Working from home? (job offer, employees, tips, work from home)

[ctribucher]

Help!

My husband got a great job offer so we're relocating from VA to Raleigh. When I asked my boss about transferring to a local office in my company, I was denied (they say there are space issues, but I have my doubts about that). Instead, they offered me the opportunity to work out of our home.

Ordinarily I think I'd be on board with that idea, but I'm worried about becoming a hermit and not getting to know our new city if I work from home.

Has anybody experienced this? I'd appreciate any and all tips from your experience.

Thanks!

[aaustin]

I have relocated several people to the area and they work out of their house and enjoy it! You just have make your self leave occasionally. I work out of my house a majority of the time and I enjoy it!

[cindyj]

I personally transitioned from working in the big corporation office building to working at home. I loved it. It does take discipline though. Also, you must force yourself to stay involved in the community. Otherwise you could become a hermit. I suggest volunteer work or serve on some local boards. It is a great way to get to the know the folks and to learn what is going on in your particular area. If the chamber knows of a local leaderhsip program that could provide extremely beneficial. Many areas have these. You get to learn the workings of the area as well as get to know the movers and shakers. You have a wonderful opportunity. I would seize it.

[leighbhe]

My sister and brother in law just moved here from new hampshire and he works from home. It has been a difficult transition for him because he loved going in the office. You definitely need to be disciplined and make it a routine. We have been able to introduce them to people in the area and that has helped. He has done things like going to a coffee house regularly with his computer and worked a couple of hours from there. I think volunteering in the community is good, getting out and getting to know neighbors helps, joining a gym (if that is your thing), etc. My husband worked from home for about a year and he loved it! Of course, we had an almost 2 year old and a newborn, so for him it was great to be able to see them all of the time.

My brother in law certainly does have better hours than he did when working in the office. I think you have to set your parameters about when to start and when to leave because there will always be work to do.

Leigh

[ducter]

I would try to talk to others who work from home for your company since I hear alot of these work at home programs involve travel that is not discussed beforehand.

If all is good, then do it! You will get ALOT more done on the job and for your personal time. save on travel time, gas, stress ect.

[MaimounaKande]

I think there are good and bad points to it. I ran my own company out of my house for a while, and it grew large enough that I had to hire employees and get it out of my house. I think the pros are that you set your own schedule, and you are away from office politics.

On the downside...not only do you need to be sure you don't end up a hermit, but I found it quite lonely during the workday itself to not have someone to stop and chat with once in a while--even just to see other people all day! The getting out and doing things in the community is a good idea, but be realistic about your situation. For me, I had small children, and so when I went and picked them up from preschool (I did not attempt to work with them home!), I needed and wanted to spend time with them. I also had to make dinner, do laundry, etc, so I did not get out often at all.

Also, I found I worked a lot more. I couldn't just take home a few things from the office, do them, and be done. The work was always there in the other room, and I knew it...I ended up working at all hours of the night.

I found it easy to get distracted. My husband works from home now, not for our company, but for a company he works for, nad he is GREAT about staying focused. I found that I got up a lot to make tea, have a snack, quickly clean up the kitchen, throw in a load of laundry...it takes discipline (which apparently I didn't ahve enough of!) to stay in your office and work w/o thinking of things that need doing in the house.

Personally, I was a lot happier once we moved the company out of the house and had employees...I enjoyed the atmosphere much more.

I think it works great for some people (my husband for instance...) but not at all well for others (me, for instance!).

[VickiR]

I work from home when I have a ton of work to do! Then I go into the office when I need to turn in paperwork and actually have an office there too! I'm more of a "people" person so I need to be around people at least once a day.

There are agents in my office that work strickly from home but we have an area set up for them when they come into the office. Is that a possibility with your company? That way, you get to meet people, which is the easiest way to meet...at work.

Vicki

[bta]

We are in the exact same situation! We are also moving from VA to the Raleigh area due to my husband's job. (I'm actually bta's wife posting this...) When I went to my company and told them about the move, they offered me the chance to work from home, and I've decided to give it a try.

Since we haven't moved yet (we move next week), unfortunately I can't tell you what I'll experience, but I share the same concerns as you. My plan is to find something to get involved with that gets me out of the house from time to time - others have had some great suggestions for this, and it could be a good way to meet people.

Maybe we should start a support group for other people like us

[raleigh_life]

I work from home, and honestly, I can't wait until I work in a 'real office' again. There is a lot of positive - I love having the flexibility to run to the store whenever I want and wear my pajamas all day. But overall, I crave seeing people and I think working from home has made me a little lazy. Also, it took me a long time to really learn how to separate my personal life from work life since my work was always home.
Since Raleigh was a new area for me, I had to be even more proactive to get involved with the community and learn the area. Also, I think when you move to a new area, you meet friends and such from work, which isn't really a possibility when you're home.
I think working from home works great for some people - I'll just be happy though when I find a new job someday and I don't do it anymore.

[kmflan]

My hubby has been working from home for about 2-3 months now. He has done really well with it, but he is a pretty focused and disciplined guy when it comes to his job. I homeschool our kids so we are ALL in the house ALL the time. This is what we learned...

1. It was critical for him to have an office- not our bedroom, or the family room, or living room. We tried all those (family room is in basement, so we thought if we were all up then he could be down or vice-versa). A seperate room in the house that was exclusively his office worked out best.

2. We did not talk about routines or expectations or anything beforehand. An example is lunchtime. The kids and I were on one eating schedule and he was on another. So I would just be finishing cleaning the kitchen after a meal, and he would come upstairs wanting to eat with us.

3. It did help for each of us to get out of the house at least once a week. He ended up going in to the office one day a week, and I went anywhere I could, lol. Usually window shopping or to the gym.

Other than that, I think it's a good thing. He gets to see the kids a lot more. No wear and tear on the car. No commute. Less gas. Less money spent on fancy lunches with colleagues (that's a biggie)....

I should add that he spends a lot of time on the phone in conference calls, just like he did at his office. So staying in contact with everyone really hasn't changed much for him.

Hope that helps. Good luck