The other day I blogged about why I’m so glad to be a work at home Mom. In that post, I mentioned that it got on my nerves to read articles on the net about the so called “cons” of working from home.
All of the downsides to working at home I’ve read can be overcome with a little planning. Here are a few I see over and over again:
Con: Many of the people closest to you will not understand that when you are working you are actually working. Almost always, you will be the first person that family and neighbors think of when they need someone to do something during the work day – after all you are at home.
This is a boundary issue. (You know how I love to talk about boundaries!) If people are interrupting you while you work or otherwise not respecting your work time, then here are several ideas:
- If your kids are making it impossible for you to get work done and they’re really young, then either hire some help or work when they don’t need you (occupied with Dad, Grandma, a mom’s helper, sitter, sleeping or happily playing)
- For older kids – spend time with them first (sometimes all it takes is 15 – 30 minutes to fill those little buckets!) then tell them you must get your work done. Put a Do Not Disturb sign on the door or whatever else is appropriate for your situation, and hold them to it. Kids have to learn to respect adult boundaries.
- To be frank, I have never ONCE had someone assume I had the time to do some kind of free errand for them just because I am a wahm. If I did, I would probably upgrade friends. People like this (and I’m not talking about genuine reciprocity between friends) who don’t value your time aren’t worth keeping as friends.
- Don’t answer the phone or the door during your work time. That’s what voice mail is for.
Con: It is easy to fall into the procrastination habit when you don’t have someone behind you telling you what to do and when to do it. Being able to work at home at anytime of the day or night often means you put off work until later.
Well… if you’re lazy and don’t give a hoot about your success, you probably aren’t even a very good employee much less an entrepreneur!
Serious people, we’re all grown ups here. If you are responsible enough to feed your kids when they’re hungry, pay your bills and keep your house clean, you are adult enough to get your work done. Making money is a GREAT reinforcer! And being able to do your work when you want to (even if that’s late evenings and weekends) is one of the great Pros about working at home.
If you do have a bit of struggle in this area though, here are some tips:
- Create a schedule for yourself and use your calendar to create goals and ”accomplish by” dates.
- Build in some accountability by letting other people know of your goals (such as by sharing with a networking group – preferably one with other serious work at home Moms).
- Reward yourself when you finish your work each day or finish some project. It can be a small reward such as a hot yummy beverage, reading a work of fiction, or a long soak in the tub.
Con: Being a work at home Mom means that you may be isolated socially. Lacking the water cooler chat and lunches with coworkers, you might find yourself lonely.
My thoughts on that: Being a MOM, Period, can be lonely. The answer is to force yourself to get out and socialize. When it comes to work, I always got my social jones from friends, not coworkers anyway. So get together with other people who have stuff in common with you – regardless of what everyone does for a living.
And remember that being a Wahm doesn’t mean always staying home (any more than being a stay at home Mom means being homebound!). Go out to networking events, go out with friends, go to Barnes and Noble to work (where I am writing this blog post currently), etc.
Interestingly, many of the pros that are associated with working at home are also the cons for someone else! See if you can’t find ways to flip the cons into positive situations
What are you thoughts? Do you see work at home life as a glass half full? Do you experience problems in your work at home life and need some tips to help you overcome them?
Great post, Carrie! There are certainly challenges to working from home but if you love what you do and enjoy the challenge of your work, that alone will be the motivation to resolve the scheduling problems you may have.
Just like in corporate America, if you hate your work, you won’t be motivated to do well.
Unfortunately I always get family members assuming that my work at home status means I can do favors…like hang out to meet a repairman, run things to the recycle center during their limited daylight hours, etc. It drives me NUTS. They don’t even ask…they just tell me I need to do such and such.
There are definitely ups and downs. In addition to the people that don’t understand what you do, there are the group that don’t understand and still want to do whatever it is you do. I have a family member that is always asking me to teach her how to work online, find here a job, etc…
I finally gave into the pressure and sat down with her at her computer and said, “Okay. Step one, you’re at the computer… what are your skills here?” Her answer…. “I can play games on Pogo and I have a Yahoo mail.”
I thought she was joking around with me. She wasn’t, she was dead serious. She said to me, “How different can it be?”