Anybody who reads an online advertisement for working at home may get the impression that it’s a thrill. With titles like “Pajama Jobs,” you’re promised that you won’t have a boss looking over your shoulder. You can work on your patio! Set your own schedule! Do laundry while you work! Get the benefits of a career while you’re home with your family!
And if you’ve driven to work on icy roads or gotten into an argument with your coworker and/or boss, while struggling to get to daycare on time to pick up the kids, while the laundry’s piling up, it sounds mighty appealing. The truth is, though, working at home is terribly romanticized, even for legitimate opportunities. Work is work! So let’s stop romanticizing and get real. Like everyone else, I have an inbox that fills with “pajama jobs.” And yes, a lot of work-from-home opportunities are scams. If it sounds too good to be true….Well, you know the saying.
But plenty of people do work from home. For real. And they can tell you what it is really like. I have friends who love working from home, and friends who, like me, find themselves struggling with working from home. So what’s the reality? Well, here are some of the pros and cons from where I sit.
Pro:No more office gossip.
Con: Loneliness.
If you are at all extroverted, working from home is not easy. In the winter months, when everyone is moody and crabby anyway, the isolation can get depressing. I find that I am very friendly with barristas and sales clerks, and inclined to strike up conversations with strangers where I normally would not. Even if you are relatively introverted, you may find yourself wanting to spend more time with other people.
Yes, there are all kinds of online communities…but if you are working, you don’t have as much time to participate as you would like, plus you may be longing for a break. And if you are IMing your friends or coworkers, you have to be careful not to drive them nuts.
I’m developing a solution. I see several possibilities. One: Coffeehouses. Part of my routine is to stop at the coffee house around the corner, where I can chat with the barrista (Fran). Coffeehouses do seem to be the new mobile office, and I have had fun working there. Some places even have conference rooms. They are a place where I can see other people and strike up conversations. And I can be online. It helps. But it’s not the same as being part of a group or team. Another option: I try to have lunch with people regularly, although they usually return to the office sooner than I would like to.
Finally, if I have the option to work from an office, I take it. I get to meet more people and I get out of the house. I’m also experimenting with some face-to-face networking opportunities. The con there, though, is that they take up extra time (just as they do with other work).
Pro: No more boss!
Con: You have to make a concerted effort to grow.
So, all the sites promise you that you can do without a boss, or at least not one looking over your shoulder all the time. But, I’ve also had great bosses. Bosses who helped me grow, supported my ideas, highlighted my strong points, coached me on weak points, and gave me role models and opportunities. (Thanks Suzanne, Jim, Sonda, Jo Lee, Mary Ellen, and Laura!)
For that matter, there is something to be learned from even the worst boss. If you’re in the early stages of your career, you might not be best off working from home. In an office, you build the connections that help you work from home more effectively, and you learn the ropes of being part of a team. You can observe people and learn how to interact in certain situations, too.
Also, you might also miss out on building work friendships and learning from people in fields different from yours. If your social network isn’t already strong, you may find yourself eager to make new friends. Last point: if you think a boss is difficult to please, wait until you are trying to please clients.
Pro: No commute. And you can work in your pajamas.
Con: “House arrest” syndrome
Sure, I save on gas, dry cleaning, clothing, and even contact lens solution. I don’t have to drive in icy weather. But I find myself wishing that I had somewhere to go besides the next room. I don’t work in my pajamas because, quite simply, that’s ineffective for me. I need the help with self-discipline. I take a shower and try to get to my desk by 8:30. OK, 9:00. But I do follow a schedule, too.
Still, I am not wearing my best wardrobe when I’m at home, either. I try to make a point of wearing nicer clothes, makeup, and contacts when I do go out, but I sometimes feel that things that were routine when I worked in an office have taken on a greater importance than I would like them to. Going to the grocery store or library is a bit of an event, when it’s really pretty mundane to most people. Also, when my husband comes home, he’s ready to relax. I’m ready to go out! On the pro side, I do have a nice window office. And I do work on my patio sometimes, when the weather is nice. To make it a bit easier, I’ll be investigating conferences and classes now, too.
Pro: You can throw a load of laundry in while you are working. Your kids don’t need a sitter. You have more family time.
Con: People assume you are not really working if you say you work from home. Distractions are hard to resist.
Could you throw in a load of laundry? Pick up the kids? Call your mother? Stop at the grocery store? While I do have more flexibility than my friends who are working 8-5, I find that the assumption seems to be that I am not really working when I’m at home. If I stop working to do something else, I generally have to make up the time somehow, just as you would if you are in the office. Or another way to look at it? If you take advantage of working from home too much, you won’t be working at home for long.
As far as not needing a sitter, most people I know who really work from home, full-time, getting serious income, know that this is absurd. If you brought your toddler to work, you couldn’t spend your time chasing after her, could you? No, you are getting paid to perform services for a company. The same principle applies when you work from home. Any promise of “no child care” is not very realistic, unless you are able to stagger your hours. The other problem is that it’s hard to leave work alone. The office is always there, after all. Maybe I’ll do the books. Oh my gosh, did I proof that last email? It’s hard to break away.
It’s been almost a year since I started working from home. I’m developing the self-discipline, gaining the clientele, and learning the ropes. Will I return to the office? Sometimes I want to. Sometimes I don’t. But I can say this: Working at home is not early retirement or a cushy pajama job. It’s work! And as with everyone else, the most reliable way for me to get that laptop on the sun-drenched beach is retirement. Oh wait. When it’s time for that, I’ll be on the beach. Minus the laptop.
E. Bethanis works from her home in Indianapolis.
