Disadvantages to working from home
Okay, so we are here working at the computer, and the phone rings. Again. It is someone speaking indistinctly on the line from Delhi or Manila and asking for someone whose name we don’t recognise. Oh, that’s us, is it? Well, no, sorry, not this time.
There’s a knock at the door – would I mind taking this parcel for the bloke upstairs, whom I know is running a small garage on our communal parking lot? Actually, yes, I would mind. He leaves oily footprints on the carpet and there is the remains of an engine abandoned at the back of the downstairs cupboard. So, just occasionally, I send the delivery man on his way. He scowls, I scowl, and we are quits.
“That’s the phone for you, Mum…” Yes, and it’s the twelfth time in as many hours that I have been interrupted – Mum tends to be the first port of call for phones, for doorbells, for deliveries, even if she has something teasing in her head that she would love to write down before she forgets.
“Have you seen my socks? My phone? My charger?” Take the easy way out and ask Mum, she knows! Heavens, yes, I may well do, but does that mean I have to be interrupted? Again?
***
This is a tongue-in-cheek glance at the some of the challenges of working from home. But there is a serious point in it, too. Because, at the end of the day, when the chips hit the fan – that’s not quite the expression, but it will do for now – only I can decide to put my foot down and say, “You do it / you get it / you phone, you sort it, tidy it, find it.”
And, amazingly, I do that quite often nowadays, when I need to. It’s a very liberating habit to cultivate. And hubby is pleased that I no longer take resort in my martyred dog expression.
What a relief.
Please share:
September 17, 2017 @ 3:19 pm
Ha – I haven’t got there yet! and yes it is a bit frustrating. I do wonder if there will ever come a time when I am secure enough in what I do in terms of writing when I give it the deference I used to give to my ‘proper job’ in an office at the back and call of – oh but wait!!!!
September 17, 2017 @ 10:42 pm
Ha! Some days, I haven’t either. Life, as they say, is a work in progress. 🙂 I’m happier with that than I used to be. And I haven’t given up hope that one day soon, I’ll be able to focus on my proper job properly. Sometimes the adrenaline of interruptions provides a creative buzz, other times, it’s a bane. But I’m just so happy I can still write. Bless you.
September 18, 2017 @ 8:04 pm
OK. This one got me, too! However, the advantages of working at home still far outweigh the disadvantages. I especially like being my own boss, and the fact that I can close and lock my office door if I so please! And ignore the phone, the laundry piling up, and the kitchen sink ready for a sort and wash session….and our kitty who just wants a warm lap to sit upon! 🙂
September 18, 2017 @ 8:21 pm
You have more discipline than me, I think. My way of dealing with domestic stuff is to pass it over for someone else to do, which is a revolution in my thinking. Faced with deadlines, though, I have little choice, so that, in a way, is liberating, if you see what I mean. Thanks for visiting, and for your lovely comments. xx 🙂