Monday, May 06, 2013

The many benefits of working from home

- I go to bed later, wake up later, start work earlier, and finish work earlier.  I've had a minimum of seven hours' sleep every night since I started working at home, and about 40% of the time I wake up naturally.

- I wake up at a time that is after sunrise year-round. I finish work at a time that is before sunset year-round.

- When I need to step away from a text or take a mental break, I can exercise. I have exercised 25 days out of the last 30, whereas when I'm going into the office I normally end up exercising only 2 or 3 times a week despite my intention to exercise every day.

- You know how I get inspiration in the shower?  When I need inspiration, I can have a shower!!!

- I can eat when I'm hungry.  When I'm working at the office, I feel the need to eat breakfast before I leave so I won't be hungry in the office, then to eat lunch during my lunch break because if I don't I won't have a chance to eat until after work.  When I'm at home I can eat whenever I want.  So I eat when I'm hungry, and exactly as much as I'm hungry for.

- Because I'm using things like exercise and showering as my work breaks, I no longer have a massive to-do list to get done before I go to work.  There's no inkling of stress or racing the clock.  I just boot up and sign on right at the start of my work day, and I still get all my morning stuff plus my work done before I need to actually leave the apartment.

- I enjoy peace and quiet, without having to hear other people's chitchat.  But, at the same time, I don't have to be quiet.  I can read my texts aloud when I need help focusing.  I can orate. I can sing. I can spout off profanity when my computer doesn't work.  I'm an auditory learner, so it's quite helpful to have access to this dimension.

- My stress level is zero the vast majority of the time.  This one time a client used a pun and my stress level went up to 2, but then I had a shower and figured out what to do with the pun so my stress level went back down to zero.

- I feel like a part of the neighbourhood.  Out my window, I see the rhythms of the day, kids going to and from school, the schedules of the mailman and couriers, my building's cleaning people.  There a lady who goes to this little parkette in a wheelchair, then gets out of the wheelchair and walks around and around the parkette, obviously working very hard to regain her walking or retain what mobility she has left.  She didn't show up for a couple of days, and I started worrying.  But then she came back.

- Speaking of the mailman and couriers, when I have something delivered, it's now no inconvenience whatsoever even if it comes by UPS!  I had a Dell technician come to look at my computer, and it was no trouble whatsoever.  When I'm at home, couriers and repair people can come by whenever.  I can do my work while I wait on hold with a bank.  If I need to make a phone call that includes personal financial information or the name of a gynecological procedure, I don't need to worry about being overheard.

- I don't feel the need to wear makeup while working at home or while doing errands in my immediate neighbourhood (unless they're fashion-related), so my skin gets to rest.  And, when I do go out in makeup, I look better because I've only been wearing it since just before I left the apartment, not since early in the morning.

- When I was in university, on days when I didn't have work or class I'd wake up, shower, make coffee and sit down at the computer, and the next thing I'd know it would be 4 pm and I'd still be in my bathrobe and hadn't accomplished a thing, which I found depressing.  When I'm working at home, some days I am in fact still in my bathrobe at 4 pm.  However, I have completed a full day of paid work, so there's no need to feel guilty or unaccomplished.

1 comment:

laura k said...

This is wonderful. I loved working at home, for the exact same reasons. So glad you're enjoying it, I hope it continues. (Catching up.)