Why is it that so many people who don’t do it find it hard to understand the concept of working from home? They assume that it's a soft option, involving doing a little bit of work in between cups of coffee and lunch with friends. After all, a job isn't a job unless you get up early, do a stressful commute, try all day to please your boss and get on with your co-workers, and arrive home exhausted and wishing it was the weekend. That's the traditional view anyway, but times are changing. And, it seems, changing faster than traditional ideas about the definition of what a job is.
Okay, we stay-at-homers don't have all the hassle of commuting, etc. But we are still earning a living. When you don't have the security of getting a paycheck each month from an employer, you have to put in probably more effort, and be more self disciplined, than any employee. Mostly you work alone, with no support network. It can be hard to separate home life and work life because they're both in the same place. Although there are rewards, working from home is not the easy option many think it is.
A lot of us who work from home do so because we want to be there for our kids. I think that's admirable. And yet, there’s scant respect for that or our time. Friends and family phone during the day for a chat. Neighbors pop in for coffee, despite being told you're busy most days. Of course, it's nice that people want to spend time with you. But they wouldn't do it if you were working in, say, an office or a factory.
Once, an acquaintance asked what I was doing the following day. "Working," I replied. "Oh!" she exclaimed, "Do you have a job now? Whereabouts is it?" I was a self-employed childminder at the time, and had been for four years!
People who work from home shouldn't have to justify what they do. They shouldn't be looked on with suspicion, superiority or even jealousy (homemakers, does this sound familiar?). They are doing a job, just like any other worker. Understand that and give their job the same respect you’d expect to get for yours.
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LynnM is a work-from-home mom. She runs several websites including hotcreditcards.net.
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