Other aspects though have been problematic though. My wife’s computer is in the same office as mine (it just isn’t convenient or politically viable to have it anywhere else) and so the kids will often come in and out when they want her as well as when they want me, which adds to the disruption. My wife has also had to learn that she can’t just ask me something or mention something to me while I’m working because I either don’t hear it or take it in (even if I reply), or it interrupts concentration. We’ve worked out a system where we save these sort of things for set times like when one of us is going out, or arrive home, or breaks. I’m also allowed to say, “Can you go deal with that in another room” without spousal reprisals if I’m finding something too disruptive (such as tantrums or the declaration “I’m hungry” for the 14th time in an hour).

Just setting some of those little “procedures” in place can make all the difference between harmony (or a reasonable facsimile) and going absolutely bat-shit.

On the whole I’ve found most of my friends and colleagues don’t minimise my work because it is mostly from home. While they will still ring during the day if they need to talk to me, they are usually brief and sometimes even apologetic.

I don’t know why this is the case, but it could be due to:
- Differing attitudes in Australia (or at least Melbourne outer suburbs) to other places.
- Many of my friends are blue-collar rather than white-collar and are use to the concept of running a business out of home (even if they are not working at home most of the time, such as tradespeople who are always going to customer sites) rather than office based 9-5 jobs.

They even understand how the negative factors like interruptions, isolation and motivation can be an issue.

But, as long as I have high-speed Internet, a good office chair, air-conditioning, and haven’t come across an exciting permanent role that is within 15 minutes of home, I’m sticking with it!

I also have a couple of friends who are home-based IT developers who live not too far away, so whenever one of us is getting too batty (or the power goes off because the local transformer died again) we pack up the laptop and high-tail it over.

I think one way to tackle it is, have them try what you are doing from home or have them comeby sit with you for a day when you are working :)

Having said that…..travelling 45 minutes to the office sucks. I’ll choose this hell over that one any day.

I’m also a working mother. I provide my business support services as a consultant and web based, so I’m not tied to the house. I’m often required to work in an office (two or sometimes three days per week), but my work of course continues when I get home (straight onto the PC to check for emails, voicemails, faxes and action any work that I get via the web).

This all has to be managed around two very active children (one at full time school, the other at part time nursery), and supporting my self employed husband who although brilliant at what he does (interior and exterior decorating) naturally needs me to support the admin side of his business.

Before I decided to go it alone, I tried the ‘work-life-balance’ option offered to me by my employers. It was always tricky, and never sat comfortably.

It’s always a bone of contention with colleagues who do not have children and feel aggrieved that you’re getting ‘all the benefits’. The effect of this on you is that you may have sour grapes to deal with. Secondly, you feel that you have put in 200% so that people can see that you are ‘really’ working. Of course you end up exhausted and constantly chasing your tail. Finally, is the working arrangement really as flexible as you need it? Often not. Here in the UK, many organisations will allow you to work part of the week and/or any combination of days – but often what you need are school hours so that you can drop the kids off and pick them up again. My son’s school starts at 9:00am and finishes at 3:15pm. If I commute into the City of London, that would mean me starting work at 10:00am and needing to leave at say 2:00 or 2:30pm. Of course, no organisation will allow you to do this.

Working this way is still a challenge, but it is truly flexible. I don’t miss a single thing in my children’s school life, and that make this all worthwile.

The experience that comes to mind with this post is one where after about a month on a new job, I got pulled into a meeting – or inquisition by my managers… they were questioning my efforts and wondering what, if anything I had accomplished and were prepared to put me on a 30 day probation.

I guess they had missed the several emails I sent updating them on my tasks, asking for input, awaiting next steps, etc. etc.

My absence in the downtown office gave them the “out of sight out of mind” persective and led them to believe that I wasn’t working at all. In actuality, I had been so efficient in my work that I was ahead of schedule. They were slightly taken aback when I said, “Well, here is this, this and that, and I am waiting on you for that, that and those.”

Managers might THINK they are open to telecommuting and try to support it whole heartedly, but some will still hold the impression that if you aren’t at work, you aren’t working.

(This story has a bit of an ironic slant to it too… I was working for a government transportation department!) :)

However, my mom still thinks it’s ok to call during the day. My solution is to check the caller ID and only answer work calls I am expecting, calls from kids’ schools, and any calls from the hubby. Even mom gets the shaft during the workday because otherwise I’d be talking to her every four hours (as that is how often she calls LOL).

The ironic thing being now that I work for myself and from home I work infinitely more now than I ever did when I was on someone else’s payroll. Then again, I love what I do, love the freedom it affords, and wouldn’t trade my WAHM status for anything. I am glad that telecommuting in general has become more common and that I don’t have to work in a vacuum. The internet affords me some pretty cool “office” mates.