From The Huntington WV Herald Dispatch and Jennifer Adkins
Every time I mention working from home in my column, I get tons of e-mail from readers wondering how they can get started in an at-home career.
It does have its perks. If your work is portable, like mine, you can do it just about anywhere. (I’m writing this column on my laptop at Starbucks. Now you gotta love that.)
But working from home isn’t for everyone. You have to have the personality for it, for one thing. If you’re a social butterfly who likes to be around people, it probably wouldn’t suit you.
If, on the other hand, you’re an introvert like me who’d gladly work on a deserted island (preferably one with a Starbucks), it can be great.
It also is tough for procrastinators to work from home. If you would likely spend your day watching TV Land reruns and alphabetizing your pantry to avoid getting started on your actual job, you might better work with your boss nearby.
Most moms who write to me want to work from home so they can be with their kids and avoid daycare. But that largely depends on the temperament of your kids.
If they are the type who will contentedly color or watch cartoons for an hour, it might work. If you actually have a kid like this, I’d like to come over to your house sometime and see that for myself. I’ve never seen one in captivity.
If my 3-year-old is “quietly entertaining himself” rather than bugging me, I know I’d better go see exactly what he’s doing. It most likely involves a reluctant cat and Daddy’s mustache trimmer, or perhaps a permanent marker and a freshly painted wall.
You might think you’ll work while your kids are at school. But with vacations, holidays, sickness and gee-let’s-give-the-kids-a-day-off-from-school-for-no-apparent-reason days, it seems like I’ve always got at least one at home with me. And let’s not even talk about summer.
So even if you work from home, you still might need child care. It would be nice to have a trusted baby sitter come to your house to keep the kids busy while you work. Provided, of course, they will actually play happily with the baby sitter knowing that Mommy is working in the next room.
If you still think working from home is for you, next week I’ll give advice on finding legitimate work-at-home employment.
Jennifer Adkins is a Huntington resident and stay-at-home mom of Andrew, 8; Emily, 5; and Aidan, 3. You can contact her by e-mailing jsadkins1@hotmail.com.
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