I’ve spent a good portion of the first few weeks of this year working away from my home office. One of my clients has asked me to take a lead role in running a large fundraising event and so I will be spending 20-25 hours each week through the end of March working on-site.
I am actually enjoying my time away from home. I don’t think I realized how much I missed having the opportunity to connect with people on a regular basis. At the same time however, I don’t think I will be trading in my home business for a regular stint in the office any time soon – there are far too many benefits associated with working from home.
One of the biggest adjustments I needed to make was getting dressed in the morning. While I always head right to the shower in the morning, before I started working on-site, my typical attire was comfortable sweats or something similar. With my temporary change of venue, I need to wear office-appropriate attire. While it may sound like a small thing, this wardrobe change brought its own set of challenges. Since leaving corporate America behind nearly five years ago, the contents of my closet have undergone a significant transformation. Fortunately, I was able to resurrect a few items and treated myself to a mini shopping-spree for the rest (after all, I reasoned, I haven’t had to buy “work clothes” for five years!).
The other big change is that the household tasks I normally do during the course of my at-home work day now have to wait until I get home. Again, not a big deal but it did take some getting used to. I’ve let some things slide and try to catch up on weekends. I realize that this is something that nearly everyone who works outside the home must contend with, but I have to admit that after working from home for so long, it has been an adjustment.
If nothing else, this period of working on-site has reinforced just how much I enjoy being able to work from home. Hopefully, this will be enough to keep me motivated so that I can continue to do this well into the future.