Homeworking Parents: make it ‘work.’

Corporate to Kids - 16 May 19

Many people don’t understand why I enjoy homeworking; they seem concerned that I am lonely, locked in the turmoil of isolation and solitude that can only bring negativity. The truth is, I love it. It requires a very different approach to working in an office. It takes discipline to knuckle down to work and not to waste the hours. There are aspects of the old job I miss. But overall? I wouldn’t change it. As a parent, working from home has been the most effective way to combine children and work.

Does age matter?

Apparently, it does. A study of 2000 British workers reported that 40 per cent of the 45 and above age group said that there was nothing that would prevent them from working from home. Only 11 per cent of millennials felt the same. In terms of why people in the study would not work from home, 21% said loneliness. 21% also said that they wouldn’t have the IT facilities to connect from home. Loneliness and IT: two very different deterrents.

Work from home parent

Perhaps it is an age thing for me. The number one reason I choose to work from home is to be flexible around my children. In my twenties, I had very different commitments, i.e., none. There was a huge buzz from being in London and travelling to other countries on the premise of work. It’s still doable to go for drinks with friends, it just takes planning. I still dip my toe in London life. Spontaneity is lacking, but I think that would be the case regardless of my work location. Two children have scuppered that.

‘Aren’t you lonely’?

In a word: no. I have my children until 9 am when I drop them off, which believe me can often feel like a day. I pick them up at three and I have my youngest two days a week and weekends. That doesn’t give me enough time to get lonely. Plus, I like my own company. I always have done. Secretly, I like being quiet. I am a complicated mix of introvert and extrovert. I love company, but equally, I thrive on solitude, and since having children there’s very little of it. In addition, I often require silence to write, I can’t imagine writing anything decent embedded in collegial banter.

Mental health and homeworking

It does take a certain discipline which I don’t think applies to all. It would be easy to watch telly or do nothing, but I get too guilty to slack. I am still a stickler for ‘To Do’ lists because they help me remember what exactly I was supposed to achieve (blame my child battered memory). Back to my complex extrovert/introvert dichotomy. Every work afternoon I sneak out to my favourite coffee shop and work there for an hour just to gain from a change of scenery and the energy of people around me. I don’t go there to meet others; I just like the sense of company in a very strange way.

Remember to switch off

I work a lot of evenings. This flexibility is fantastic, but my brain can be highly stimulated at night. If there’s one thing I adore, it’s kip. It’s important to have deadlines for stopping each day. My kitchen table doubles as the place we eat and my workplace. Ergonomically it’s not compliant with health and safety recommendations and I spend time clearing away the breakfast stuff and then later clearing away my laptop. Sometimes I crave a divide which is why I work in coffee shops.

I appreciate this may sound a smidge rose-tinted as it’s not possible for all jobs. I have a friend who is a physio in a London hospital. I’m not sure how it would work if she asked her patients to visit her at home. I’m lucky that my job allows me to work from anywhere. I’m just dependent on my laptop and wifi.

So, if you spy a saddo sitting alone at a restaurant wearing a party hat and trying to pull a cracker on their own, the chances are you’ve just witnessed my Christmas party for one. At least there’s no chance of any office scandal.

Corporate to Kids

Who: Sarah - Queen of self-deprecation Job: from corporate HR career to Mum, Writer and Blogger Children: two boys with a 13 month age gap!! Obsessions: writing, Haribos, rainbows, coffee, fizz

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