Print This
Email This
Recently a co-worker of mine batted around the idea of working from home one day a week. The idea was great in theory. Our work is done primarily on a computer or on the phone (gotta love the communications industry) and so we are lucky enough to be capable to complete many of our tasks without actually coming in to the office.
The most obvious benefit that jumps to mind of course is saving money. Even one day of not driving means less gas to buy, which is a big one since most of us here around the office drive big gas guzzlers even though we of all people should respect our natural resources...but I digress.
Less driving also means less cars on the road, less pollution, less dependency on oil, etc which is obviously good from an environmental standpoint.
Another selling point is the obvious convenience of rolling out of bed and working without the need for removing your pj's or brushing your hair. I get very little sleep as it is since I can't seem to convince either the baby or the toddler that their beds are much better than mine. Trying to look impressive for the office is often given a much lower priority than five extra minutes of semi-sleep.
Lastly, well who wouldn't prefer to work on their own schedule without worrying that the boss is going to poke her head into your office at 3:30 to discover you took a late lunch...right when she needs you of course. At home as long as you have the Internet and a phone you are always accessible and can eat your PB & J whenever you feel like it.
Now the downside.
If you are single and or married with no children, or maybe married with children and a splendid nanny then you could probably stop reading as this will more than likely not apply to you. You want to work at home, more power to you. Save the planet, one gallon of gas at a time.
I on the other hand have three children. Two of them are not yet in school....thankfully only 89 more days till there will only be one crazy toddler roaming around the house! Hooray for pre-k! It is also summertime now and the one child who I gratefully send off on the bus every morning during the school year is now moping around the house complaining of boredom and that his annoying little brother is trashing his video games again. (go outside already! I'm working! or as my father always told me.."I'm not your entertainment committee!")
While that in itself may be reason enough for many working moms (or dads) to want to be out of the house, I actually do have more.
Working at home is nearly impossible for me. There are simply too many distractions. I am just one of those people that just can't leave things undone. If I am at home then there is laundry to do, dishes to wash and little hineys to wipe unfortunately. (Lord I hope it is true that girls train easier than boys do..) I can never sit down long enough without noticing something else that must be taken care of. I tried having the whole home office environment thing, but somehow life still creeps in, even if you lock the door. How does a three year old learn how to unlock a door with a hot wheel anyways?
My kids also assume that me being home means it is either a weekend or a holiday.See how well I have them trained by my work schedule? Wish I could get them trained to pick up their rooms when they know I am on my way home (kind of like the cat in the hat story), now that would be impressive. Where can I get one of those picker-upper machines anyways?
So just being in the house virtually guarantees that no work of any substance will be accomplished unless I have a sitter, which kind of nullifies the whole saving money idea in the first place.
If I choose to work at home I also tend to work way more than the eight hours required. I know this kind of contradicts what I have been saying so let me explain. If I am running around fixing sandwiches, folding laundry and wiping noses and hineys then the few moments I have when they are napping, eating, or otherwise occupied means I dive in to work. Maybe it is only ten minutes here or an hour there, but when you get an email from your supervisor telling you to go to bed because you just sent your latest marketing plan to them at 1am (they finally went to sleep!) then you realize that you have really gone above and beyond, despite all the crazy distractions. While working at home I keep a log of my hours and it really does add up.
So maybe rather than try to save fuel or the environment by working at home, I will just get a bike. It's only 33 miles right?
For more timely, relevant, and engaging articles, subscribe to Brazen Careerist.
10 RESPONSES TO "WHY WORKING FROM HOME MIGHT NOT WORK FOR YOU EITHER"
I agree that working from home is not for everyone. I have heard people say that they cannot concentrate for various reasons; some of them you mentioned in your article. One of the biggest reasons is children. The other is the inability to concentrate.
Some people have told me that they need someone to push them to get their work done. I have also heard others say that they get lonely; being at the job helps them to feel less alone.
My response to all of these remarks is, Huh? I don't work at home now, but because my primary responsibilities involve programming, working at home is a possibility.
I don't have any children, but what I don't understand is I hear how often people complain about the cost of daycare. If the children were at home, you would not have to worry about the cost. Also, if the kids are bothering you, is there a possibility of getting someone, other than the daycare, to care for your children for at least 5 hours or more. Otherwise, take them to daycare while you work at home. After all, you will need the money you earned from your job to pay for the daycare.
I don't understand the lonely or alone part either. Tt is probably because I am a loner anyway. I enjoy the space and tranquility of being in my own home, listening to some soft music while working. I am also a free spirit so for me, going to a job is too confining. I don't like to be under the watchful eye of others.
When working at home, I too work longer, but if I enjoy my job or my business, I don't mind working longer. It could mean, depending how well that day went, that I could work less tomorrow.
In conclusion, I love working at home. I get a lot more done, I am much more relaxed, no boss, only a few interruptions here and there, and I am able to build my schedule around my life. This causes me to experience less stress.
As for being lonely, I have tons of hobbies and interests, so this is not a factor. There are days when I even forget that I have a boyfriend or there are days I would like to forget I have a boyfriend. He can be a nuisance, but that is another story. Working at home is great to me. I wish I could work from home all the time.
Kristin,
Great post! You're absolutely right, the work at home life isn't for just anyone! It takes a great amount of self discipline, motivation, and money to initiate. It's a huge task, but can prove to be a great way for moms to make money and still be around family.
Now, I'm an official Microsoft ambassador and right now we're really trying to scale up our connections with influential bloggers like yourself. I'd love to share with you some of the stuff we've been doing in the last couple months to help women entrepreneurs; we're really committed to providing all the necessary resources to help women start, grow and expand their business.
We just wrapped up a women's entrepreneurial tour across the US called “Vision To Venture;” the response and turn-out was great!
I'd really love your take on these offerings we have right now; I would have contacted you via email but I didn't know which was the best way to reach you.
Thank you so much, I hope I didn't overstep my bounds by directly contacting you. Definitely get back to me if I’ve piqued your interest-- I’d love to share more info with you.
Best,
Kimberly
Official Microsoft Ambassador
k-rosenberg@live.com
I can only hope that perhaps I too will reach that level of serenity someday :) For now I think I will stick with my office.
Four dogs! You do have a houseful of kids!
Thanks for the comment
Kristina,
Your post has just enabled me to self-diagnose my condition. I think I have Social A.D.D.
When I was in an office atmosphere I was always distracted, scheming ways to get away from my computer. I dreamed about going outside just for 10 minutes to soak up the sun.
Now that I work from home, I get so much done and can get 10 minutes of sun whenever I feel like it.
Like Joselle, I don't have children but I am married to an Attorney who works from home as well. We have four dogs who require attention all the time and I would venture to say that they are sometimes more work than having kids.
My husband is in and out all day either meeting with clients or going to court and we rarely see each other. Although by about 7pm, he usually starts hinting around it's time to close up shop for the day which usually takes me another hour and a half to wrap up what I'm doing and then we make dinner.
Working from home, I get so much more done. I love the fact that I can eat lunch when I want. Take a break for 10 minutes or so. I find that I work more and have more time to concentrate on my tasks.
It will be hard to go back to an office environment, should I ever have to. I do miss interacting with people in person. But somehow after a long day of conducting webinars or training with clients, I get over that whole interaction thing.
Thanks for the provoking thoughts! Nice Post!
It can be pretty frustrating to know you have logged more than 10 hours but have only completed one real task. That is just what happens when you are always starting and stopping. It simply is not an efficient way to work for me. I need structure in my day.
Enjoy your child free days! Good luck and thanks for the comment!
Very funny and honest post. Although I'm single and childfree for now, I have to wonder if the working at home scenario isn't just some romantic notion for many people. I often dream of telecommuting while I'm cursing and raging on my real commute. Working out of home, though, does give me some structure and accountability, which, if I'm honest with myself, I need. I don't have kids to watch at home but I'd find plenty of ways to procrastinate and actually extend the work day instead of being efficient.
I'd still like to work from home one day but I know I'll need some training for it!
Thanks for the tips. I think I am a good ways from making the switch to working at home permanent, but I will say it is a work in progress.
I am in the process of finding some new sitters, as all my previous ones are now out of college and no longer need me for income! (I live in a college town) Got any tips for where the good ones hang out?
I am always thrilled when my posts can provide a little humor and as always I appreciate the comment.
Great post - very funny. Having worked in my home office for the last 15+ years, raising 2 children in the process, I completely understand where you're coming from. Here's some tips:
1) Training: Not for you, for them. You have to make the kids, dogs, neighbors and your spouse understand that when you're in your office, you're at WORK. It took awhile for the kids, and even longer for my husband to get it. Once everyone was on board, things went a lot more smoothly. Be firm - don't waver on this one.
2) do the dishes, laundry, picking up and cleaning when you're not at work. You don't leave your office to throw in a load of laundry - don't do it when you're working at home.
3) Hire a sitter - that's what you do when you physically go to the office, right? Don't change that - working at home doesn't mean everyone should think its the weekend. You still get to save $$ on the commute and dry cleaning, to say nothing of your time, so spring for the sitter. You'll be much more productive, your boss will be happier and you'll still enjoy the perks that come from working at home in your jammies.
Good luck - working at home now that the kiddos are grown and it's just me and the dog all day is great - I don't think I could ever go back to a real office environment ... although it is a little TOO quiet here sometimes...
You make some good points. I have a wife who works at home. However, the nature of her business requires her to make family visits, check on the status of children placed in foster care as well as make emergency placements for children removed from homes in other cities. All of that entails a tremendous amount of "road time." There is no real savings except for the savings to the company, if you consider the employer does not have to pay for an office. It is a somewhat clever way of putting a lot of the burden of operations onto the employee. The company does make good by reimbursing the employee up to a point for gas, etc. So, it all comes out in the wash, sorta.
As for the family impact, my wife works hard keeping very regular hours, making the "work at home" gig a tolerable option. Our five children (all of them rescued four-legged girls, i.e., dogs), seem to enjoy the "licking-pot hound" life of sleeping all the time while my wife works. (I get a kick out of the entourage moving whenever my wife needs to take a "rest" break or get something to drink from the kitchen.)
@ Kimberly,
You are right that discipline and self motivation are a neccessity when trying to work out of the home. I have the motivation, and could probably save enough money to make a go at it, but at this popint I still lthink I need to be able to walkk down the hall and speak with my peers about questions that I have. For that reason as I have stated I will stick with the office for now.
I would love to speak with you further. My email address is ksumm26@yahoo.com
Thank you for the comments.
@ Lawren,
Thank you for your thoughts. I am somewhwat of a loner myself but that has little to do with the quality of my work or becoming distracted. I often close the office door to get some quiet time at the office but the point is that there is no real office door at home. And unless I plan to remodel, then there will not be a seperate home office any time soon.
I am thinking that maybe when you have children you will understand more fully the distractions I mention.You say that you can just put the children in daycare while you work at home, but that really defeats the saving money aspect doesn't it?
Or as you say, If you just let them be at home with you then you run into the situation I was referring too, they assume that you are on "mom" time and at their disposal.
Thank you for the comments.
@ Stephen,
Your wife does wonderful work I am sure. Jobs like hers often involve a lot of hours for low pay so the people that do them are few and ar between.( I work for the state so I totally relate.) I hope you are as supportive as you sound. Take good care of your "girls" and thank you for the comment.
GOT SOMETHING TO SAY?