It’s a sad truth that whenever I tell people that I work from home, they’ll assume that my days are endless loops of fun and lounging in front of the TV (so much so that that it isn’t considered work).
It’s not fun to tell people for the hundredth time that working from home is working notwithstanding how fun other people think it is. We don’t get regular hours, so we work into the night when normal office-goers are fast asleep. Or maybe family members choose to utilize our time for errands (because we’re at home while others are at – you guessed it – work). Or that most days we can’t take a sick day because no one else will pick up the work for us.
There are good parts to the arrangement though, like how we can dictate our own hours; so if you feel like you are more of a night owl than a early bird, you can make your own hours rather than stick to a straight schedule. I really like the part about not getting stuck in traffic jams because my laptop is my office and it can be anywhere – as long as there’s a power socket.
So to all of those out there who work from home, keep fighting the good fight – I know how difficult it is to convince people that you’re probably working harder than they are. For me? I have stopped trying so hard to tell naysayers otherwise, and I prefer instead to tell them that they should try it out for themselves.
The best bit though, is that some do come to me a few months down the road after ditching the office in favor of trying out a freelance route. And many tell me that working from home is indeed hard work and that they never knew how much of a juggling act it has been. After that, it pretty much feels like they’ve been invited into a secret club where the dress code is pajamas and yoga pants.
Afternoon TV break anyone? 🙂
