…if you’re an anti-social homebody like me, that is.
Let’s start with a few gems from a great comic by The Oatmeal on why working from home is both awesome and horrible at the same time.
THE AWESOME
No more waking up at an ungodly hour every morning.
No more unhealthy fast food junk for lunch.
No time spent on commuting in an ugly commuter van sandwiched like sardines between people I don't know and would not hesitate to push out the door.
and now, THE HORRIBLE
I was already pretty bad with people before, but now I actually think I'm turning into a cave(wo)man.
Um, I take baths a lot.
The only time I get to talk to other people these days is when I go out.
I took the plunge and started doing freelance work in January. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it, had even entertained thoughts of going back to a desk job as a writer, and even went out for interviews(!), but here I am eight months later – a regular job working from home for a Singapore-based company.
AND I DON’T SUCK AT IT!
Seriously. I am the worst slacker I know, but my current job is making me think that I can actually survive working from my house with all of my co-workers in different parts of the country and our primary means of communication being email and instant messaging.
I love my work for the awesome reasons mentioned above, and then some. Work starts at 8am, and that is also the time I wake up. My day usually goes like this:
8am: Wake up, go to home office next to our bedroom in my PJs, start up the laptop.
8:30am: If there are no urgent emails to attend to, change into house clothes (sometimes new, but usually worn from the previous day) and prepare breakfast. Prepare food for the dogs.
9am-2pm: Work, work, work.
2:30pm: Check if there’s anything I can scrounge up for lunch.
3pm: There’s nothing, so I settle for stove-top popcorn and lots of water.
3:30pm-5pm: Work, work work.
5pm-onward: If there are no other deadlines, I quit working at a little past 5pm and send in my reports. Then I just stretch out on the bed and catch a few snoozes. Sometimes I also watch TV. If I’m feeling really energetic, I take the dogs out for a walk. That rarely happens. Then, if there’s nothing else to do, I read my Kindle.
If P is at home, the only difference is I get a home-cooked lunch. Like today – he cooked up bacon and garlic pasta. It was yummy.
Do I miss an office job? Hmm… let me think about that…
…
…
…
NOPE!
