When I first started working post-graduate school, I was a product manager and had an extremely liberal work from home policy. I worked from home at least 2-3 days a week. I could have worked from home every day of the week for all anyone cared…as long as I got my shit done.
Then I moved into investor relations and lost my work from home privileges. After giving birth and returning to work, I started to lose it. I was depressed. I was in therapy. I had to plead my case to work from home. I wrote about my experience and my advice in requesting to work from home here. Specifically as it relates to working mothers, I’ve polled my network and there isn’t a single mother I know who doesn’t work from home.
I am more effective at my job when I work from home.
- The elimination of a commute means a longer work day. I can get started earlier and work later. I don’t have to get dressed or brush my hair.
- With my work laptop at home, I’m also likely to do another hour or so of work right before bedtime.
- There are less distractions at home, whereas at work I’m bothered by irrelevant chit-chat or colleagues’ work conversations since I sit in a cubicle. Hence the constant use of headphones!
- Lastly there is something seriously wrong with our office temperature. It’s like a sauna. So while the rest of San Francisco is bristling in Karl the Fog, I’m practically in a tank top in a corporate environment. WTF?
I spend more time with my family.
- I don’t have to rush everyone because mommy’s got to get to work. Instead I can spend time playing with Franco and getting him dressed.
- I can pickup Franco at a reasonable hour because I’m not commuting home.
I’m more productive with my personal life.
- I’m available to meet contractors, cleaners, etc.
- I can easily go to the doctor, the cleaner, the library, and eat from home instead of spending $10 on lunch somewhere in the city.
- It’s also so nice to be able to piss/poop in the comfort of your own bathroom.
Let’s hear it. Do you work from home? What are the advantages/disadvantages for you?
I’m now working from home.. Remotely. It’s been 10 months. My boss is based in Canada and is very considerate with my schedule. It truly changed my life for the better because of the reasons you mentioned above. I can no longer imagine the up to 3 hrs commute to work during rush hours plus the 2am travel to work because of my work sched. I can’t believe I lasted 7 years in the corporate world. Lol, but I did.
My only concern is that I sometimes get sleepy while working and the call of my bed is so tempting even though my desk is not even in my bedroom.
You know my answer as I was a teacher before I had my girls and now I work pretty much full-time from work freelance writing and designing. So, I can completely relate to all of the above and than some. And yes I completely agree about the benefits of being able to be a mom, who also works from home, as well 😉
I WISH!
It all really depends on your work situation and your personality. I don’t work from home, although I suppose I could. My colleague, who basically does the same job as me, actually works from home remotely from Colorado.
I applaud you for being disciplined and productive at home. I tend to find that I’m more productive in the office (although I’m fortunate to have my own office and can easily close the door when I don’t want to be disturbed). At work, I have two nice, large computer monitors. At home, I have to work on a laptop and sometimes the connection is slow because of the security/firewalls, high internet traffic or Citrix is just down and you can’t even remote in for awhile, which is very frustrating! Also, my husband works in the same hospital and our daughter, Lizelle, is at an on-site preschool, so we all carpool and I eat and go for a walk with my husband during lunchtime everyday. So if I worked from home it would actually mean less time together and no less in gas or mileage on our car. We have about a 30-35 minute commute from San Jose to Palo Alto, but we recently shifted our schedule up so we can leave by 4pm before the traffic gets too bad in the evening. This helps us avoid commute nightmares. However, on the rare occasion that Lizelle’s been sick or preschool is closed (such as Christmas week), then it’s nice to have an option to work from home. I was actually recently amazed when I worked from home one day that I was able to simultaneously work and get like 3 loads of laundry done (minus the folding and putting it away, but at least it was washed and dried)!
I think if I worked from home, I would also miss the personal interaction with all my colleagues, and some things just tend work more efficiently and smoothly when I can walk down the hall and talk to someone in person, rather than communicating via email or having to pick up the phone. The other main advantage of working in the office is that I am very disciplined about leaving work at work. I almost never bring work home to complete after hours. I think this would be harder for me to do if my office was at home. I do not want to get into the habit you mentioned… “do another hour or so of work right before bedtime”….no, no, no! I love my job, but a good work-life balance is really important to me, so I don’t want to fall into that trap. This is a big part of the reason why I decided against doing clinical medicine. I’m not a fan of pagers, being “on-call”, after-hour phone calls (and now emails) from patients, and having to offer evening and weekend appointments. This is not the kind of lifestyle I wanted, and burnout is a BIG issue for physicians these days.
I think once our daughter is in grade school, I might try working from home more frequently. Maybe shift my schedule so that I can pick her up after school and just work from home in the afternoons. Will have to cross that bridge when we get there, but I agree that it is very nice to at least have the flexibility and the option to work from home if it makes sense for your situation.
Nope, no working from home here. I mean, if I need to meet the plumber or I have an appointment that makes it more logical for me to do so, I do here and there, but for the most part I’m in the office every day. I manage a team of 10, and I think it’s important that I be here to remind them that my open-door policy is a literal one – we get a lot done by staff members popping in to ask me random questions, brainstorm, check on a policy, etc. The conversations that are a distraction for you are a huge part of my job! That said, I do have a door that I can (and do) close if I need to focus to be productive.
I did work from home, part-time, for about three years prior to this, with all the pluses and minuses others have mentioned (more time efficient, more time with kids, some craziness due to lack of adult conversation). When I elected to go back to full-time work, I made a point of finding a job with minimal commute (~20 minutes) and reasonable hours (I’m out of here by 5:30 most days, and while I do some emailing at night and on weekends, I don’t generally bring any “real” work home with me). I could probably make a much higher salary if I were willing to forgo those things – but they allow me the time and sanity that I need to be a good mom, wife, and all-around person (not to mention, a better manager and employee! – my workplace’s acknowledgment of my family priorities ensures that I, in turn, respect and appreciate my workplace that much more).
Not able to work at home as I am in a classroom all day.
The thing I do at home is research for lessons. That part is easier for me because I can do it when the spirit strikes me or I get some weird idea in my head for a lesson, I can research it and plan it out before I get to classroom.
I have for a few years now. I think the biggest pro is also the biggest con. I’m far more productive here. But that means I don’t know when to shut it off. Still learning that!