Hi y'all! I'm so thrilled to be a part the amazing group of women here at Blissfully Domestic Living. I've explained to Mrs. Fussypants that I'm not at all domestic, and only rarely blissful, but I hope that you find something interesting here in my spot each week.
I'm Ree, and I work from home full-time. Every day. Every single day. Sometimes it's wonderful. Sometimes – not so much. I get to decide at lunchtime(!) what I want to eat. I can run down stairs and decide: "turkey sandwich? bowl of soup? fruit and yogurt? Naw, let's go with the candy bar and bag of chips!" If I don't like my outfit? My closet is only 10 steps away! I never have to worry about someone being home to sign for the quarterly delivery of the case of wine. Snort.
Now, I didn't used to work from home. I used to have a nice corner office with windows overlooking a wildlife preserve. I watched the Canada Geese fly out in the Fall and return in the Spring. I watched Blue Herons and Turkey Vultures. I worked out of a building that I shared with my staff and my clients. There were over 1000 people in that building, and nearly 100 did my bidding worked for me.
I "lost" my office on March 31st of this year when the company I work for sold my client base to one our biggest competitors. The competitor took over the building – and since, um, y'know, they're competitors, they decided they didn't want me to hang around using their stuff. (Can you believe it? What a bunch of stick-in-the-muds.)
I'm an Information Technology executive for a global financial services company. Now, instead of walking out of my office and having conversations with the people I need to speak with, I pick up the phone. Or send an email or an instant message. I can stick my tongue out at people in meetings. (I will never, ever agree to a video conference for obvious reasons!)
My "office mates" these days? My dog, two cats, my retired husband, my 16-year-old son, and my 24-year-old stepson. Shortman, the 16-year-old, finished his Junior year of High School this week and has not been able to find a summer job due to the unemployment levels in our area. The 24-year-old moved in with us in April. He has never lived with me and his Dad. Ever.
All of that is going to make figuring out what "works" and what doesn't "work" with having a home office very interesting.
I'll share my tips about actually getting things accomplished, things that definitely do not work (we can laugh about them and you won't need to suffer all of the pain) and life outside my window (the one I sit in front of 9-10 hours each day). I'll also be asking you for your ideas for topics, so if there's anything you'd really like to hear about, let me know.
Until next week, then, thanks so much!
My personal blog is My Life as a Hotfessional – if you'd like to hear about the rest of the craziness in my life, please come by for a visit.
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I recently became a WAH person also. I work for a medical software company who decided that they needed to downsize. Instead of getting rid of people, thank havens, the got rid of offices. They closed over 10 of them last year. Getting used to working from home has been a chore but it is finally starting to grow on me.
I would love to work at home… I just need to find a job that would let me do it. *sigh*
Hi Jess! I look forward to getting to compare notes with others who work from home. What a great company you work for – obviously they value your skills!
Hey Marylin! I'm seeing more and more people in Jess's shoes – those working for companies that allow their staff to WFH – and in these days of gas prices through the roof, one thing that may be possible is negotiation of working from home in return for less salary!
My boyfriend and I both have jobs that allow us to work part of the time from home….which I love! But sometimes it's way too easy to just read blogs…or go to the beach…or go down to the bar. I often end up frantically trying to finish up a project at midnight the night before it's due! (And I really should be working right now, BTW. Oy.)
I love your other blog, and look forward to finding another way to procrastinate by reading your posts over here!
I don't know how you manage to get any work done. Between running to the laundry room, loading the dishwasher and watching Dr. Phil, I can barely get the billing done! If I actually left the house, I might focus better. But instead I try to do fifty things and don't do any of them well. I look forward to your wisdom.
I don't work from home, but I work for myself in a small office surrounded by a fax machine, a computer and a phone. I have no co-workers, only a biz partner and the employees and I look forward to more posts about how to be more productive. Ha! OK, maybe how to read blogs and get work done.
I am trying my best to do better from home (right now I only earn a small bit of spending cash on the side)….gas prices are frightening and probably only going to get worse. I look forward to reading your tips and tricks!
Thank you all for your comments! I hope you'll find something you can use whether you're currently working from home or hope to in the future.
I'm an author, so I get to work from home every day, which I LOVE. (Wait, not strong enough…I LOOOOOVE it.) But I'd be really interested in any tricks you have on how to keep from procrastinating.
I found this blog by…procrastinating. Every time I have writer's block? I'm back to check Google Reader to find out if anybody's written a new post (and if not I'll curse them for not writing, and go hunting for other blogs to read. I'm fickle that way.) I don't have a looming deadline, my next book's not due to the publisher until next January, so it's just too easy to click from Word to Explorer…Any tips?
Its really glad to read your article, You are a excellent hard worker. You can achieve the success any where in the world.