So, you were told that you can work from home. Congratulations! Telecommuting is a sign of trust that many employers were once very reluctant to grant. You’re picturing days of folding laundry between calls while your precious child plays at your feet. As lovely as that scene may be to you, it’s dead wrong. Telecommuting as a mom is full of choppy waters. Not everyone is meant to work from home. It takes an enormous amount of patience, perseverance, and flexibility to live the dream and work from home.
Working with Your Child at Home
The good news is that if you have a young child, working from home helps save on the expense of daycare. Don’t make the mistake of entirely discounting help with your children while you work. The first thing you will learn is that it takes an enormous amount of patience and quiet to work from home. Conference calls don’t just disappear because you are now telecommuting. Your coworkers or supervisors won’t necessarily be happy if they can hear your children yelling in the background. It is a very real possibility that you will still need someone available to attend to your child while you work. Even if it is only for a couple of hours per day or on the day of the week you have teleconferences scheduled, having someone to help you with your child is an invaluable resource. This serves three purposes. First, it keeps your mind where it is being paid to be: on work. Second, it keeps your child entertained and supervised. We all know that children have a knack for getting into mischief when mom isn’t able to devote her full time and attention. Third, it teaches your child to respect a schedule.
Enforce Your Schedule
Interruptions will happen when you telecommute. It’s important to be patient with the process, but also enforce boundaries. Those boundaries are there for a reason. They help you get your work complete. Many people have this terrible belief that when we work from home that we aren’t really working or that we don’t have to work as hard. That’s just not true. In addition to your job duties, you may have children or pets that you must look after. Eventually, your family and friends will start calling or dropping by without regard to your workload. They will want you to run errands for them because they are busy and your schedule is so “flexible” and it won’t take but “just a minute.” They will also drop their children off with you. You must enforce your schedule with others. If your schedule is 8 am – 5 pm, then do not make a habit of running errands for others outside of those hours. If you wish to keep the luxury of telecommuting, then you must respect that you are required to work during certain times. You will have to enforce the schedule with your mate, your children, and even yourself. There will be times when it is tempting to just do what you want during the day. That’s why telecommuting isn’t for everyone. You must be very disciplined. No one is looking over you to make sure that you are doing your job. It’s okay to work from alternate locations as long as you get the work done. I am well known for working at libraries and bookstores around my city. I may work at alternate locations, but I am working.
Just Keep Swimming
It’s going to take some time to adjust. You will miss your coworkers if you are transitioning from the office to being a virtual worker. You will have feelings of isolation even if you are an introvert. It’s important to have a plan. It’s also important to realize that these feelings do not mean that you are failing. It means you are going through a rite of passage much like the rest of us went through. You must find what works best for you. I don’t expect every writer to be a night owl. I am sure that somewhere in the world, morning people who write aren’t a figment of my imagination. Writers that I work with don’t work exactly like I do. It takes a while to find your groove and a routine that works for you. It can take some time. I played with my schedule for about six months until I found something that works well for me. I started with a 90 minute work cycle. I also found out that while I do multitask well, it’s nothing something that I necessarily enjoy. Since I don’t have to multitask a lot of the time, I just don’t. I devote each 90 minute work cycle to a particular project. If it is finished in less than 90 minutes, then I start on something else. Other times, I just get very focused on my work and I just work until I don’t feel like I’m being productive. It’s okay to work in the manner that is best for you as long as you can get the job done when it needs to be done.
Flexibility
I know that some of you that read this will think, “Wait – how am I supposed to be flexible? You just said I needed to respect my own schedule. Isn’t this contradictory?” It does sound a little contradictory, but life can and does happen…particularly with children. It’s important that you schedule things appropriately into your routine such as field trips with your child. It’s equally important to realize that the world will not burn into a pile of rubble and cinder simply because your child has the stomach flu and you spend your day mopping up the bathroom floor. In these instances, take care of your child while they are awake. Then, take care of yourself and get some work done while they are resting or sleeping. While you won’t get as much done, progress is still progress. Your schedule must remain flexible to the needs of your clients and any coworkers. You may be able to work at 10:00 pm, but your coworker who works from the home office or your client who works from a physical location won’t necessarily appreciate a cell phone call then to discuss business.
Not for Wimps
Working from home is not for wimps. You must be self-disciplined to the highest order. You must be flexible for your children and your business contacts. You must be willing to acknowledge that working from home does not mean that you have to or need to do it all. This isn’t about being a super woman. It’s about being able to balance the best of both worlds. Eventually you will realize that working from home is a total lifestyle and that will give you more insight or freedom than you could possibly imagine.