I am
enjoying my first job where I like the coffee at the office. I don’t have an expensive, high
volume machine to make the coffee, but the coffee is freshly ground and made the way I
like it. It’s another perk of working out of my house instead of in an office.
So let’s
talk about the changes I’ve made in my work habits to adapt to not having the
support system an office supplies. Don’t get me wrong, I love working for a
virtual company, but let’s be honest and admit that there are differences that
some professionals will not be comfortable with. I admit to having days where I
wish I could grab a pre-made sandwich instead of stopping and making myself
something to eat. It’s an easily solved problem, I can and will stock sandwich
meat and stash lunches in my fridge when I hit my WFH stride, but a change in
my convenience status is worth noting.
And I’m
responsible for keeping ink and paper in the printer and emptying the waste
baskets. I’m very OK with this, but it has occurred to be that I’ve worked with
people who might not be.
Technology
glitches are another adjustment. When the network goes down in the office
building, someone makes a call to IT, who already knows something is wrong and
is working on it. At home, my internet access went down and I called my
provider. I am the only one available to trouble-shoot the problem, notify
co-workers and management that I am off-line, arrange for a fix, project a
timeline for resolution of the problem and pay to have what is broken fixed.
In
the case of my router dying one day, it meant I notified my service provider,
arranged to have a replacement router shipped to me and then went to Starbucks
to drink coffee and use their internet for the rest of the work day. The local
library has also kept me on the job during technology crises.
Problems are
manageable, but some people do not want to deal with them. In which case, an office job could be right
for you. I’m still happy to work for a company, out of my home.
