I’m a bit used to ‘You are so lucky you work from home’ lines from different people – mostly from those who are working in the traditional offices. Well, I can’t deny the advantages of working from home. One, I don’t have to experience the traffic. Two, I can work without taking a shower first. Third, I can save a lot of money from not allocating budget for food and clothes. Four, for a young mom like me – working from home means spending more time with the kids.
But don’t get me wrong ok, it’s not all rainbows and butterflies. Working from home has its downside as well. While you think it’s all fun, I will share with you some of the challenges I face having my home as my office.
My Bed is Seducing Me
Oh gosh, if you think it’s hard to leave your beds to take a shower, it’s even harder to work knowing that your bed is just meters away from you. If you have tremendous discipline, you can work on your bed without turning your snooze button on. Otherwise, lock your bedroom (from the outside) and work in a more conducive area – like your living room if you don’t have your own office.
Long Queues – Government Bills
One of the perks of being employed in a more traditional work setup is that all your government bills are being managed by your HR. Most of the time, if you are working from home, you are employed by a foreign national living overseas, or you are like me – working on a freelance setup. Either way, they won’t do the payment on your behalf. Hence, you need to do it on your own. And yes, it can be time consuming to fall in line. Unless of course, there’s an online payment system which I can use. For now, I’m not yet convinced. 🙂
My Son ‘Accidentally’ Closed the File … I Haven’t Saved my Report!!!
I know that the CTRL + S function should be a mandatory task before leaving my desk, but there are few times that I wasn’t able to do it.
And what a stroke of luck I had – my son was already closing my files … one by one! Well, what can I say? Maybe, just put a note beside your computer/ laptop with this – ‘SAVE FIRST BEFORE LEAVING YOUR DESK’ – make sure it’s BOLD.
Aside from that specific scenario, it’s normal for me to work with my son pulling my hair, or my daughter sitting on my lap. Yes, it is cute. But if you are in a call with your boss, it’s best to just mute your device first. 🙂 Or lock yourself for a serene 10 minutes.
Oh, There Goes my Favorite Film on Star Movies
Now here’s another hard to resist temptation. If there’s something good on TV, I would automatically pause for a ‘quick’ break.
QUICK?? (rolling her eyes)
Before I know it, 2 hours have already passed. Holy cheese and rice!
And this is something that I’m REALLY trying to work on.
Wait, What? She’s Pregnant?
And since your home has become your office, you have very little social life. You only get ‘chismis’ from your online friends, or if someone posted a “We are Pregnant’ status on facebook. It’s not really a bad thing, but sometimes you become outdated. The good side, I have to push myself to watch CNN to keep myself informed. I try to stay away from showbiz talk shows because my facebook feed has enough of it!
There. I guess, that’s just about it. If you have something to add, place your comments.
I feel ya especially with the long lines in government offices. I dread the day when it’s time to pay taxes and contributions!
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Exactly. Time consuming it is! 🙂 But well, it’s a small price to pay. At least we spend more time with the kids.
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This is such a fun read. Although I have a full time job, there are several days when I need to work at home too. The bed, the cute baby, and gwapong husband in the house are all so tempting to stop working. Thank you for sharing. Totally relate! 🙂
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You had me at that gwapong husband ha! 🙂 Thanks for appreciating. I mean, yes, working from home is fun, but there are days I just want to be glued in bed. 😀
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Relate much! Though I’m not a working home mom, but I’m a full time mom, nakakapagod at walang katapusang trabaho. “Trabahong bahay” LOL!
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Alam mo, I salute full time moms. My mom is one too. Sobrang nakakabilib. 🙂 And yes, I understand na nakakapagod.
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I may not be a working from home mom right now, I know how it feels! Been there a long time ago ^-^ Salute to all us moms!
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Indeed. We are ‘super’ in our own ways. 🙂
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Well yes. I think it’s a misconception that people think working from home is like taking a vacation everyday, because really it’s not. That’s why it’s a big decision for us. It does have its perks..I admit, such as being there for every single milestones that my kids have ad not having to go through the traffic everyday. But yes on the bills and taxes ha. Sariling kayod ang filing. On the other hand, I’ve had two agencies that did not pay my taxes pero binawas sa kin, so okay na rin that I have my own.
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Yes. I agree. 🙂 Whoa. What an experience you had with the taxes. So what happened? Did you go after them?
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When I already need to work again, I’d prefer working from home if I get the chance, at least more time for my daughter.
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That’s good. You can ask your employer. When I was still working in Makati, I asked my employer if I could work from home. Luckily, they approved. However, it was just 1 weekday. It wasn’t enough.
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Haha this was so true for me! It’s slowly changing now that I have a fully-employed status in my new online job since I have Filipino “officemates,” but most of the challenges are still true to me.
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Di ba? 🙂 It’s fun naman. But sometimes – most of the time – the bed and the kids are just too tempting 😀
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I’ve been working for 3 years in a corporate setting until I switched to working from home about two months ago. Everything is still in a state of transition especially now that my partner and I are both freelancing. It’s scary, really, but we have to do it! For the family! 🙂
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Everything for the family 🙂 I actually like the idea of freelancing 🙂 What do you do?
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Thanks for the heads up, planning to be a wahm in the future. 🙂
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Thanks for the heads up! Planning to be a wahm in the future.
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WOW. what job are you eyeing for? 🙂
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I’ll most probably experience those too in the future. I’m actually trying to find a home based job instead of going back in an office work environment.
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Have you already found one? You can check onlinejobs.ph 🙂 Good luck and share your experience too.
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I can relate to this being a wahm myself but no matter how worse the fallbacks are, I still love being a wahm. 🙂
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Of course 🙂 The pros outweighs the cons 😀
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I find myself sleeping a lot when I work from home though XD
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I used to do a lot of sleeping too 🙂 hahaha
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I’m a working mum but we could work from home on special instances. When I had sore eyes last year, I was forced to work from home for a week and I must agree on this. Grabe mas mahirap pala! Yes, no commute, I could be with my child 24/7 and all but honestly! Ang hirap pag nadidistract ka. IT pa naman ako. I tend to work longer tuloy.
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I understand, kelangan talaga focused ka 🙂 Otherwise, you’d end up playing with the kids. 🙂
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I’m a WAHM for more than two years already. True, there are ups and downs but at the end of the day, it is about meeting deadlines and being able to spend more time with the kids 🙂
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That is true 🙂 I love being a WAHM 🙂
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Been working from home since 2008 and believe me, I’ve encountered a lot more disadvantages and advantages. Whenever things go differently, i just tell myself I’m luckier coz I get to take care of my kids (and not the nanny), see them grow up, avoid pollution, earn more and sleep whenever I want to, lol..
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Lucky talaga tayo 🙂
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I work from home too and it’s really challenge because that where all the mommy duties and wife duties are! You won’t know which one to take care of first.
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My husband tends to work from home a lot and he’s always tempted to take a snooze whenever the kkids are sleeping. Hehe. He can also get all smelly and filthy because no one important will see/smell him anyway. Haha
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I can relate! I always end up cramming to finish my tasks..I’m having a hard time juggling my sched. haha
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We’ll figure this out 🙂
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