How to Know if Working From Home Is For You

If you’ve ever thought that working from home, or remotely, is the perfect option for you, I’m glad to have you here!

I know many mothers have considered the possibilities of working remotely, wondering if it would be easier (or more difficult) with kids. Working remotely is different from launching your own business or working for yourself; you have the stability of a paycheck, with the stipulation that you don’t have to be in an office everyday. But that doesn’t mean the job is any less rigorous or challenging day-to-day… and working from home, with or without kids, can add some speed bumps to that road as well.

There are many positions now that can be done entirely remotely. Things like copywriting, copyediting, project management, and more can be done remotely and many mothers possess those skills, even if they’ve never worked in those positions before. If you’re considering trying a remote position, I recommend looking for jobs in your area from the start. We’ll talk about why later on.

Here are a few benefits to working from home for moms:

• You spend less money on daycare. If you decide to go for a remote position, you’ll want to decide if you want to put your kids in daycare or keep them home with you. My recommendation is to test out both options. However, with a reduced commute and the possibility to have your kids with you a few days a week, you’ll drastically reduce the amount you spend on daycare.

• You’ll have more time for everything else. Working from home does not mean you’ll be able to do everything else in your house throughout the day; working 8 hours a day from home should mean you work 8 hours just like you would at home. However, that doesn’t mean you won’t be able to throw in a load of laundry or start dinner earlier. Plus, again, without a commute, you’ll have more time to focus on what you need to—instead of driving around.

• You’ll feel less stressed. If you find the daycare drop off plus commute plus getting everything ready for the day plus trying to take care of your home very overwhelming… then working remotely can be a great option as it eliminates several of those things, or at least reduces the time crunch that is put on them.

However, when it comes to working from home, there are also some cons. It would be disingenuous for me to not include those. Here are a few:

• Work-life balance becomes way more challenging. You work in your home. You take care of your kids while you work. The boundaries become much more blurred and it can be hard to manage both. Part of the challenge of working remotely is knowing how to set your boundaries, and that comes with time.

• You’ll feel isolated. When I went back to work after having Forrest, and before I started working from home more frequently, I was so excited to go back to work primarily because I wanted to see other adult humans. There is value in being around other people, even if you’re an introvert, like me.

• You have additional requirements. Working from home isn’t a free-for-all. Most businesses will require check ins and, if your workplace is more local to you, that means occasional check ins in person. If your workplace isn’t near you, you might be required to travel there to check in every once and a while. It just depends.

If you look over these lists and think, it sounds like a challenge, but one that’s exciting for me!, then working from home might be for you. Let’s go over a few more points.

What Skills Can You Offer?

There are some skills that are just plan more suited to working from home than others. If you have a long career of a job that can now be done pretty much 100% online (like payroll, copywriting, and more), you probably can work from home relatively successfully, with maybe a few in-person check ins per month. Some workplaces as well as more suited to remote workers as well. If your workplace has a system like Slack in place for in-office messages, then it’s much easier to work from home. If not, it can be more challenging to work remotely.

You’ll want to consider how your skills can be used remotely and how it would effect your performance. Do you think you could be as productive of an employee from home? Is your workplace equipped for a remote employee or would you be applying for a new position? These are all things to take into account when it comes to working from home or remotely.

How Are Your Time Management Skills?

Working from home means you’re managing your own schedule. No one will stop by your desk to remind you of something; no one will be watching you to make sure you’re working and not, say, drifting to sleep on the couch while watching Hallmark Movies. It’s easy to do when you work from home; it’s easy to get distracted, to start trying to handle everything on your to do list in your home (like all that laundry you need to fold or emptying the dishwasher). But when you are working from home, you have to resist the urge to start doing those things. It’s very easy to slip into the mindset that you can always make it up, that people don’t know. But the more you focus on your work away from your actual job, the harder it will be to catch up and actually get things done.

You have to be able to be strict with yourself, manage your time appropriately, and prioritize. If that’s not something you can do, then forget it.

Can You Handle the Mental Health Aspect?

As I said, working from home can blur the lines between your life and your work. The same is true for people who own their own businesses, of course. But when you work remotely for someone else, you can feel really isolated from your coworkers and your workplace. Part of the benefit of working in an office is being able to connect with other people in your work space and being able to connect and socialize. If you work remotely, there is less of that and you may start to feel isolated. As well, spending days not leaving your house in the winter can be hard. You have to be able to set a routine in place so you don’t end up wearing the same pajamas or sweatpants for an entire week without leaving your house.

For many, office politics can be one of the most challenging parts of their job; for that reason, working remotely can be a blessing. However, it’s important to remember that we’re all social beings, even if we’re introverts, so it’s something to consider when you decide to work from home.

5 Tips to Make Working from Home Easier

It's easy to think that working from home will be, well, easy. You're in the comfort of your own home. You can stay in your pajamas. You can eat a real breakfast, drink as much coffee as you want, lounge in bed as you look at spreadsheets. 

Reality sets in promptly the first time you try to work from home. At least for me. The moment I started working from home a lot (when I was pregnant with Forrest, primarily), it's like everything in my house became way more... distracting. I worked from home an average of 2 or 3 days a week when I was pregnant, thanks in part to exhaustion, preeclampsia, and morning sickness. There were days where it felt like I could not focus and, of course, days where I got everything I needed done completed so I could wallow in bed and try not to throw up again. 

I don't work from home anymore. Why? Well, working from home with a toddler is near impossible. (If you somehow achieve this, I need your secrets.) I do work from home if Forrest is at my mom's or daycare, like when I was sick in March. 

If you're thinking of starting to take some work from home days, these tips are for you. 

1. Have a "I'm working" spot. 

And I don't mean the desk where you normally charge your computer. I've always been a person who has a desk where I spend most of my evenings, but I know this is becoming less and less common. However, when I'm working from home, I clear another space in my house--usually the kitchen table--to be my "office." Having a clearly designated space, as if I was actually in my work office, helps me to stay focused. 

2. Use the same background noise that you use at work. 

If you listen to music, or podcasts, at work, do that at home too. When I first started working from home, I tried to use my "at home" background noise--the TV--and found it way too distracting. If I listen to music or a podcast, it's like my brain assumes I really am at work and I stay more focused. 

3. Use that familiar study tip: take 10 minute breaks every 30 minutes. 

Honestly, I do this at work (in the office) too. Every 30 minutes, stand up, stretch, walk around for 10 minutes. Then get back to work. Your brain will feel remarkably refreshed and you'll be better able to focus. 

4. If you can, turn off the Wifi. 

If you have the kind of job where you don't need a 24/7 connection to the internet, turn off your Wifi when you're really getting into a task. I often do this when I'm trying to write and getting distracted by Twitter notifications and everything the internet has to offer. 

5. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work. 

Hey, if you try to work from home (to reduce commute costs or because you're sick), and it's just not working--hey, that's ok. It's not for everybody! Don't try to keep forcing it if you are aware that you aren't getting everything done or achieving the goals you want. It's possible that getting out of the house might help--working from a coffee shop or bookstore might work better for you. Or, maybe you're just an office kind of person. 

The Benefits of Being Treated Like an Adult At Work

This post originally appeared on my old lifestyle blog, Ellipsis, over 2 years ago. This is a minor rewrite. If you'd like to see the original, click here. 

Sometimes, I feel like I've tricked people into thinking I'm an adult. The amount of responsibility--for other people's companies, for their public images--I'm handed every day is kind of astounding, despite the fact that I feel like I should still be answering to someone. And yet, sometimes--when there are dishes in the sink, or the stairs need vacuuming, or I've run out of clean socks--I find myself wishing I could opt out, have someone else be the grown up and take care of that. 

I'm a little obsessed by age--acting my age, acting like a grown up, acting like a kid. There are times where I feel like I really shouldn't be 27--I feel about 14 or 15, tops. And I'm not the only millennial that feels that way. Even though I have a child now, I still often feel like I'm not the adult in any given situation. I look to other adults to help me out, more often than not. 

I recently read an article about the benefits of treating employees like, well, adults. The United States in particular has fallen into the trap of treating employees like students and/or children: dress codes, strict times to show up and leave, strong rules of how to do things, specific procedures, and limited creative freedom. Boooooring. Isn't that supposed to be the benefit of leaving school? You start getting to work and act like an adult? 

I've started to wonder if my own inability to see myself as an adult is tied to the fact that my jobs, up until two years ago, all treated me as if I was a child. 

At one of my last jobs before my current one, my boss had a rule that I had to tell someone when I was stepping into the bathroom for even a minute. About 9 times a day I was telling my boss and/or one of my coworkers that I was going to the bathroom, and they were doing the same thing. It was obnoxious and embarrassing. What kind of boss really needs to know when I'm taking a 45 second break to run to the restroom?

I know I'm not alone in having stories like that. It seems like workplaces overwhelmingly lean towards treating employees like overgrown babies who need a lot of rules to do basic work. And, surprise! Research shows that when you treat employees like little bitty babies, they are act more irresponsibility. 

As well, treating employees like children allows bad employees to fly underneath the radar. We've all know a coworker for followed all the rules--showed up on time, followed procedures to the letter--but never actually did any work. Those kind of employees thrive in environments where the procedure matters more than the outcome--and being a "good employee" is all about following the basic policies. 

This article explains the entire idea nicely: 

What works is focusing on results. If your employees are nonexempt, you do have to pay them by the hour for their work (and pay overtime, when applicable), but if they are exempt employees (that is, professionals or managerial or outside sales workers), let them be grownups. Set expectations. If problems come up, address the problems. If their work is otherwise good, who cares if they check Facebook eight times per day?

There isn't any real, concrete reason about why this has happened. With the rise of the Internet & the abundance of smart phones, I think employers have grown increasingly concerned about not paying their employees for downtime. They focus on the minute-by-minute action of their employees days, instead of seeing the big picture -- did the project get done? Was the work good?

In the end, you get employees who resent their bosses & act like kids. 

As millennials increasingly enter the workforce, I think we'll see employers re-evaluating their policies when it comes to how they treat their employees. As it is, millennials as a generation feel very stuck by where we are--most of us moved back in with our parents right out of college & some still do until they can afford their own places. Millennials are resisting buying new cars and homes. (I do love that these articles are trying to find a reason for this. Here's the reason, guys: most new jobs are part-time & do not offer very competitive wages, nor do they offer many benefits. We aren't buying homes and cars because, duh, we don't have the money for them, plain & simple. Paying student loans on part-time wages and trying to buy a car or a home would be beyond financially stupid.)

And while us millennials struggle to feel like adults (often because we are being reduced to feeling like children because of our living situations, our difficulty finding good paying jobs, and the media's increasing obsession with making us sound like the laziest generation ever), no one is ever happy being treated like a petulant child. 

For the first time, I work at a job where I am treated like a competent adult. Ultimately, it doesn't matter when I show up or how I do my work or how many times I run to the bathroom; what matters is if my work is good, if I get it done on time, and if I am a nice person to everyone around me. Easy-peasy. The feeling of satisfaction I get from my work simply because I'm treated like the adult I was taught to be is astounding.
 

Being a grown up is hard. There's no reason to make it any harder by treating people like children & then wondering why they act like children. As far as I'm concerned, I feel like I should still be 15--but that being said, I know I'm really an adult and I appreciate when others have confidence in my abilities.

You Shouldn't Feel Bad About Getting Your Nails Done (But That Doesn't Mean You Shouldn't Support Change)

If you haven't read the New York Times series Unvarnished, I highly recommend you do. And if you, like me, immediately feel uncomfortable after reading it, then the following is also something for you. 

If you don't have time for a several series investigate journalism piece, I'll sum it up for you: in New York City, one of the most expensive cities in the world, manicures and pedicures are cheap. Like, dirt cheap. A mani-pedi that might cost me perhaps $50-60 here in Oregon would cost may $20-30. Yeah, that's a big difference, especially considering that the cost of living in Oregon is staggeringly cheaper than New York City. 

Want to know the big reason nail services are so cheap in New York City? Surprise! It's because it's essentially slave labor! 

And it's probably not just in New York City, too. Several large chains are being investigated, which means that mall-based salons throughout the country are going to be under a microscope for their labor procedures. 

The main problem is that many of the manicurists working in New York City are here illegally; they don't speak much English; and they are desperate. The primarily groups are Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese workers, as well as some Spanish workers and other Asian minorities. 

There are lots of horrible stories in the first part of Unvarnished. You read about a woman charged $270 (more than her average paycheck) for accidentally dripping nail polish remover on a New York woman's sandal, and then being fired; she concludes with, "I am worth less than a shoe." You read about a woman paying $200 to start working in a nail salon--common practice, a fee for "training"--and then working for three months without being paid. When she is finally told she will be paid, she finds out her daily wage is less than $3. There are more stories: tips are skimmed or stolen by the owners, women go months without being paid or are charged for supplies and services they use in their work. Some women hand their entire paychecks over for childcare. Women suffer miscarriages from the fumes or get sick. 

It's devastating. The entire series so far is devastating. 

And if you enjoy manicures and pedicures, it can start to eat at you.

I occasionally get pedicures at a salon in my hometown. It is very small and owned by a Vietnamese family; the manager is their son, who has a degree in mathematics. The workers all seem to be family. They are friendly and seem very happy. I tip well when I go there and chat with them. If they happened to accidentally spill nail polish or drip remover on my shoe, I wouldn't freak out; accidents happen. 

The responses to Unvarnished vary. Lots of women feel guilty. And lots of others get mad about why anyone thinks it is ok to get a pedicure or manicure. "Doesn't it just stink of servitude to begin with??" one comment says.  The answer is, no, not really. It's like any other salon service, like getting your hair cut or colored. Yeah, you could do it yourself; but it's nice to occasionally have someone else do it. 

As long as they're paid accordingly, of course. 

The issue at play here is this: The minute we read about something horrible happening, it's a natural human instinct to think (or potentially say), "but how does this effect  ME???" 

The answer is: it doesn't. This issue doesn't really touch you, unless you are one of the hundreds of manicurists working slave wages. You can't think of this issue in terms of you and your feelings and your guilt. You have to think of it in terms of: What can I do to ensure it improves? 

Already, New York City has taken steps to make changes to their salons. There will be sweeps of all nail salons in the city. That's a big first step. If you truly want things to change, you shouldn't focus on what you feel about it; instead, you should make steps to ensure public policy change. Ask at salons you visit, write your senators and governor, sign petitions. Do something.

You don't have to stop getting manicures or pedicures, especially if you like them. You should support measures that would protect salon workers and ensure them fair wages and safe working conditions (including further testing on the chemicals used during acrylic manicures and their long-term health effects). You shouldn't be paralyzed by your own guilt, but you also shouldn't ignore the issue.