Friday, July 13, 2007

Working from home

The last couple of weeks, I have started working from home partly. On most days, I get back from office by 3 PM or so, and then continue working from home for the next 2-3 hours. I also try to work from home fully for 1 or 2 days a week. Until this, I never gave a thought to the complexities of working from home. Now as I have started doing it, I realize how tough it is. Some of the key pain-points I had:

- Settling down and Ergonomics: We have a PC and an office chair, but it is not a very comfortable to be in for long periods. The fact that I use my laptop at home (all data related to work being in it) is more of a discomfort, since I have to displace the desktop monitor, arrange my lappie and dock all the stuff in. I know this sounds like I am ultra-lazy, but I really don't fancy doing this everyday.

- Phone: I got into a teleconference with a huge team.. and didn't realize how much noise my fan was making, until someone in the call asked "What is that background noise? Is someone outside?". I sheepishly said it was my fan and switched it off. Even the A/C makes considerable noise, and sometimes the rain that patters down on the a/c unit on our window is such a nuisance. I realized that I certainly need a telephone instrument with a "mute" button. The background noise will still come thru when I have to talk, but at least I can mute it off otherwise.

- Answering the door-bell: People tend to assume that because you are home, and back from work, you are free. So initially I ended up answering the doorbell to this neighbour who came for a friendly chat, the apartment security who came to report on something and the ironing lady who came to collect clothes. DD's nanny would invariably be doing something with her and I found myself answering the door quite often. I have come to realize that this will not work at all. So I tell the nanny to assume that I am not around, lock myself in the room, and have curbed my tendency to poke my head out every time the door bell rings.

- DD's expectations: She is not used to me working from home. Previously, when I was working full day, whenever she saw me walking in from work, she knew it was "Amma time", in which she would monopolize me and shoo away (or scream/yell away) anyone who as much as tried to come near me. MIL bore the brunt of this most of the time - she would typically try to explain some of the day's happenings to me as soon as I came back. DD would scream and yell at her grandmother for stealing her air-time. I would politely pretend to listen to her, since my attention would also be fully on DD. Well, I am digressing - So, now when I come back home, DD still expects it to be "Amma time". And I just don't have the heart to disappoint her. So I give in for 30 mts, then divert her onto some activity, and slither away to work when she is busy. So far she has not protested and has been quite nice about it.

-Perceptions: Somehow, working from home gives people the impression that one doesn't have all that much to do. And I hate this perception. DH is in the same industry and knows very well that it is tough to work from home. Even so, one morning, he says " Hey I need this after-shave, missed buying it last weekend. Can you do me a favor - you get home early anyway, could you buy this for me?". I pounced on him and gave him a huge lecture on how people assume that "work from home" means "no work" - suffice to say that the poor man now thinks twice before he makes a statement about me being "at home".
It is totally a different matter that I found time to stop by Health&Glow on the way home and buy a shampoo for DD and some knick-knacks for myself the next day - hee hee - Point is that DD cannot make assumptions that I am jobless because I bought her a shampoo.

So if any one of you still thinks that work from home is easy, and fun, know that you are horribly wrong. It is definitely advantageous in a situation like mine, where you want to be physically present at home. But if you are a control-freak like me, it is so hard to be physically present in one place and not respond to the stimuli around you. And it takes some practice and patience to be able to function at the same productivity from home.

5 comments:

Anusha said...

i could never work from home for precisely the same reasons! I would spend more time playing wiht the kid than working :)

ps: the chess picture in the other post looks right out of harry potter!!!

minerva said...

:) I know.

I am addicted to Harry Potter. Even I was thinking of that when I clicked it. DD can fancy that she is Hermione

Dee said...

Hey! wonderful write up...just read all your blogs.....i can relate to all of them.....I am so glad to realise that i am not all alone in this.....very similar experience......bought a new flat...got a baby....quit a busy job....currently work from home...trying(!!1) to send my daughter to play school/ day care......and currently fingers crossed that she will settle in. My daughter is abt 1 yr 4 months.Keep writing...I like your work.....and your ability to take time to pen your experience inspite of your hectic scehdule...i can imagine...keep up the gud work.

minerva said...

Deepa - Welcome to my blog!
Thanks :)

the mad momma said...

errr... ask me . i know how hard it is to work from home. the kids are the least of the prob. they are used to it and rarely trouble.