel is a prime example of our generation—a group that is taking the quintessentially American concept of “the open road” to a whole new level: a 2006 study by The Dieringer Research Group found that approximately 21 million people work in their automobiles, and the 2009 Telework Trendlines report documented 37% of telecommuting professionals as calling the car their virtual office of choice. The definition of a “mobile office” is kind of vague; many of us just use the car as a workspace when necessary (i.e., to catch up on calls during our commute, or while we travel from client to client); others are road warriors, sent out on sales calls or cross-country travel by our companies; and some of us are independent contractors with a rather flexible view on what constitutes an office. (When you’re choosing between a crowded Starbucks, your roommate’s cat-hair-covered couch, or a brand new leased Mazda, it’s easy to imagine why the car would be appealing.)

Regardless if your car is your only workspace, or just an ancillary one, doing business on four wheels brings its own set of unique challenges and advantages. I polled a group of young, female professionals who drive their business while, er, driving, to create a user’s manual for the mobile office. Think of this like driver’s ed for the mobile professional, sans the sweaty, creepy teacher (or was that just my high school experience?)

Rule of the Road #1: Pick a car, any car

Becky, a 26-year-old sales rep covering the greater New York City area, drives a Prius. “Having a small car makes sense in an urban environment,” she tells me. “It’s easier to find parking, and I would honestly feel like a weirdo driving around the city in a Hummer or something. And the hybrids are so quiet that it makes for a really conducive sales call environment, which is mostly what I’m using the car for.”

A compact car wasn’t an option for Jess, who runs her wedding planner business out of a 2005 Ford Escape. “There is no way I could do what I do in a smaller car. On any given day, I’m schlepping 20 boxes of party favors or tablecloths or centerpieces in the back, plus using the front passenger seat as a desk. I don’t have an office, per say...I do work from home sometimes, but since I’m always running around, it just makes more sense to have everything I need for the business in my car. Plus, I kind of like keeping my home a stress-free zone, and I can do that by leaving work at work...which unfortunately happens to be my car. I actually find myself walking and taking public transportation on my days off, just to avoid the ‘office’,” she laughs.

Both women suggest assessing your needs before deciding which type of car to purchase or lease. “Figure out if you are using the car for storage and transportation, or if you are planning to actually work in your car. If you’ll be using the laptop and reading through files, you should make sure it’s roomy enough for you to spread out, or you’ll start feeling claustrophobic pretty quickly,” Jess suggests. On the other hand, if you’re an independent contractor, a smaller car with good gas mileage will keep your overhead down.

Rule of the Road #2: Stay legal

There are some practicalities to consider before taking the show on the road. Did you know that using your vehicle for business can affect your car insurance? Make sure to call your insurance provider and let them know that the car is being used for more than just transportation to avoid problems down the line.

Lia, 32, urges road warriors to keep plenty of change in the car and adhere to parking restrictions. “In my first year of running my own business, I think I racked up more in parking ticket penalties than I made in profits. I was always rushing around to meet potential clients and would park illegally, because I was late, or forget to feed the meters because inevitably I’d have no coins on me. Now, I make sure to arrive at any location at least 20 minutes ahead of schedule to make time to find a real parking spot, and rather than throwing change in my wallet or pocket, I keep it in a little container on the dashboard. Live and learn.”

If your work brings you across state lines, be sure to double-check the rules on cell phones and texting wherever you are driving. These laws are constantly in flux (for example, here in Los Angeles, talking on the cell phone was made illegal at least a year prior to banning texting—so you could type on your phone right next to a police car, but if that same phone came up to your ear, game over.)

Rule of the Road #3: Get (in) Gear

Turning a car into an office on wheels takes some effort and forethought. At the most basic level, you’ll need a laptop, hands-free phone device (Bluetooth or headset), and some sort of organizational device for files, paper, pens, etc. But if you want to really pimp your ride, there is a whole new world of products out there for the mobile professional.

A few car companies have recognized the need for connectivity on the go. For example, Ford’s newer fleets (2008 and beyond) are equipped with Sync technology, an in-car communication system that allows you to operate your phone, entertainment and GPS systems with voice commands. A firewall even protects your web browsing, so you can deal with sensitive material from your mobile office without worrying about security.

Sync is a cool system, but it pales in comparison to the crème-de-la-crème of mobile offices: the Brabus “Business Light” Concept for the Mercedes-Benz Viano. A souped-up Mercedes van, it offers power seats that can convert to a “conference configuration”, a fold-down conference table, in-car WiFi, several LCD screens for presentations, a docking notebook computer, and my personal favorite perk, a built-in espresso maker.

Daydreaming aside (unless you have a hefty trust fund, you probably won’t be working out of anything even close to the Brabus Business Light), you can use some of these “fantasy” concepts to turn your own vehicle into a real-world working space. Some of the coolest economical products on the market include:

Copytalk’s Mobile Scribe Service. Ever take an important client call on the road, get off the phone, and realize you don’t remember half of what was said? It’s impossible to take notes while talking and driving (well, not impossible, but for the sake of everyone else on the road I suggest you avoid it), so for those of us without photographic memories, there’s a lifesaving option. For around $80 a month, this service will transpose conversations or dictations from your cell phone into text, which they’ll email to you. Easy, right?

Portable printers. Using your Bluetooth adaptor and a small, portable printer like the HP Portable Deskjet (around $300), you can print documents on the road.

A fancy-schmancy virtual phone solution. Since many mobile workers are also independent contractors or small business owners, it’s important to sound professional even when taking calls from the drive-thru. Kate Lister, renowned telemarketing guru and co-author of Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Working from Home, recommends FreedomVOICE Virtual Office, which provides you with a toll-free 800 number, auto attendant, call forwarding, multiple voicemail extensions and internet faxing. The coolest perk? An automated system gives clients options like “reservations” or “tech support” or what have you, making your tiny company sound bigger and more organized than it actually is. “If you know which category the call is concerning, you can also decide whether to reject it or take it,” adds Lister, who has used the service herself.

A power source. “At any given time, I’m running my laptop, a phone charger, my iPod and a curling iron,” says Lindsay, an executive assistant/actress who often has to primp for auditions at a moment’s notice. “There is no way I could do that with my measly little cigarette lighter outlet thingy.” Lindsey invested in a $40 USB charger that plugs into said “thingy”, and now is able to run her myriad of electronics without incident.

WiFi. If you’re working from your car, you’ve got two choices for Internet access: get to know which coffee shops have free WiFi (and spend a lot on coffee), or get your own mobile WiFi source. For around $100, you can find WiFi adaptors that plug right into your laptop. You’ll be a slave to the Starbucks no more!

Rule of the Road #4: Don’t get a DWD (Driving While Disorganized)

If Margo’s mobile office was an actual cubicle, she’d probably get a chat from human resources. “I have a four-seater, but no one can ride in my car with me, thanks to the mess,” the 28-year-old consultant admits. “I tell people I know where everything is, but the truth is that I often have to put clients on hold while I pull over and dig through papers in the back seat, trying to find the right documents. Once I got industrious and made nice piles of everything, but then 30 minutes later, I had to stop short, and everything went flying. It’s just not worth it to organize.”

I’m certainly not one to talk (my car is a veritable landmine of books, Powerbar wrappers and tiny scraps of paper), but Margo might want to reconsider her messy ways. The cardinal rule for working out of your car is organization—not just for your own sanity, but for safety, as well. Keep in mind that if you’re in an accident, everything in the back seat could come pitching forward, making your scattered stuff a projectile missile of sorts. And that’s not even factoring in the safety hazard of frantically searching for something in your pile of crud while speeding down the highway at 70 mph.

34-year-old Jennifer, a forensic accountant, is always on the road. “I drive to clients and have to work on the case as I’m traveling. I also work on other cases at the same. It’s rough going.” A type A personality, Jennifer finds the inherent disorganization in this type of work environment a struggle. “You just can’t be totally organized. You get grease on important papers because you’re trying to read, eat and find that darn paper you know was just there a minute ago. The only thing that gets me through it is multi-colored folders. Red for papers that needed or had original signatures, and other colors for various other tasks. All the folders are stored in a Pendaflex so they are contained.”

A simple filing system is a great start, but for the ultimate in mobile office organization, consider a laptop workstation like the AutoExec FileMaster, which offers three solutions in one: storage for paperwork, a safe place to keep your laptop, and a workstation.

Rule of the Road #5: The road to wellness

If you think sitting in a normal office all day can wreak havoc on your health, try being scrunched up in a car. Between the ergonomic disaster of making the backseat your desk, the perils of eating on the go, and the absence of stairs or hallways that permit time for stretching and short bursts of exercise, working on the road can be hazardous to your well-being (not to mention your waistline).

It’s tough to completely counteract the effects of spending 8 hours a day in a cramped space, but you can avoid making the situation worse. Resist the siren song of the drive-thru by packing your own lunch and plenty of healthy snacks. “If I know I have a long day of car travel ahead of me, I bring a cooler with drinks, fruit and sandwiches,” says Heather, who works in sales for a large educational book company. Heather also happens to be 7 months pregnant, so if she can avoid the lure of Taco Bell, we all can.
Weather permitting, park your car somewhere for an hour at lunchtime and take that brown bag outdoors. Soaking in a bit of fresh air can do wonders for your mood, and will also give you the opportunity to stretch or take a short walk. Throw in some neck and shoulder rolls to un-crunch the muscles most overworked by car travel, and unlock your jaw—it doesn’t matter if you’re the most Zen yogi around; when you’re trying to be productive and deal with gridlock, road rage can take a toll.

As for ergonomics...well, it’s a bit of a losing battle. You can ensure that your seat is comfortable while you’re doing the actual driving (making sure you have correct lumbar support, and that your wheel is positioned properly), but as soon as that laptop comes out, everything goes out the window.

There’s just no real way to type and sit in proper ergonomic alignment when you don’t have an actual desk in front of you. Your best bet? Invest in a laptop desk of some sort, and consider removing one of the passenger seats (if possible) to free up a bit more room. “The back seats in my Toyota Sienna fold down,” Lia tells me. “So I fold down one and use it as a side table. I sit in the back seat, use a laptop desk, and keep everything else—my coffee, phone, paperwork—on the folded down seat next to me. I used to have a smaller car, and I’d have everything on my lap at all times. I’d be sweating and balancing everything in such a way that by 5 pm I had crinks in every possible part of my body.”

Rule of the Road #6: Be prepared

If anyone knows about working out of the car, it’s someone in television production. Nina, a production assistant in her 20’s, is constantly “on call”, running from location to location. She never knows quite what the day will bring, so her car needs to be a closet, warehouse, kitchen and office. When I asked her what she’d tell other women in her position, she echoed the famous Girl Scout motto. “In cramped spaces, it’s inevitable that you will spill something on yourself at some point,” she suggests. “Keep a wrinkle-free, button up blouse on hand. You’ll be able to get away with both casual and business-dress meetings stain free. Also, be prepared for it to get extremely hot or extremely cold while sitting in the car making phone calls or what have you. Dress in layers, and on a sunny day, park in the shade; and when it’s cold, find a patch of sun.”

Soon-to-be-mom Heather took a more maternal view on the importance of being well-stocked. “Think of your center console like the command center of your mobile work station,” she told me. “It’s your medicine cabinet, your pantry, your supply closet...you’ll need everything from a tweezers to pluck that random hair you notice in your rearview flip mirror, snacks, band-aids, first aid kid, etc, right there in arm’s reach.”

Nina also warns that technology has a way of failing you when you need it the most. “Always, always have a car charger for your mobile phone and Bluetooth ear piece. And keep a notepad and pen handy—you never know when your laptop or phone will fail you!”

While these “rules” can help make your mobile office experience a bit smoother, remember that the best perk of working from your car is that there aren’t many rules. “Despite the challenges, it’s cool that the view from my office is always changing,” Becky explains. “There’s a certain freedom in knowing that I’m not stuck in the same place all day long.

Whenever I get claustrophobic, I can just pull over and walk around somewhere; find a restaurant or a park or whatever. If I was working at the office, I’d have my supervisor breathing down my neck...there would be far less autonomy, far less variety in my day. So all in all, I’d say that working out of the car is a pretty sweet ride!”