Opinion : Working in your PJ\'s

Vinton Today gave us a chance to try something many dream of, but never get the chance to do....work from home.

Before you try it, you have this idea that you will sit at your computer in your jammies, with a hot cup of coffee, while you work.

That might be true.

What no one tells you, is that it's sometimes much harder to actually get anything done while working at home.

When you go to the office, you are at work, and there is this expectation that while you are there, you are there JUST for the company. (Or should be, so why are you reading this instead of working! ;) And it's a lot easier to accomplish a list of tasks when you are there.

When you drag your bleary eyes to the computer at home, flip on the machine, and JUST get settled in, it sounds something like this.

"Mom! She won't give me my headband back!"

"It's MINE! I got it for Christmas!"

Carefully you sit down the coffee, grab the referee shirt and whistle, then break up the argument.

In our case, you assign each child their next task which includes school work, or their chore around the house...and that is a completely different topic of discussion...THEN settle down at the computer and get back to work.

You click the e-mail open, the website, then in my case Photoshop, and begin to work.

Scanning the e-mail I make it through about 3 e-mails when I notice it's too quiet in the house. Kids + Quiet=Trouble

So grabbing the Pink Panther outfit you go out to investigate...and find a movie running quietly in the next room. You shut it off, and hand out flash cards...and leave to the tune of 6x6 is 36, 6x7 is 42...

While there, you notice that one daughter is squinting at the flashcards and remember that it's time to make an eye appointment. But before you get back to the computer you hear...."Can someone get some more toilet paper for me please?" So you take care of that crisis...THEN go back to your desk where you have started this article about working from home.

So you sit down to write this article, glance at the clock and try to beat that 11:45 deadline...then I remember that I forgot to call the eye doctor...that taken care of, I say all that to say, this....I can't remember why I thought this was a good topic to write about!

I just mentioned the other day that I need a real office.

This raised eyebrows since I have moved my "office" to half of the livingroom and it includes a piano, sewing machine, file cabinets with tons of geneology/scrapbooking things.

What I meant was, I need a door.

Working from home does have HUGE advantages.

I no longer bite my nails in floods and blizzards wondering if Dean got to work okay, he did...and now when he's gone I call him at his portable office and don't worry that I'm pestering the secretary too much.

You don't forget your brief case at home and need it at the office.

The downside is you feel like you are constantly at work.

You think about the "business" and what you need to do, who you still need to contact, you make sure that all the appointments are lined up.

When you turn over at night, your first thought is, "What do I need to do when I get up?" and worst case scenario, you remember what you forgot to do before going to bed, so you jump out of bed, run to the computer and hope no one noticed your mistake.

Coordinating real life, and a family life with work, is now a bit harder, and I find that I say, "Not now, I'm working" more often than I like.

On the upside, when we have the grandbaby at work, we don't worry about her being quiet and distracting everyone in the cubicle next to us.

So if you are organized at all, and I assume if you have a home office, you are to some extent, it's a great life!

On those days, when everything at home seems to go down the drain, and everyone under 18 needs your help, it can be a challenge...but still, worth it.

So if you are pondering a home business, if you can juggle a day like mine, go for it, it's great, it takes a while to figure out, but when you do, it works pretty good!

From my desk to yours, Happy Friday!