As many of you know, I work remotely for a company in Wisconsin. I’ve been working for them offsite on a part-time basis since August 2009, and started full-time in June 2010.

I’ve had many people question the “at-home” line of work, and what it really means. A lot of good questions, and more often, misconceptions, about working at home have come up, so I’d like to address those.

Do you work in your boxers/underwear/naked?

No; I get fully dressed every day. I try to keep a daily routine. I wake up at the same time I would normally, I shower, I get dressed, I make coffee, and I try to get to my desk by 8:00 AM. The only exception is that I don’t wear “work” clothes; generally just a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

Can’t you choose your own hours and work whenever you want?

No, I don’t work whenever I want. Similar to the above, I try to work a consistent, normal schedule. Generally I work Monday – Friday, 8:00 AM to 4:00 or 5:00 PM (depending on if I take a lunch or not). Granted, I do have a little bit more flexibility with my schedule, but my employer tends to be really flexible to begin with.

Further more, just because I work at home doesn’t mean I get to slack off. Actually, I tend to work more hours at home than I did when I was onsite (I work approximately 45 hours a week, compared to the 41 or 42 on site).

How do they really know you’re working?

I guess honestly, they don’t. Besides the fact that the work gets done on time, I get constant phone calls, emails, and instant messages. There have been some rare circumstances where I’ve had to flex my schedule a bit and work from my phone (e.g. when we were in the moving process), but I try to be as honest as possible on my time sheet.

Can’t you work wherever you want?

The short answer to this would be: yes. There have been a few occasions where I’ve had to work in non-traditional places.

I recall one time in particular where I was sitting out in the grass on a nice sunny day and a plane flew overhead while I was in a phone conference (with coworkers, thankfully); they asked what that was, and I had to explain that I was enjoying then nice sunny weather. Honestly, though, the only reason I was doing this was because we were in the process of moving, and didn’t have a real desk to sit at.

I have a desk and an office in my house, and I make full use of them.

What about communication? Do you find it hard working with people without actually being in the office?

I think I’ve managed well. I know how to effectively communicate (for the most part) through any medium. Under most circumstances, I find that I’m more productive out of the office than in, mainly because it’s not as easy for people to come and ask me a question, interrupting whatever I’m working on. However, if there is an emergency, I’m very easy to get a hold of via phone.

Also, I like the “queue-like” nature of my current primary communication: email. A request comes in, and I can prioritize it without having to totally disrupt my workflow.

Funny story to go with this: I still get the occasional person that doesn’t realize I work remotely. They’ll call me asking if I can come and take a look at their problem, then I have to explain that I’m not actually there. Apparently, people must think I sneak-in in the morning, hide in back all day, and sneak-out when it’s time to head home.

How do your coworkers know when you’re done working?

Like I said, I tend to follow a fairly normal schedule. However, I do find that working remotely makes me a little more “on-call”. There have been times where I’ve taken a work phone call as late as 8:00 PM. Also, I’ve worked as late as midnight before (not straight, but a 12-hour day is tough) due to a late-night emergency.

Likes

There are a lot of things that I enjoy about working remotely. Here are a few in no particular order:

• Easier breaks: it’s a lot easier to walk away from a brain-block, then come back to it. I can also do things for my breaks that I wouldn’t be able to at the office, like pick-up my guitar and play a few notes. Even if it’s only for a few minutes, it makes all the difference.
• Less stress: I feel like my stress is down compared to working on site. A lot of this has to do with me not being submerged into the atmosphere that is having the problem, but rather I get to look at it from the outside.
• Home office: I didn’t mind working in the cube environment, but I love having a home office. I can have my music going, I can decorate it as I choose, set it up as I choose, and make my work day more comfortable overall.
• Location, location, location: as I said, the company I work for is located in Wisconsin, which is quite a distance away from home. I love being in my home town, close to family and old friends.
• The commute: a whole 15 feet.

Dislikes

Even with working at home being as awesome as it is, there are still a few things I don’t like:

• At home interruptions: if a problem comes up at home, sometimes I get sucked into it. I normally try to avoid dealing with it until I’m done working, but sometimes you just can’t.
• Communication: even though I said I make the best of the communication situation, there are a few times where it would just be better if I was there. Thankfully, I’m resourceful enough to get around that problem, and generally find a solution.
• Environment: I do miss out on a lot of coworker-related activities and being around my coworkers in general. I have a lot of friends that work there, and it would be nice to see them more often. Thankfully, I do get to visit onsite every once-and-again.

Other Questions?

If you have any other unanswered questions about my day-to-day of working at home, leave a comment.