When is home working a bad idea?
I was recently talking to a long-standing home worker who’s going through a divorce (unfortunately not an amicable one) and he said something that got me thinking – ‘I need a job’. What he meant was that spending long periods of time alone in his home office was not the best way to deal with all the emotions and upheaval going on in his life.
For me though, working from home was actually a help at the end of my marriage, although admittedly my situation was different in that we were able to agree on all aspects of the parting of the ways.
When I felt down I’d just go to bed for an hour or two. I’m a great believer in the restorative power of sleep to tackle all kinds of ills and it never let me down. I think I was able to come to terms with the massive change in my life quicker than if I’d had to go out to work every day and switch my brain into totally different concerns until after 5pm.
Other people I know have abandoned their home office after the birth of a child and when they felt they needed more input than home working could give them. Are there any times in life when working from home might be a bad idea? Would you go out and get a job, or are there ways to work around it?
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There is no doubt working from home can be very stressful. I found I became the one on call for everything; work, telephone calls and that includes ones from 7 am to 11 pm, ferrying children. shopping, cooking, and the first thing my husband said to me would be to ask if I had done a certain job.
I loved going out to work but found the travelling to and from really added to the day. It is a trade-off.
Yep, both situations have their good and bad sides. The thing I like about working from home is that I’m in control of my time, both work and other time, so can plan it to suit myself. But I don’t have children and my partner works from home too, so in may respects I’m spoilt. Hope you’ve found a good balance 🙂
Ideally, I would love to see everyone work from home, but realistically that’s not the ideal situation for everyone. It takes discipline to work from home, but other factors including loneliness and the need for a place to meet with clients, can make an off-site office a better idea.
I’m amazed how anti home working some people still are, Lisa! I think home working is a much more realistic option for lots more now that coworking spaces are popping up in small towns as well as major cities. They give you that professional place to meet and the company of other people, but you still have the home office when you want to get your head down.
I’ve worked from home for 4 years, and would never return to an office through choice. I’m a work from home employee, so am quite content to turn everything work related off at 5pm and not tempted in any way to turn them back on until 9am The word ‘stress’ could not be further from my thinking; it’s been the most relaxing working experience. I can see that at some points the idea of co-working may benefit, for the conversation more than anything, but the lack of a commute alone would hold me back from a return to the office.
Ah, Jose, I think many self-employed home workers would envy your laid-back attitude! It’s great to hear about such a positive experience. I think a lot is to do with mindset and for some reason some people have very negative ideas about home working. Most people, though, are thoroughly converted once they try it and swear they’d never go back.