Tuesday 29 June 2010

The working from home thing


I'm not having a good working week, which has prompted me to think / write about the whole working from home thing.

Generally I love it and am very, very grateful that Cottontails is what I do. And it's fair to say there are loads of positives to working from home, just off the top of my head:

- I don't have to get up early (not a morning person)
- I can work in my nightie if I want to
- I can have Humphrey at work with me
- Friends and my mum can pop in
- I'm here to take deliveries and things at home

But a lot of these positives have another side:

- Not having to get up early means, well, that I don't... and am often a lazy article
- I miss having to put a bit of make up on and wear nice clothes
- People pop in, I pop out. Discipline is lacking
- I get distracted by household chores - washing up, watering the garden
- I miss having someone to talk to about worky stuff (apart from Humphrey)
- I don't have set working hours... i.e. here I am writing this in the evening

It's a funny thing when work and life are as mashed up as mine are. Mainly I love it, but just sometimes I miss the structure of working elsewhere, the sense of 'coming home' in the evening, the proper 'switching off'.

Right now it's 7.30pm and having had a really lackluster couple of days I am still out here in the office, kind of half-working. Feeling guilty that I've been lazy for a couple of days. Feeling like I don't deserve an evening off because I haven't really had a day 'on'.

Must try harder.

But, I wouldn't swap it. And when all else fails, I just look at my long eared colleague sleeping under the desk and can't fail to be grateful.

6 comments:

@jencull (jen) said...

Found you through the bloghop over at Frugal Family:) I have just started working from home and I am thrilled, but I can see exactly what you mean about things being a mish mash. I will have to learn how to deal with that!! Hope you get back into stride:) Jen

Pom Pom said...

Oh yes, Humphrey is a definite perk to working at home. Isn't it interesting that some days certain things bug us and other days they don't? Moods. I love Cottontails, so think about all the happy you are sending around the world. Who says that days must hold productivity? That's a human idea and we all know that the earth is something other than human. I take comfort in that. Just put a little funny colored lipstick on every morning, so you can laugh when you look in the mirror.

Sarah said...

I used to feel EXACTLY like that when I was working at home all day. Not a morning person either! I work away from home in the mornings and am home by about 1.30, but by that time am a bit too worn out to be too productive 1.30 onwards!

Life is all about balance. The nack is getting it right. I'll let you know when I have!

Hugs, Sarah x

Annette Tait said...

gosh - a full day with Humphrey would be super!
I think the positives far outweigh the negatives :)

Unknown said...

I also work from home and loved it for 10 years. I did recently start working outside my home 5 hrs a day. I have to say I am loving life in both worlds.

Sara
http://www.momentsofelegance.com

Jeannette said...

Ultimately freedom and responsibility are really quite a good match for each other. While you work out the transitional feelings I think you should invest in really cute pj's!