Thursday Thirteen #20: The Truth about working from home

Thirteen Things about Working from Home I got the funniest email last night. Spam, even. The subject was: Do you spend too much time at work? The body of the email says: Let us show you how you can work from home. I just started laughing hysterically. I couldn't help it. Given that one of my jobs is done from home, I thought, these guys really want to paint a perfect picture of something that's soooo not. So today's TT is all about the downside of working from home. Just in case that guy's ad might be tempting... 1. Your meetings with the boss are often interrupted with shouts from children wanting to tell you about their latest bathroom experience, including size, consistency, quantity, whether or not they wiped, and worse, whether or not it ended up in the toilet. 2. You often find yourself working to the tune of Backyardigans, Dora, Diego, Mickey Mouse, and other childish creations, so that when you are talking to another adult, the best you can come up with is, "Uh, Boobah?" 3. Your business lunches consist of PB&J while tapping furiously at the laptop and screaming at the kids to stop wiping it on the dog. 4. When the kids give you a moment of peace to work alone, the dog will invariably join you. A nice change, except PB&J gives the dog gas. 5. People see your messy house and think you're a lazy you-know-what because all you do during the day is sit on the computer yelling at your kids. 6. While you CAN take a day off to go on the school field trip, work WILL be waiting when you get home. Teachers have a sixth sense about field trip planning. It's always going to be when you're on deadline. 7. Another caution about deadlines. The closer you are to a deadline, the more likely it is for the following to happen: your dog is sprayed by a skunk, the furnace will go out, the sewer will back up, someone will end up in the ER, or, as seems to happen with one of my dear friends, someone will die. Because you work from home, you have to deal with them AND your work. 8. Your boss WILL read your blog. So if you're behind on anything, and you've blogged, your boss will start asking questions. 9. Because you're used to working in your jammies, you will not own decent clothes so that when you do have to leave home to work, you'll have no idea what to wear. 10. People think that since you work from home, you don't have a real job, and thus, no real time commitment, so you are free to run at their beck and call. 11. Your lap is not big enough to hold a laptop, a dog, and your children. 12. The refrigerator is close. Too close. The good news is that if you give in to temptation often enough, your lap will expand so #11 won't be a problem much longer. 13. While you have the freedom to work when and how you choose, so long as you meet your obligations, you have the freedom to choose. So on the days when taking the kiddos to the park sounds like a lot more fun than doing real work, it's a lot harder to stay focused on the task at hand. Work first, play later. That said, I do enjoy my job. Even though it definitely has its challenges, I don't think you could pay me enough to fight rush hour traffic, wear panty hose, and have to get up before the sun. Just be sure you know what you're really getting yourself into before choosing to work from home.

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