I used to have to deal with the race of rats many of you are part of. Depending on the day, it could be exhilarating, frustrating, fulfilling, boring, profitable, draining, inspiring or just plain stupid.
So, I miss some parts of it. But I’m happy now, here in my bunker. I’ve achieved the goal: getting paid to work in my underwear.
But is this my final resting place in the new world order? Am I to never again experience the stomach-twisting anxiety of life underneath a bipolar boss, no smarter than a Ritz cracker? Will I never again feel the accomplishment of arriving home after a hard day of fear and resentment?
Working from home, with all its many ups, has one huge downside: YOU’RE ALWAYS WORKING. Finished dinner? Why don’t I just sit down and read this nice novel—oh, wait, I need to fix that thing—and I just need to check if she emailed as she promised. She didn’t?! Who does she think she is! Five hours later… still at the computer. Mucho unhealthy.
If I was a surgeon, I wouldn’t be able to take my work home. That would be weird. And that’s healthy: go to work, fix gallbladder, wash hands, go home, forget about gallbladder.
Complaining? No, I’m brining up the point that as technology continues to transform the workplace, there’ll be more and more work-from-homers like me. And as with any great shift that promises us so much good, there is the inevitable bad.
At times I remain strong, refusing to be sucked in by the siren call of the computer. I set times that I will work and try to stick to that schedule. But schedules are for losers, man. This is the real world. I got things to do, people to see, places to go… all right, I’m lying. I have nowhere to go. I live here, behind my computer.
But I won’t end on such a sour note. It might be tough, and at times, unhealthy. But to be able to stand up from the desk, at any hour of the day, and run off to the gym for a workout, or to be able to be home when the bus drops the little one off, or to have lunch with my wife several times a week… those are the things that fill me with appreciation for the new world of borderless communication in which we live, work, and play. And for me that world is all right here in my wonderful house/office/playground.
While not driven by technology, I think this has been one of the major complaints of mothers over the years as well - you NEVER get to take time off. You are ALWAYS working. And now as we find ways to work from home, we are actually working two jobs that never end! Glad you ended on a positive note. Hey, I used to work for the Ritz cracker boss too. Small world!
So true… hats off the original work-at-homers: MOMS!