As a writer, I normally don’t venture any further than my local coffee shop on any given day. Because I do corporate freelance work as well, however, I occasionally have to meet a client in person, usually at his/her place of business. Last Friday morning was such an occasion, and it reminded me of all the reasons I really appreciate working from home. Here are my top five:
- Going into a professional setting meant that I had to wear a suit, which reminded me all over again how incredibly uncomfortable pantyhose really are. Being able to wear comfortable clothing, therefore, is the very top reason I like working from home.
- The same meeting required a commute into the city. Because I’m unfamiliar with the public transit system (and said system really sucks in my particular area), I drove. And sat in traffic. For a really long time. So my second reason (and it’s a close second) is that there are no traffic jams in my house…unless you count the kitchen pile-up at feeding time for pets.
- The meeting was at my client’s office. When I walked in, the radio was playing—and it was tuned to a country station. I despise country music. (Blame it on my parents making us listen to it ad nauseum when I was growing up.) That makes being able to listen to my own choice of music another big reason home works for me.
- In addition to the music, there were people talking, telephones ringing, clients waiting to be served…in short, a certain amount of chaos occurring. While I used to enjoy working in places like that (and did so quite successfully), I’ve become used to the peace and quiet. My only distractions these days are the furry ones, and I can boot them out of my office if they bug me too much. And yes, I may have developed some hermit-like tendencies. 😉
- While sitting in my meeting (and facing an entire day of being out of the house running errands once I finished), I remembered I hadn’t taken meat out of the freezer to defrost. Which added another stop to my already long list because now I needed to go to the grocery store and find something for dinner that was neither in the budget nor on the weekly menu plan. If I’d been home…yeah, you see my point.
In short, to quote the famous Dorothy, “There’s no place like home.” At least, not for me! 🙂
How about you? If you’re a work-from-homer, what do you like best about doing so? Or if you prefer an office, why?
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