Women Who Work From Home Are Lucky (or Not?)

A lot of my online friends are telling me how lucky I am that I work from home. Then, I came across an entry from a work from home mom like myself and decided to list down the pros and cons of telecommuting.

PROS:
1. You don’t have to wake up early so you can sleep really late
2. No need to travel, commute and mingle with weirdos who keeps on “accidentally” brushing your thigh or resting their heads on your shoulder
3. No need to plan what clothes to wear
4. You can brush your teeth / take a bath whenever you want to.
5. Take a nap every hour / sleep in the afternoons
6. Play with your kid, watch tv while working, do some household chores
7. Less expensive because you don’t have to pay extra for gas, cab fare, lunch and new clothes

CONS:
1. I miss conversing with other people (nonsense chit-chats or serious discussions)
2. I don’t get to dress up
3. I get easily distracted: tv, books, playtime, online chats, phone calls w/ friends and digiscrapping
4. Related to #4. I find it hard to focus especially if I need to study a new program or come up with a design for a new site. It’s very different working in an office where you can look at your computer and tell yourself “here’s your deadline, start working!” When you’re at home, there’s just so much freedom that I always find myself saying “I’ll [insert distraction here] for now and work on that later”.
5. Having all the time to rest, I find that I’m always tired.
6. It’s hot!! You just can’t turn on the aircon the whole day.

Working from home is definitely not for everyone. I read somewhere that to be able to deliver efficiently, you need to set a schedule and do your usual morning routine. You should also dress up as if you’re going out and have your own office where no one can enter unless instructed to do so. (I work inside our bedroom wearing my sleepwear with my daughter playing beside me on the playmat.)

It’s really fun and amazing if you can work it out. However, there are times that I feel like I’m losing a part of myself. This feeling could’ve been brought about by something else so I don’t know if I should blame it on my current work setup. At the end of the day, nothing beats watching your little girl’s milestone and mischief. So I guess, yeah…I’m still lucky after all.