First, not all companies have the right culture for it, even if you are able to do it. I learned that with the first law firm I wrote about this week. If I had had real responsibilities, like a family, etc., that meant I couldn’t easily switch jobs, I would have made a mistake. I was never moving up in that company, and actually was getting squeezed out because I worked from home. Paying attention to a company’s track record, even just in general when it comes to work-life issues that are important to women, is always a good idea.
Second, I experienced this, and I have read that a lot of the professional bloggers have as well: there will come a time when you feel lonely, depressed, and a little shut in. I think of all the adjustments you go through working from home, learning to stave this off is a really big one. Working from coffee shops if your type of work allows it and just generally getting out of the house is key.
Third, you will have to establish time boundaries, for others and yourself. I mentioned that things will come up during the day that you wouldn’t have been able to take care of or attend, and these things will eat up a lot of time that really needs to be spent working. People will ask you for things, assuming that you have tons of time now that you work from home. It just isn’t the case usually. But you also need boundaries for yourself, because it is so easy to let work expand to take the entire day, at the expense of your sanity and your family, if you have one. I am a person who really likes to work on something for extended time periods, like 18 hours in one day, and then set it aside. I have had to force myself to stick to normal hours, like 8 or 10, and move on so I don’t go crazy.
Finally, there are definitely some trade-offs involved. For example, my phone goes everywhere, even though I do work on my own schedule. That doesn’t mean people in the office aren’t working when you aren’t. You definitely miss out on what is going on in the office, which may sound great at first, but there will be times when you miss the cameraderie.
So that’s it. I’m off to do some work before meeting a friend’s mom who is in town.
Your point about time boundaries is something I’ve read about a lot (for me, with regards to operating a photography business). One of the things that is focused on is setting working hours, i.e., 8-4 or 9-5, and sticking to those. One photographer talked about how she makes sure to only answer her phone, return/send emails, etc during those hours to set boundaries. Also, she stressed the fact that it is important to make sure that people know that even though you are at home during the day, you are indeed working and people should respect that and not drop by etc. I think all of this makes some really good points.
I can definitely understand becoming lonely and missing the camaraderie – not being able to work since January has been really tough in this sense.