Working Moms
DiaMT
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Anyone work from home? Advice please.
DiaMT
member
in Working Moms
I'm returning to work next week. I have the option to work from home 1-2 days a week. We're starting out on a trial basis. If I'm successful, I'll be able to continue to work from home (and maybe even more days). Obviously, if I can't get my work done, I'll have to go into the office every day. What advice can you give me to make it work? How do you manage working from home and caring for your LO? Do you put in extra hours to get it all done? What's your schedule?
Any tips, tricks, advice, or even what not to do will be helpful. TIA!!
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Re: Anyone work from home? Advice please.
Most parents who work from home have childcare for their children. And most companies that allow employees to work from home demand this as part of the arrangement.
You simply can't work and take care of your child at the same time. If your job doesn't require you to work certain hours, you could always do your work in the evenings/at night when your DH is home........but that seems like a miserable set-up to me.
So, do you actually work from home or just chiming in with your two cents?
Yes, it's a legit question. Sorry if it may have sounded snarky but I'm really looking for advice from someone who's done it. If having someone babysit or something while I work from home is the only option, then I'd work in the office the full 40 hours instead. I know that people have done it and made it work, that's why I want to know what their secret is.
I think it is obvious the answer is that you try to work while either holding your baby, while he/she is in a playpen, or asleep. Or when you have a sitter. No secrets.
Which means it is difficult to put in a full day without a sitter. Duh.
If I had an employee who wanted to cheat my company by doing another full-time "job" while trying to do mine, they would not last long.
At all.
It sounds like you're looking for both telecommuting AND flextime (working 8 hours on your own schedule, not your employer's). If your work is mostly independent and doesn't involve meeting deadlines or attending conference calls, that may be a viable option for you.
Generally speaking most jobs don't function that way - you do have to be available, instantly, between certain hours and dial in for meetings and so on. And for those jobs you absolutely can not take care of a child on the company's time.
To echo what someone else said, the people who try generally get caught and fired. Once I was on an international conference call (difficult to set up due to time zones, and very expensive) and someone's squalling baby was VERY audible. She was promptly fired.
I guess I'm looking to use mostly flextime as my job is very independent. I do have meetings but luckily they're biweekly so I can plan to be in the office on those days. Other than that, the only person I'd be meeting with over the phone is my boss and he is aware that I will be home with my son and will need to tend to his needs throughout the day. So, maybe what I'm realistically looking at is committing 10-12 hours to get in 8 hours of work. My deadlines are quarterly and if I don't meet a deadline, then I'm fired (no negotiating).
I'll give you my two cents as someone who's tried it for a little while. I ended up needing some additional time to transition DD into daycare because she was stubbornly refusing bottles...long story short, work was fine with me working from home for the month of December on a 50% basis (20 hours per week). I have had DD in daycare MWF for increasing periods of time (just started doing full days a little over a week ago).
The times when I have DD all day and try to get my work done are very difficult. It is hard to get even 4 hours in during the day and care for her. Also, FWIW, I probably could have done it better when she was younger (I see your LO is 2 months) but now she needs a LOT of entertainment. Being held is not enough any more. I have found myself having to work on weekends and after she's asleep at night, which is no picnic, and this is in spite of the fact that work is REALLY slow this time of year (which is why they let me do this in the first place) so I don't have a full workload to begin with. I have also had to put her in the Moby and dance around with one finger on the mute button during conference calls with clients...it is quite a juggling act. My employer knows what I'm doing and they are totally fine with it, but it still doesn't make it easy to manage.
Bottom line, although I'm still sad about going back full time in January and being away from her every day, I think it will be somewhat of a relief to be able to focus and work like a normal person again. DD will be happier, too, because she gets bored and restless when I'm distracted with work stuff during the day. I'm extremely grateful to have been able to do what I've done for this month because DD is doing a lot better with her eating and I feel a lot better about going back now, but I wouldn't want to try to keep up this kind of scenario for the long term. Hope some of this is helpful! Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
At this point, if you have flex hours, it may be possible. Obviously you care for your child now, so you know the demands, and how much time that takes vs. how much you will have free during naps or whatever to get things done. Keep in mind that 8 hours broke up into 15-20 minute intervals is not as productive as 8 solid hours of working.
I was a full time grad student and worked part time remotely for an employer when DD was a baby, and it worked fine: with flexible hours, working at it all day long, I was able to get my 8 hours in. The only way it worked, honestly, was if DH took over DD when he got home, giving me a couple of solid hours.
When DD got to be around 6 months old, and was awake for more time/more demanding of attention that primarily feeding, holding, and diapers, it started to get next to impossible. More and more work had to happen when DH was home. Our situation changed when DD was around 7-8 months, thankfully, it was getting to the point where it would have been impossible to continue.
I worked from home for almost 3 years after DD1 was born. I'm not trying to discourage you, but unless you have the kind of job that can be done off-hours (basically, while your baby is sleeping) it is not going to work out unless you have childcare for DC while you're working.
When I WAH full-time, DD went to daycare 3 days/week, DH was home with her one day and I "worked" while caring for her one day. That day she was home with me was awful, I could not get any work done, yet I also felt like I was neglecting her because I had to pay attention to work as well. And it only got worse as she got older, to the point that she would cry if I even went near my computer!
So last summer we ended up moving closer to my office (I worked at home because we were living 2 hours away from my work) I cut back my hours to 4 days/week and I now work one day from home, but the kids are in daycare. The other 3 days I go to the office and they're either in daycare or DH watches them.
If you have a job where you don't have to be available during regular business hours, this could definitely work. You could work while LO sleeps and on weekends when DH is home. But please don't plan to WAH and take care of LO at the same time -- you are setting yourself up for failure both at work and as a mommy.
I've done it -- I do it. When DS was very young, I cared for him and got my work done. It meant I worked long hours into the night, but my boss didn't care as long as I met my deadlines. When DS was very little, it wasn't that hard. He napped three times a day until he was 1 and then twice a day until he was 2.
Then he got older and wanted to do more things. And we'd be stuck inside because I had to get some work done instead of spending the entire day at the beach or the park or whatever. So he got enrolled in daycare three days a week, and it was wonderful. Now that he's 3, I get a sitter for the fourth day and we're on our own the fifth day. That last day is always the hardest.
I would rather work from home with a sitter than go into the office because I still get to be a part of DS's day. I get to fix his lunch and I get to read him a story before he takes a nap. I get to see him throughout the day, which makes me feel so much closer with him.
If he's sick, it's not a huge deal fo rme get work done and take care of him (he's usually just cuddled up on the couch next to me anyway). I have NO commute, which is awesome for me because my commute was 2 hours each way previously.
If you try to take care of your child and get your work done, you'll be giving up something. When DS was very young, it meant that I gave up any spare moment of free time I had. That got old, quick. I had no life because I had to work any free second I had.
Wow, angry much? I work from home 2-3 days a week and my colleagues who have children use daycare or a sitter at least most of the time. When I was in college I was the sitter for a woman who worked from home a couple days a week. I didn't get paid as much as I would have had she not been home because the level of responsibility was slightly lower (she prepared lunch and was there for major breakdowns) and I sometimes left while she was still working, but it was a great arrangement for both of us.
http://oi62.tinypic.com/2w73hq9.jpg
why does that seem miserable?
To the OP: I work from home and my mom watches my babies for a few hours each day. I also work in the evenings, while my DH puts the babies to bed. And yes, I work on the weekends. But I dont find it miserable at all! I enjoy the days I spend with my kids and if I have to work a Saturday morning, or a Sunday evening, so be it.
Sometimes I get a few hours in while the kids nap but you cant rely on your child to nap (you can only hope)
If you want you can private message me for more info-
However it really depends on the flexibility of your job and the hours that need to be put in to meet whatever obligations you have. I WAH and have since my DD was born- I do not have extra help- however that being said- my job has very weird hours- (they would as well if i worked in the office- and requires very late hours due to international conference calls etc)-- like the other poster said- i don't mind working the odd hours/weekends etc because i am home and can care for my DD attentively and solely and work around my SAH schedule. Not every postion has that kind of set up.
I work from home full time, and did not even consider trying to watch my DS while trying to work. I've had to a few times when daycare was closed, and it is extremely difficult, I could never do it all the time. I love knowing that I have my set hours to work, and then when DS is home, I can completely focus on him. It would be difficult for our family if I was trying to take care of DS and work at the same time, as I would most likely be spending time after DS goes to bed working - which would take away from my time with DH.
Working from home frees up time to do other things that I could never do if I went into an office - I can throw in loads of laundry, get the dishwasher going, all while I am working. If I was working outside the house I would have to spend time that I could be spending with DS keeping up with those things. Not to mention the time/money saved not commuting. So it does give me more time with my little boy, even though he is not at home with me all day.
To answer your question, I worked from home 1 day a week the first 3 months of my maternity leave. I was in office weds, Thurs, fri. I have a report that needs to be to my boss by Monday at noon. The first few weeks I thought I could do it Monday morning while holding the baby. That didn't work out at all. Then I figured that I could do it Sunday daytime, and just email it on Monday. But we have busy lives and like to be out and about on Sundays...so it ended up with me doing that report every Sunday night. And I like to spend my Sunday nights cuddling on the couch with DH and the baby...not typing in the computer. So I kept pushing the report back later and later on Sunday, until DH would go to bed and I would be typing from midnight to 3 am...so long story short, I ended up changing my schedule, and am now in the office every Monday, it's just easier for me and my family. Good luck with your choice! Sounds to me like you should either get a nanny, or just go into the office.
I have the option to WAH and do so at least a few times a month. You still need to send your DC to their DCP. Having to care for your child while trying to complete duties for your employer is too difficult (at least for what I do) and in the end you won't be productive.
I have WAH when DS was with me however this was when he was sick and I did not have a choice. On those days he usually ends up sleeping most of the day. Even with him sleeping I still end up working a few hours in the evening once DH gets home. The days I WAH with DS I let my manager know so that she won't be caught off guard by the fact that I'm not responding as quickly as usual.
I said all that to say that I don't reccommend you try it. Especially if you will be doing this initially as a trial to see if they can trust you to get your work done at home.