Working from Home

When I first started working I used to think traveling for work would be awesome.  Then I realized when you travel for work you don't really get to see the places you travel to.  It's usually fly in and fly out.

As I got older, and technology got to be what it is, working from home became all the rage.  Back in the day when I was at CM I used to wish I could work from home.  The days I did get to work from home, I found I got quite a bit done.  I would work longer duration of hours, but still get in my 8 hours - and get laundry done and what not.

Now I have a dream job and I get to work from home.  I'm discovering it isn't nearly as glamorous as I once thought. Oh yes, it's definitely fun and cool to roll out of bed and basically start working with minimal effort - simply brushing my teeth, brushing my hair and washing my face.  Not the entire effort to "get ready" for work and then commute.

Here's what I've discovered about working from home that never crossed my mind before.

1. My heating bill is higher.  I used to set my thermostat at 65 and let it stay there all day. The heat would turn up by the time I was home. Now I turn the heat up upon getting up in the morning. The heating bill with therefore be higher.

2. No laundry. I never really have to wear my work clothing - a couple time a week and that's it.  I change my clothes every morning into work out clothing - assuming I'm going to go work out - some days I do, most days I don't. So while I still have to do laundry, it's not nearly as much.

3. No socializing.  Turns out the cats won't actually talk back to me.  I miss having drive by conversations with work peeps. I find I'm eating more lunches out in order to have some type of adult conversations that don't include the phrase, "Don't eat the rug."

4. Sleeping in.  Back to the not having to get ready or commute thought, I also get to sleep in for those very reasons.  If I want to start work at 7:30, I merely have to get up at 7:15, not the 6:30 time I previously was waking. More sleep means I'm not as cranky.

5. Procrastination. Oh man, when you are working from home and things get slow, it seems it's easier to procrastinate during the day. I figure, sometimes, I can work later in the evening if I need to run an errand during the day. Putting off temporarily the work I need to get done. The work still gets done there's no doubt about that.  It just may not get done during the normal working hours.

6. Gas. Working from home means I don't commute much, as I've said. Which means I'm saving $$ by not filling Sparky up as often. Though one could argue that going to lunch more isn't saving $$ or gas. 

7. Not feeling well. The other great advantage of working from home is when you don't feel well. I've been fighting a cold this week and it's been nice to not have to go into work and potentially share my germs.

So at the end of the day, I am enjoying working from home.  It definitely has it's advantages and disadvantages, but at the end of the day, I'm loving my job and the circumstances around it.