Working From Home â The Best of Both Worlds
These days, most families cannot afford to live on one, single salary. The family dynamic usually changes when a couple decides to have children, and this might put one parent in a position in which they need to stay at home with the kids.
Many couples opt for the mother to stay home with the children, until the kids are of school going age. Thus, the popularity of âwork-from-homeâ jobs has grown substantially over the last few years.
There are many benefits to working from home, and making your own hours. The best way to explain just how rewarding this can be, for moms especially, is through a testimonial: my own.
As a stay at home mom myself, I have found several benefits in acquiring employment that I can execute from the comfort of my own home.
My first child was born in 2010. I was fresh out of college, and living with my parents. I was able to sustain a job in an office, as my dad was retired, and was free to watch my child. Even though this wasnât ideal, it was a workable solution.
Cut to 8 years later. I am married, I have two children with a third on the way and my husband and I both have full time jobs.
The children need to be at school in the morning, no earlier than 7am, and no later than 8am. They need to be picked up by 3pm, and then have to be taken to extra mural activities.
By 6pm the food needs to be ready, as I donât want the kids to eat too late, and my husband only gets home at 7pm, or I am sure he would have gladly assisted in any chores that needed to be done. By 8 pm, the kids are bathed, and ready for bed. (Let us not even discuss how we fit homework into this schedule).
Now, that might all sound impossible, as I mentioned that I was employed full time⌠right?
Well, I am⌠just, I work from home.
I started my work from home journey two years ago, and I never looked back. My day can start as early or as late as I need it to, and I can fulfil the usual (and sometimes unusual) motherly duties, but scheduling around my workload. As long as my deadlines are met, I donât have the inconvenience of having to report to an office, usually situated a few hours away from my home.
I do not waste any of my familyâs money on travelling costs, and personally, I feel that working in oneâs own time, in a relaxed environment can only be beneficial to achieving the best, most impressive output.
And what is a more relaxed environment than your own home?
Another benefit, among many, is that I am always available for my children.
Children get ill without any warning, any parents can tell you of the nightmare of having to take off work because your baby has a booboo.
Also, from home, doesnât necessarily have to be âfrom homeâ. While the kids are at school, you could work from the beach, or your favorite cafĂŠ. All you need a steady Wi-Fi connection and youâre mostly good to go.
Working from has several challenges too. Like with anything new, there are changes and adjustments that accompany the teething phase.
Discipline is a very important factor, which is tied in with effective time management
Even though you arenât in an office setting, making sure that you have somewhat of a guideline schedule to your day will help a whole bunch when you have to juggle several duties.
Even though you now have the freedom to fulfill domestic tasks, there is always a danger of putting off your work because you can âdo it laterâ. This is one for the ways your tasks pile up, and you could find yourself days, even weeks behind.
Also, laziness is a definite threat to working from home.
Okay, maybe not laziness, but definitely âover relaxationâ.
When you get the kids to school, and you do some cleaning and finally decide to have a cup of coffee before you dive into your work, starting a series, or chatting on your phone seems harmless.
It is sometimes very difficult to get the ball rolling with your work. But most work from home moms will tell you that the trick to getting into your work is just that ⌠get into it. Once you start, you should start feeling those brain juices flowing.
Interestingly, working from home is helping women close the wage gap, reports Forbes Magazine.
Dawn May, a manager at Robert Walters, says: âParticularly among tech firms, the freedom to work remotely is becoming increasingly popular with professionals. The flexibility these policies afford staff is a powerful draw for top talent.â
Forbes continues; the tech industry has a reputation for being against remote work. Case in point, Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer who in a storm of controversy killed the companyâs popular work from home policy because she believed people are more collaborative and innovative when they are working together.
This mindset needs to be changed if we want to improve gender imbalance in tech and stop women from feeling pressured in choosing between two important aspects of their lives.
Remote work allows women to work from wherever they feel most productive and watch their children grow up without having to hit pause on their career progression.
So if you feel that you are overwhelmed by the responsibility of getting to the office, and getting to your childâ soccer practice, look into either working remotely in your chosen career, or finding some great admin work that will pay the bills, as well as afford you the luxury of free time.
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