When it comes to working from home, I have to be honest, it isn’t always a dream job. People who have never worked from home always go on and on about how awesome it must be. How awesome it is to work when I want, wherever I want (Panera Bread, for example), for however long I want. How awesome it is to be able to do a load of laundry in between projects. How awesome it is to take breaks whenever I need to. How great it must be to make $30,000+ a year without once donning a business suit, or even a single article of clothing that could even remotely pass as business-freaking-casual.
Well, I’m here to tell you that it isn’t always so awesome. The biggest downside to working from home is that there is no escape. Ever. Between messengers, email, texts and my cell phone, I am pretty much on-call 24/7. The only time I’m really “free” is between midnight EST and 8:00am EST. You know, the biggest thing I envy about Dan is his ability to work a straight 8-10 hours, and then, unless an emergency should arise, he’s done. He can leave his job behind, come home, and just relax. In turn, the snide little comments he makes here and there suggest to me that he thinks I have it made in the shade, and he’s envious of that. And it’s true that I can kick back and relax while working on a project, and maybe even put on a DVR’ed show or pop in a movie while I’m doing it. But the truth is that I usually have weeks of DVR’ed shows still sitting on the Comcast box, waiting for me to watch them. And movies? I finally watched New Moon the other night — I bought it two weeks ago. That’s a record, people. I have movies that I, um, acquired MONTHS ago that I still haven’t watched.
I’d kill to work just a flat 6, 8 or 10 hours. I know I sound like I’m whining, but on most days it’s pretty damn difficult to do more than an hour’s worth of work without interruption. Monday and Wednesday mornings are a godsend, but God only sent me a short amount of time — two hours and twenty minutes, to be exact — to do as much work as possible. And it seems like the sooner the deadline or the more important the job, the louder and rowdier the kids get. And I have two kids who are pretty damn weird in terms of not wanting to ever be in their bedrooms. You know, those rooms with all the cool stuff? And dare I say it — yes, I’m going to say it — TELEVISION SETS AND CABLE BOXES (note: TV usage is strictly monitored, and they never watch it before or at bedtime). My kids are seriously messed up, because they view going to their bedrooms to PLAY and/or WATCH CARTOONS as a PUNISHMENT. So back to deadlines and important projects — the higher the priority, the farther up my ass the kids are.
And speaking of hours, on most days I put in anywhere from 6 to 14 hours of work. It isn’t a straight shift, but it is broken up throughout the day. I feel like my laptop and I are chained at the hip. I usually turn it on in the morning, when I first hop out of bed at 8:00am, and it doesn’t get shut off until right before I go to bed. I do weekly Panera Bread runs just to be able to do a steady 3-6 hour block worth of work, and it helps, but believe me, I do get tired of Panera Bread, and I do get tired of paying for food that I usually don’t eat more than half off. Believe me, I’ve been tempted to hold onto all of those receipts and write them off as business expenses.
And then there’s the anxiety. And the guilt. As if the constant interruptions from the kids (and on “those kinds of days”, the dog, the cats, the phone, the door, housework, etc.) aren’t enough, when I am trying to work I sometimes get pangs of guilt for not being with the kids. And when I am with the kids, or taking an afternoon or an evening off, or daring to sleep in on a weekend day, there’s the anxiety about work. Is my boss going to be annoyed? Does my client need the project now? Are urgent emails building up? Will I have enough time to code that layout? Will I have the energy to churn out 4,000 words before Sunday night? And on and on it goes.
And then there’s the non-work interruptions. Let’s talk about messengers. I have to be on them so that my clients and co-workers and bosses can get a hold of me. But that makes me available for everyone else to get a hold of me as well. And to be perfectly honest, non-work IMs are quite disruptive, especially when they just keep coming. And coming. And coming. Even when my reply to, “So what are you up to?” is “I’m working”. Hello? Just because I’m working from home and in my pajamas does not mean I am not working! And that brings me back to Dan… there are days when I’ll gripe about what a long day it’s been, how long I’ve been working, etc., and he’s all, “Yeah… working. Ha ha. I’m sure you were blogging and sending emails and chatting to C* (one of my bosses, we sometimes have casual conversations in addition to work conversations) and checking your feed reader”. So color me guilty for taking 2-5 minute breaks every hour or two.
But don’t get me wrong, I love and appreciate being able to work from home. I have had a lot of amazing opportunities come my way in the past three years, and I am very grateful for every one of them. I wouldn’t give up working from home for any type of “real” job, unless it was a cool, kick-ass job like I’m doing now, but with the benefit of having an office or even a damn cubicle to work in.
It’s just… hard. Working from home when you have kids is HARD. Especially when said kids are little. (I think this would be a good time to mention that I am seriously counting down the days to 2012, when both kids will be in school FULL-FREAKING-TIME.)
But I love it. I really do. And I need it. We need it. We wouldn’t be able to have as much as we do or do the things we do without my income. I know that, and I’m okay with that. I love pulling my weight, and not feeling like I am in any way, shape or form “indebted” or being a burden, you know?
All right, I think I’m going to wrap this blog entry up. I need to get my hours in for tonight, but I can’t submit them until I finish up a task that will take another 45 minutes or so. This paycheck is going to be big, which is good, because I think I need to call a repair company to come and take a look at our washer (I thought Dan fixed it yesterday, but it started acting up and sounding all loud and squealy during the next load’s spin cycle. *sigh*), and I know we need a new sofa. I’ve been putting off the new sofa purchase for as long as possible, but it’s now getting to the point where I’m seriously worried about the damn thing collapsing, or a spring bursting out of it and taking someone’s eye out. *sigh*
(And yes, I really did make over $30,000 in 2009.)
it’s true working from home could be seen as an ideal gig, but as you said, it is pretty hard at the same time as you don’t really have a switch off point. i guess the only thing you can really do is try and schedule as much free time as you can so you dont stress yourself out & go all loopy! what about getting a sitter once a week so you can do some fixed hours working without them disturbing you? (other than ur mom of course!)
Working from home even without kids can be a challenge. People forget that when you work from home you are on your own. People do the same thing with me when I tell them I do all my schooling from home. It is NOT easier. In fact it is very much more difficult. I am responsible for -everything- to do with my education. I don’t have a set time to go to class. I don’t have a teacher to immediately respond to me, I don’t have the benefit of talking face to face with my classmates, etc. I’m pretty much given a book, a schedule of due dates, and told to learn the material & participate in the “discussion” forums 5 days a week. If you don’t have good time management skills, it makes it that much harder.
I think you definitely should get that anxiety stuff in check missy. It’s no good! (I have my own to get in check too heh)
I definitely understand where you’re coming from. I don’t carry a full time job where I’m making nearly as much as you do but I do bits here and there lately and NO ONE seems to get that it is real work, you’re just doing it at home. If only people could understand that when I’m writing an article up I cannot entertain the baby (By people I mean husband) It’s not sunshine, rainbows, and butterflies. Gr. Work at home is still WORK. I get you, completely.
And for the messenger thing, I’d get a different screen name personally. Keep it for work only and that way no one can bother you when you’re in “work” mode.
It’s incredibly frustrating when the person you need to understand shrugs you off like you’re playing games all day long.
I can understand the gripes it sounds intense when home is supposed to be escape yet you are actually working. But I think that I would love working at home just saying. I love being on the computer and I wish I was as talented as you to make layouts and everything. Glad you are getting a new washer and hopefully a sofa.
Well said, Jenn.
I know slightly what you are going through, as I am working from home and currently going to school. My head always feels as though it is spinning between work and school.
I just wanted to say I completely understand! I don’t have kids here all the time, but when my nephew is here, I’ve noticed I get at least 50% less work done.
Oh yes., I completely agree! The kids are the worst part. I feel so guilty when they’re here and I’m here but I’m working and can’t pay 100% attention to them; it’s almost as if it’d be better if I wasn’t there at all.
Personally, since this new found ‘freedom’ I’ve gotten, I feel so much better; although I have found other means of income, I’ve taken a different route and it has made such a difference in my stress levels!
XOXO
I’ve done both. And Even with the inability to shut it off, I’d still take at home any day. Plus, for some of us manager types, even when I leave I am always on call. I constantly worry about sales, and whats going on at my store when I’m not there.
Oh I hear you! That’s exactly how I felt when I went to school online and had a newborn to take care of!
Don’t you know there is no such thing as working from home?! MADNESS!
As for the IM’s you could always set it so that everyone who you don’t want to talk to sees you as offline and only your bosses/special choices see you online.
I think the one thing that most people who work from home say is that they never get away from there job… since you’re working from home, you’re always at your job and more work can come your way. I think it would be great to work from home and take care of my kids (when I have them!)… but at the same time, I know it would be a lot of work still. I’m currently a retail manager, but my eventual goal is to have my own business, where I am in control and if I work from home, I set my own time/goals. I guess that is the only that would make it better… .working from home with your own business.
When both kids get in school you’ll wonder why you ever questioned it. It will be so much easier.
We need a new couch as well, but I’m just flat procrastinating on it. Where are you buying one from?
I’d love to have about half of the amount of work you do…I don’t think I could handle everything you have, even without kids! If I ever do get to that point, I’d consider outsourcing or hiring help, either with the work or kids. I’ve read about a few WAHM’s who hire someone to come play with and watch their children for 3-4 a day, just so they can get some work done. A lot of women choose to hire teens who can come right after school or during the day in the summer because they can pay them more than most adults would want.
I also hate getting those comments about how I don’t really work. I guess money just falls into my PayPal account every now and then for no reason. Some of my family still think that I can drop what I am doing and go run an errand or just hang out whenever I want…it’s so frustrating!
Do you ever consider renting an office or have your work rent one out for you?
I get people telling me I don’t have a real job. And making a point to tell me places that are hiring.
I completely agree with working from home being hard!!! I have a little online job that I do — It’s not much but I have to sit down and dedicate time to it just like any other job! Juggling online job, mommy and housewife duties plus my own personal daily things is quite the task but I have definetly become the queen of multitasking lol
Well said. People definitely see it as being easy and full of glory but they never stop to think about all the other things that go along with it.