If you work from home...

jd614

How do you like it? More importantly do you feel you get any more quality time with your children or not
Really ? I ask bc I want to apply for a job that is work from
Home probably 3x a week. The money is less but the job sounds
Interesting and I love the idea of
Working from home and maybe getting more
Time with DS. Right now I leave my house at 545 am and get home at 6pm. Working from
Home eliminates a commute which is 2 hrs a day and even tho I will still have a nanny, I think we can get her for less hrs and I still have the oppty to pop out from time to time and see my baby. Besides the money, what other factors are worth considering
Positives or negatives to this . My main really sole reason for making a switch is the oppty to work from
Home so I'm trying to
Decide if that's good enough reason or not ...

*sparky*

I WFH part time and work in the office part time.  I do like having the combination of doing both - if I WFH exclusively I think I would get bored and a little lonely.  We do use IM, Web Ex, etc. so I can connect with my CW's as needed when I am home, but it is definitely a little more isolating than being in the office.  It does give me the flexibility I need though - my commute is about an hour each way, so I save two hours a day when I WFH.  I also am able to deal with small things at home - like throwing in a load of laundry or being able to meet a contractor here.  I do have to make certain to treat my WFH days as work days though and not get sucked into non-work distractions.

If your LO will be home with a nanny, you will want to have a private work space so you can focus on work without your LO being able to see you there. 

I think having some days at home and some in the office is a great balance and if your budget can handle it I would say for me at least it is worth the reduced pay.

katieh1017

I WFH full time. I wish I had the option of going to the office. I get lonely for sure. I don't feel I send that much more time with her, maybe an hour total because that's what my commute was before? I also find myself working more. When she goes to bed I usually log back in for a couple hours. 

It has it's benefits. I can prep dinner before I get her, do laundry during the day, grocery shop after drop off. So I guess in a sense I do spend some extra time with her since I don't have to do it when she's with me.  

2-Step

I work from home 3x a week and I love it. I did not like my coworkers at my last job though, they were all very catty and dramatic and annoying. I get a lot more  time with my kids. I still take them to daycare, but its 5 min away as opposed to an hour commute each way. Plus I get two full days with them each week and I usually meet up with some of my SAHM friends on those days, so I get to socialize a little.

My best friend also works from home and has a very flexible schedule so we often go out for coffee and a walk or meet at the gym on our lunch break, that plus running errands on my lunches keeps me connected enough to the world.

I think it's important to get out and do things on your work days. Go to the gym on lunch, meet someone for coffee or even just go for a walk around the neighborhood. I do get a little antsy when I'm home all day, but I've found ways to make it better.  

 

jd614

Thank you all for the perspective! Everything u highlight makes so much sense. I think for me eliminating the 2
Hrs commuting each day is almost reason enough. And the balance of part time at home part time in work is enough to keep me sane. I just want to make sure ill be getting more time with DS and I think I will, even if its just eating bfast and lunch together every day it's worth it !!

82Sonia

I WFH 1 day a week. It's a challenge with a 6 mo old but I like it. I tend to do most of of my work the night before and during naps the day of. It works out pretty well for us.

EastCoastBride

I WFH one day a week too, but my normal commute isn't that long.  What I want to comment on is flexibility vs $$.  I've been stagnate for the past 5 years salary wise (state job, no raises).  It kills me.  but I have so much flexibility.  I set my own hours basically and I WFH one day a week.  I also get a ton of time off.

It truly gives me more time at home and w/ my family.  $$ is important, but it's just not THAT important.  Having good quality time w/ my DS is what matters to me - especially now, while he's young. 

And I'll say this - I see many people say "it's not the quantity of time, it's the quality of time".  I disagree.  Young kids want their parents there as much as possible.  My DS would rather me just sit in the same room w/ him for an hour (I could be reading a book while he's playing) than having me playing intently with him for 15 minutes.  KIDS want quantity.  

And having a job that gives me more time at home allows me to give that (my time) to DS. 

82Sonia

EastCoastBride:

I WFH one day a week too, but my normal commute isn't that long.nbsp; What I want to comment on is flexibility vs .nbsp; I've been stagnate for the past 5 years salary wise state job, no raises.nbsp; It kills me.nbsp; but I have so much flexibility.nbsp; I set my own hours basically and I WFH one day a week.nbsp; I also get a ton of time off. It truly gives me more time at home and w/ my family.nbsp; is important, but it's just not THAT important.nbsp; Having good quality time w/ my DS is what matters to me especially now, while he's young.nbsp; And I'll say this I see many people say "it's not the quantity of time, it's the quality of time".nbsp; I disagree.nbsp; Young kids want their parents there as much as possible.nbsp; My DS would rather me just sit in the same room w/ him for an hour I could be reading a book while he's playing than having me playing intently with him for 15 minutes.nbsp; KIDS want quantity.nbsp;nbsp;And having a job that gives me more time at home allows me to give that my time to DS.nbsp;

Sounds like you and I have pretty flexible jobs but you can't discount the difficulty of trying work from home with kids. It can be pretty hard.

BeachBum73

I WFH full-time and have done so for the past 4 years.  I'm able to drop my dd off at school and pick her up (avoiding before and after school costs).  My son still goes to daycare for the same amount of time as if I worked in an office - I just get more work time.  Rather than having to leave at 4:30 to get to daycare on time, I can work til 5:00 and usually my dh does drop offs and pick ups so that's even more time.

I work for a very large company that has many people who WFH so I'm not unique which goes a long way.  I think it would be difficult to be someone who has to "pave the way" for others -- not sure what this new oppty is like for you.

Also, as a pp poster mentioned, the flexibility is key for me. When things are slow, I have the opportunity to do grocery shopping during lunch, laundry, cleaning, errands -- many things I normally do on the weekends.  Even though I don't feel like I get more time with my kids during the week, if I'm able to get some things done during the week, I have that time available on the weekends.

I am an introvert so being at home all day is like heaven to me, however it can be difficult when the rest of my team is in the office.  I miss a lot and have been thinking about moving on (not just b/c of that but for other reasons as well). 

Overall, there are more positives than negatives and though I don't love what I do, it's very hard to leave and find something as good as this is.

DCMerged

EastCoastBride:

I WFH one day a week too, but my normal commute isn't that long.  What I want to comment on is flexibility vs $$.  I've been stagnate for the past 5 years salary wise (state job, no raises).  It kills me.  but I have so much flexibility.  I set my own hours basically and I WFH one day a week.  I also get a ton of time off.

It truly gives me more time at home and w/ my family.  $$ is important, but it's just not THAT important.  Having good quality time w/ my DS is what matters to me - especially now, while he's young. 

And I'll say this - I see many people say "it's not the quantity of time, it's the quality of time".  I disagree.  Young kids want their parents there as much as possible.  My DS would rather me just sit in the same room w/ him for an hour (I could be reading a book while he's playing) than having me playing intently with him for 15 minutes.  KIDS want quantity.  

And having a job that gives me more time at home allows me to give that (my time) to DS. 

I absolutely agree with you!

Snow1010

I work in marketing for a large corporation....lots of people within our organization work from home.  I've been working from home for the past 5 years and I love it.

But, not everyone is the same....some struggle to work 8-5 from home, some feel lonely or bored not going to the office.  For some reason, I'm fine with it!

What I love most is the work/life balance.  I'm able to wake up at 6am to workout, then take a quick shower, get DD up and drop her off at daycare by 8am.   No time needed getting ready for work or a commute.   And while most days I work until 5pm, other days I can pick DD and be home by 5pm.  Our daycare is only 3 minutes from our house. 

And not gonna lie, I'm on a lot of pointless conference calls, which allows me to walk around doing household chores while I wear my headset

married2matt

At this point in the game for me (two school aged kids), it's more about the flexibility. I work in the office in the mornings and from home in the afternoons; I prefer it this way. I drop the kids off at school at 8:45, and I'm at the office by 9. This allows me to have the mornings to get them up, make them breakfast, and leave the house in decent shape. Then in the afternoons, I get a few hours of kid-free silence at home, I can transfer a load of laundry, unload the dishwasher, get dinner started, meet a contractor, etc and still be able to pick the kids up at 3:45. 

 If there is something going on at their school, I can scoot out for that and it's not a big deal. Same thing for drs appts.  

On the flip side, I feel like I'm "logged in" 15 hours a day because that is about how many hours a day I'm "available" in some facet for work, but it's worth it to me to be able to be able to take them to school, pick them up, be with them in the afternoons, etc. So to answer your question - yes, I'm around more for my kids so there is more quality time spent with them. But there are also times when I'm distracted and preoccupied with work things to. It's survival of the working mom. 

 

 

jblank03

I also work for a very large company where many people WFH part-time (like me) and some even full-time.  I agree with the comments here as far as the flexibility being so great, and I really feel like I'm more efficient because when it's slow I can do the laundry, some cleaning etc, between meetings and emails.  My job is really flexible on work hours in general, so they don't expect you to be online/available from 9-5 which helps too.

I think the trickiest part can be not working too much.  I work with someone who only works from home, and she said she had to force herself to turn off the computer in the evening because you're right next to the 'office', but it's important for the family to fully disconnect.  Only doing the work from home part time thing would definitely help, but I'd recommend setting some boundaries with yourself as far as when you're going to shut down, especially if you're like me and often the answer of "when will you be home?" that was supposed to be 5:00 turns into 6:30 or 7 before you know it!

jmayamama

I worked from home for a while doing PR related stuff for the place I worked before I was pregnant.  It was really difficult to be on extended phone calls, etc., when the baby needed me, and I ended up having to work really late after he went to sleep.

Now, Im working for a new company that I absolutely love.  It's really, really flexible and a lot of fun (think Avon but much more hip).  I get to go out and socialize, be creative, and I'm not super stressed out like I was previously.  Win, win!