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The very best and worst part of working from home

5th Apr 2014
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The main reason I wanted to work from home was so that I can spend more time with the girls and take a big part in looking after them.  In March, this theory was put to test as my youngest daughter caught a stomach bug and couldn’t go nursery.  So I was at home, working and looking after my daughter without wanting to seem that I was unable to cope. I was so happy that I could spend time with her and cuddle her when she was feeling poorly. I think if I was working in an office, I might not have been able to spend so much time with her but at the same time, I was trying to reply to email queries from work as and when they came but ended up doing a lot of the work in the evenings or when I had a few moments spare in between my daughter napping.  This was also in between cleaning up the vomit in the sitting room, the only carpeted part of downstairs and a million nappy changes!  Maybe if I was in the office though, I would have been able to take time off completely from work to look after my daughter and not have to worry about emails or work at all.

The other bad thing about working from home is that family think you are at home and that’s it.  They pop in whenever they want and ask me to do a million things that had I been working away from home, they probably wouldn’t.  That’s partly my fault because all I have to do is say no. 

I guess, whenever there is a problem, I’m going to be wondering what it would be like if I was working in an office. I do truly appreciate working from home and my work life balance is fairly good, although I do need to spend more quality time with the girls when they are at home rather than worrying about work all the time. I plan to get more organised by next month and schedule in some proper time with them, rather than putting cbeebies on while I do a bit of work.  As I get more used to work, I should be able to get more organised.  Then again, being organised and kids don’t really seem to go hand in hand.

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By tom123
06th Apr 2014 08:42

Morning..

As a reader of your blog, our household has some similarities. My wife is launching a business, and we are exhibiting at the NEC at a trade show next year. I am working F/T elsewhere.

We found it difficult to keep the boundary between work and home - and got round that by finding office / art studio to use. 

This means that my wife gets to 'go to work', and thus get some working time away from extended family, whilst being available when needed to be at home with our daughter - who is 7 now, so a bit further down the track.

Appreciate that is not an option for everyone, but getting separation from home and work is probably a bit more productive and stops everything blurring together.

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By Anna P
13th May 2014 13:02

I have been working from home for 5 years now (yikes!) and it really does get better and more organised - I have learnt to clearly define my working hours and mostly stick to them. I have my own proper workspace that is pleasant and spacious (an important criteria when we recently moved house).

As the children have got older I have found it very important to schedule regular coffees or lunches with friends (many also working from home) so that I actually get out of the house and speak to people during the day otherwise it can be quite isolating.

But overall I love working from home and I don't think an employer would be more understanding when the children are ill. It also means I can go to school events and sports matches during the day.

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By thomas
17th Jun 2014 13:32

Workings from home is a double edged sword... I'm at home for the kids so can take them to school and collect which is great.  I can stick the washing on while I'm working so housework doesn't encroach on evenings and weekends... however this means I don't stop at all between 8.15 and 4.30 and to add insult to injury, this means everyone thinks I have the cushiest job around!

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By yashvirsinh
08th Feb 2024 06:32

Thank for this information. begin housewife. however i have been testing this system.to get some income. as i can only work from home. at present i had made some money.not huge amoumt but as a start with good decent income. you can also a look at it

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