Wednesday, March 21, 2012

You're there... ALL. THE. TIME.

When I'm playing "getting to know you" with someone new, it usually goes like this:

Where do you work?
I work from home.  
Oh, yes, of course.  Moms have the hardest job of all, don't they? Mothering is a full time career!
Well, yes, that too, but I actually work from home also.  Like, a job.  With a paycheck.  
Oh, really?  That's neat.  What do you do?
Our company does the mystery shopping for [insert major burger chain here].  
Oh, you're a mystery shopper?  How do you know that's not, like, a scam or something?
No, actually, I handle the survey end from the shopper, then I make it nice and send it to the client.  It's not a scam...  We've been in business for about 20 years.
Oh, well that's so interesting.  So you get to work from home?  You're so lucky!  

I've heard this more times than I can count.  It's true, mostly.  Except when it sucks.  Don't get me wrong... I wouldn't trade my living room couch for an office.  But still...

Things you don't have to deal when you go to the office:
  • You do not have to look at your mountains of laundry in various stages of completion every time you get up to go the bathroom.
  • Your children don't leave their things strewn all over your workspace.
  • You don't have to stop and wonder when the last time you showered was (hopefully).
  • Others don't assume you can leave work at a moment's notice to go to lunch, run errands, etc. 
  • Your kids don't hang out in your office and turn the TV up too loud. 
  • Your kids don't bring their friends to your office to play.
  • When you're on a work call, you don't have to worry about your dogs barking, your doorbell ringing, or your kids yelling Moooooooooooooom! because they don't know (or don't care) that you're on the phone.
  • When it's quitting time, you get to go home and leave your work at work. 
  •  Being sick isn't much of an excuse for not working. You're going to be hanging out on the couch either way, right? 
There are some pretty cool things about working from home, but I'm sure you can already guess those things.  I don't have to tell you about how there's no commute, about how I can wear my PJs to work, or about how much money I save on daycare...  Those are some very attractive perks.  All I'm saying is, it's not for everyone.
Recent convo with The Hubs:  
Him: We shouldn't have to spend the weekends doing laundry.
Me: When do you expect to do get it done if we're never at home? 
Him: You're there... ALL. THE. TIME. 
I'd like to fill you in on the rest of the conversation, but my head exploded shortly thereafter.  
If you're not able to close your eyes to the chaos around you, then working from home may not be for you.

If you not able to totally ignore chores that need to be done,  then working from home may not be for you.

If you're not able to concentrate on evaluations while the kids blare Hey, Jesse!,  then working from home may not be for you.

If you're not able to set appropriate boundaries between work and home time, then working from home may not be for you.

If you like to be showered and presentable every day, then working from home may not be for you.

However...

If you like being at home when your kids get out of school (so that they can be very excited to see you for 5 minutes and then go to their rooms and ignore you),

Or if you like watching TV on a 65" screen while you work,

Or if you like having your own kitchen at your disposal at lunch time,

Or, if you like not spending $4/gal to get to work,

OR... if you like wallowing in your own filth as long as it means that you get to be away from people and soak up the silence when they all go to work and school and leave you in peace for about 7 hours a day...

Maybe you should look into it.

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