By Gil E. Gordon
Since mid-1982, I’ve worked out of an office in a suburban New Jersey home. As you may have read in my article, “Exploring the Work-At-Home Option,” many other people now work at home, or are at least considering that option.
The appeal of eliminating the commute and getting away from the distractions of the office is so strong. So strong, in fact, that some people fail to recognize just what’s involved in working and living under the same roof. Read on, and I’ll share some of my experiences that may help you decide whether home work and you will get along.
First, some important background information to put my comments in context. My consulting business has me out at client sites about three days a week on average; the other two are spent at home doing preparation, research or marketing work. Some weeks I’m home five full days, others I’m away full time. My office is in a converted bedroom downstairs; the main living area is upstairs. My wife works part-time and we have two elementary school-age children. You’ll see why I’ve given you these details shortly.
The Myth vs. The Facts
The Idea of working at home has a popular appeal. Many successful businesses (Apple Computer and Mrs. Field’s Cookies, to name just two) were started at home on the kitchen table, in the garage or in the basement. A fascination with entrepreneurship causes many salaried employees to wonder if they should leave the corporate corridors and set up shop down the hall from the bedroom. They dream of lingering over a second cup of coffee while waving to kids as they go off to school, or of taking time off in the afternoon to run a few errands, get in some exercise, or even sneak in a short nap.
I hate to shatter those idyllic images. But as most home workers (self-employed or salaried) will tell you, things aren’t always so calm, serene and fulfilling. After almost six years of working at home, I’m a true convert who would find it very hard to go back to a “real” office. Nonetheless, there’s more to working at home than most people realize.
First, the good news... There are some undeniable and rather unique advantages to working at home. Among them are:
1. A short commute:
It’s exactly 27 feet and two short flights of steps from my kitchen to my office. The traffic along that route usually isn’t congested, though there’s a short rush hour on the steps when my wife and kids go off in the morning. Traffic accidents are rare; a cracked lunchbox is as close as we come to a fender-bender. I arrive at work ready to work, instead of in need of a 15-minute break to decompress after a morning bout of freeway (or train or subway) madness.
Sure, there are some days in the spring when I miss getting out on a bright morning and enjoying a scenic ride to work. What I surely don’t miss are all the other days in the summer heat or winter snow and ice.
2. A liberal dress code:
On the mornings when I’m meeting a client, I stand in front of the closet trying to decide what tie to wear with what suit. On my at-home days, my biggest decision is whether to put on socks. Contrary to the myth, few home workers I know work in their pajamas or robes; that’s a bit too casual. But there’s a certain perverse pleasure sitting here in my cutoffs on a warm summer day, knowing I’m speaking to someone who’s feeling hot and bothered in an office while wearing a typical “dress for success” uniform.
3. The ability to “multitask”:
That’s computer jargon for doing two or more things at once. For home workers, it means running a few loads of wash while working, taking an hour off for an exercise break or putting in a full day’s work while waiting for the furniture delivery truck to arrive.
4. A better work environment:
My office looks the way I want it to look. I’m not constrained by a corporate policy manual saying I’m entitled to precisely 147 square feet, my choice of any two pictures from the company’s approved catalog and a commercial grade carpet that’s as resilient and attractive as Astroturf. My office is my office; I’m at home here in more ways than one.
ity to have more time with the kids at home, a chance to drive five minutes to their school and be a male “class mother” and, most important, a lot less wear and tear. I can’t put a price tag on these things, but I know they more than make up for some of the uncertainties of running my own consulting business.
And now the not-so-good news. Working at home isn’t a bed of roses, even if you can see your prize bed of roses just outside your window. I’d be less than honest if I didn’t mention some of the drawbacks to this arrangement. But to paraphrase a bumper sticker I saw recently, a bad day of working at home still beats a good day of working in an office–most of the time.
1. Loneliness and isolation:
As noted earlier, I don’t spend the whole week here at home; some people can do that but I can’t. Even if business happens to be slow and I’m not with clients, I know that on the third consecutive day at home I start to go a little crazy. I have to get out for a lunch meeting (or something else) to get back in touch with the real world.
There’s a fine line between working without distraction and being driven to distraction by the silence. Sure, there are telephone calls and time with the kids after school, but it’s still an un-social setting. If your really enjoy the social hubbub of the office, even a couple of days a week at home may be too many.
2. Constant need to be self- motivated: We all like to think we’re professionals and don’t need the boss looking over our shoulders to keep us working. That’s true. But when working at home, you not only have no boss, but none of the other cues that provide subtle pressure to concentrate and produce.
Since this is my own business, I know if I don’t do something it doesn’t get done. Our checking account is the ultimate bottom line where the results do or don’t show up. Even so, and even after almost six years of this, I still find it frighteningly easy to drift off and be tempted by household distractions. So far, I’ve managed to keep myself in line, but there are times when I get tired of telling myself to buckle down and get to work.
3. Domestic duties:
The “multitasking” idea is great but it can be taken to a dangerous extreme. I don’t mind pitching in with household duties (notice I said “not mind” and not “like”) when I’m home. Creative cooking is fun, though at times it amounts to making breakfasts and lunches for two young kids. This is a few notches below gourmet fare. Even though the kids thought the volcano effect was great, exploding oatmeal in the microwave in the morning is an experience I’d rather forget.
It’s easy to get carried away sometimes with housework, and I’ve found this requires another kind of self-discipline. One small example is grocery shopping. It’s much easier to do it mid-morning on a weekday, instead of going at night or on the weekend when the rest of the universe is there and the checkout lines are unbearably long. The risk is in rationalizing that it’s better to go shopping mid-morning than it is to sit down a write a proposal or do something else that’s important, but not life-and-death urgent. When that happens once too often, the work at home begins playing second fiddle to the home, and that’s dangerous if you’re serious about your job.
4. The ever-present job:
This is the flip side of the short or non-existent commute. My office is a bit too close for comfort; some skeptics label work-at-home as the “workaholic’s dream.” This has two sides: the good side is that (within limits) I’ve lost the distinction between day and night and weekday and weekend; it’s all one big pool of time. That means I can take time off on Thursday for recreation and make it up on Saturday when it’s going to rain.
The bad side is that there are times I work when I shouldn’t; I wouldn’t go to work if I had to drive to work. Instead, I’d spend the time with the family or just relaxing. Some of that free time gets absorbed into work time, and it’s a constant battle to prevent that from happening. It’s not just a matter of working late at night when perhaps I should be relaxing or (perish the thought) sleeping. It’s also having the discipline to turn on the answering machine when I go upstairs for lunch, instead of jumping up from the table every time the phone rings. To my credit, I’ve learned to flip on the machine and get that break–except when that important call is expected. (At least I’m trying.)
5. A one-way ticket:
If business conditions change and I decide that it’s in our best interest for me (gasp) go back to an office-based job, I would face a tough transition. It’s easy to get spoiled working at home, and after a few years I don’t know that I could give it up. Without realizing it, I may have made a decision to stay in a home-based job, and it would take an unusual set of circumstances to reverse that decision.
The old cliche is “never say never,” but I’d (almost) never want to go back to commuting and to an office like the one where most of you work. There’s nothing wrong with it–but it’s just not me.
This article is reprinted by permission from the National Business Employment Weekly, © 1993, Dow Jones & Co. Inc. All rights reserved. For subscription information, call (800)Job-Hunt. |
