Now, admittedly, I am barely into week 2 of working from home, but so far it has been fantastic. Here's why...
- Since I'm focusing on writing full time, I no longer have to rush home from the office to finish a project or send out a query. I skipped a lot of happy hours and social events when I was working full time because I knew that editors wouldn't work with me again if I missed a deadline or turned in crappy copy. Sure, I'm still spending a lot of evenings at the computer; however, being more in control of my time has allowed me to put in more face time with friends instead of bosses.
- I'm more relaxed now. My boyfriend will be the first to tell you I'm a much better dinner companion than I was before. Instead of ranting about what So-and-So said or what they did to create hours of extra work for me, I can make small talk like a normal person. Yes, now there's the concern that the websites I write for could go bust or that an editor will make a ridiculous request at 5:10 on a Friday, but at least I'm doing what I love.
- A lot of people are concerned about my social life, so I'm making a concerted effort to get out and see people. This gives me an excuse to go grocery shopping in the middle of day or walk to the library to research a magazine I'd like to pitch. I'm even meeting my former coworkers for lunch on Thursday. I still tend to hit the gym during peak hours (hey, a girl's gotta get some work done), but it's nice to know I can go whenever the mood strikes.
9 comments:
Great points! I've been doing this for over two years now, and I do believe my social life is doing just fine. I think the key is this: When I do go out with friends, I value it more. I know that my social interactions are less than they were before, but they're higher quality because I'm focused and excited about it. Keep on truckin!
I think it's an old idea to think that the office life = social life. While I certainly do have some friends at work, I don't look at the office as my hub of social activity, unlike my parent's generation did. I think I'm better at choosing my friends than the HR department is.
Now, this isn't to say my social life is rocking with 3 kids at home - but I do find I have better relationships with my friends at work when I am not in the daily grind with them.
Somewhat related to social life is the positive effect working at home has on your wardrobe expenses. Most days I'm not out of my bathrobe until noon. Much to the displeasure of my wife, btw.
I'll close with a cheer for your new found career. May it bring many pleasures and just enough pain to make you know the difference.
Working from home has been 97% fabulous, in terms of expending time & energy in ways that feel more worthwhile than sitting in a cube. The 3% days are the ones where I can't think of how to write the next section I'm working on, or the house is covered in dust and grime and I need to clean it...you get the idea. On those days, I'd give a lot to have a colleague a floor or an office away to escape to and chat about summer fashion, the Red Sox/Celtics, or even how to make the perfect mojito. But most days, working from home rocks :)
Glad to hear you're enjoying it!
Hi all, thanks for the lovely comments! I will say that for William, my clothing expenses were already pretty low, but it IS nice to spend the day in yoga pants.
Today I had to get dressed for a meeting, and I had a moment of panic. "What do REAL people wear to meetings? Do I have anything that's professional enough?" Uh, of course I do, because up until two weeks ago, I was a "real" person who went to meetings on a regular basis. Still, yoga pants are nice.
Hi Susan,
Great topic! I've found that venturing out into the blogosphere to connect with other freelancers beats cubicle gossip and happy hour griping, hands down. :)
Although, I must say that I'm not as socially active as I once was... but it may just be that I'm officially middle aged!
PS: I had to come back and read this a second time to realize you've only been working at home for two weeks.
CONGRATULATIONS!
Doesn't it feel great?
:)
@Dina: I agree - reading blogs helps a lot! I should have qualified that I've only been working entirely from home for 2 (now 2.5) weeks. Before that I was working full time and freelancing on the side. I'm liking this new arrangement more and more every day!
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