I am so thankful to be given the opportunity to work from home with my current job. I have standardized on working from home every Friday unless there is a major meeting in the office. In my old job, I could work from home, but there wasn't the flexibility that I have where I am now. I get so much more done at home. I am able to work on things without interruptions from others. I also have the ability to throw the occasional load of laundry in or put something in the crock pot for dinner at the right time :) One of the biggest bonuses to working from home occasionally is not having to battle traffic into downtown. It saves me 90 mins of commute time each day that I work from home. I save on gas and it is better for the environment. I am so blessed to have this opportunity.
Another side benefit is that when I am in the office, I am making the most of my face-to-face connections. People don't seem to mind that I am working from home occasionally. I frequently am involved in conference calls from home and am immediately available via email or instant message. Since email/instant message is the most frequent form of communication amongst the people I work with, that works out great!
Working from home does take discipline though...it is important that I lay out a list of objectives for the day in order to stay on track. If not, I find myself wandering around the house doing a craft or watching the latest episode of whatever I am watching on Netflix. I build in breaks that help keep me focused when I am working on an item on my list. I can tell myself to work for say 50 min and then I get at 10 min break...
It also works because, unless it is a school holiday or one of the kids is sick, I have the house to myself and it is quiet. :) In case you are wondering, if I had my choice, I would work from home 4 days a week and go in one day for meetings, but the world doesn't revolve around me, so I'll take that 1 (and occassionally 2) days a week and be happy with that!
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Another side benefit is that when I am in the office, I am making the most of my face-to-face connections. People don't seem to mind that I am working from home occasionally. I frequently am involved in conference calls from home and am immediately available via email or instant message. Since email/instant message is the most frequent form of communication amongst the people I work with, that works out great!
Working from home does take discipline though...it is important that I lay out a list of objectives for the day in order to stay on track. If not, I find myself wandering around the house doing a craft or watching the latest episode of whatever I am watching on Netflix. I build in breaks that help keep me focused when I am working on an item on my list. I can tell myself to work for say 50 min and then I get at 10 min break...
It also works because, unless it is a school holiday or one of the kids is sick, I have the house to myself and it is quiet. :) In case you are wondering, if I had my choice, I would work from home 4 days a week and go in one day for meetings, but the world doesn't revolve around me, so I'll take that 1 (and occassionally 2) days a week and be happy with that!
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