When we first moved to Utah from Tucson almost 5 1/2 years ago, I worked from home for the first year or so. It was easier than having to look for a new job immediately and it gave us a chance to get settled in our new home and state without one more new thing in the mix. By the end of that year though I was borderline depressed. That might sound dramatic but I really think it was true. Think about it -- we had moved to a new state where we knew no one, the kids were not in school yet (just daycare preschool), I didn't have a place to go everyday to meet co-workers and start to completely integrate into the new place. I joined some mom's groups and that helped but I needed to get back to an office. I am an external processor and I truly missed the day to day interactions with my peers. So off to Nolte I went. And we all know how that ended. But it was a good 2 1/2 year run.
When I accepted my current job, I knew that the project I was hired to work on would end after 18 months or so. My company was impressed by my work on the project and they are keeping me on staff. But we do not have a Utah office and I am only one of two people that were kept on staff. So we both now work out of our homes. The trade off to working from home is that I have to travel, about once per month to our corporate office in Virginia.
So far, I have been working from home since late September. It is a work in progress. I felt like now that I have lived here for so long, I have friends and plenty of social outlets. I have conference calls, and several communication points with my boss and other co-workers throughout a typical workweek. I try to connect with old colleagues and friends by meeting for lunch 1-2 times per month. I attend the ASCE meetings as well. All that said, it's hard. Out of sight, out of mind is how I feel most days. I definitely have good days and not so good days. I measure productivity very differently now that I am working from home. Procrastination is so hard to avoid. I knew this from my time at home several years ago, but it's hard to get used to again.
Don't get me wrong, there are so many upsides. I save money on gas, lunches, work clothes (not that I shop for myself all too much). I pick up the kids directly from school most days so we save money on day care. We have more time to spend on their homework, and don't have to rush through things so much. I don't have to commute on snowy days (although I do miss listening to NPR every morning). I have more time to spend on other things in the downtime of work (i.e. put in a load of laundry, start the dishwasher, take out chicken for dinner, blog).
But I wonder if I am being of value to my company and that worries me. I am a self doubter, a second guesser. And it's hard to get feedback from so many miles away. So this is most definitely a work in progress. It helps to get my thoughts out though. I'm sure I will be writing more about this subject as the coming months unfold.
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