When You Work from Home Nothing is NSFW

Now that your boss and people around your office are starting to think about allowing you to work from home, you might need some ammunition to push them over the edge. I have been working from home for almost 10 years as part of a virtual company of software engineers and AWS consultants. There are some downsides and tricks to being productive, but these days I’m counting my blessings. I’ll give you a bunch of benefits you may not have considered.

I work at home with flexible hours.

So I don’t have to commute, I don’t put a lot of miles on my car. So my car insurance is cheaper. I don’t sit around in useless meetings. I don’t worry about sexual harassment or a hostile workplace. I don’t have to pay for lunch at an expensive or sketchy joint near the office. I’m not tempted to get too wasted during happy hour and then ‘wait for traffic to die down’. I don’t listen to talk radio or other stupid media on my way to and from work. I don’t have to deal with public transportation. I don’t know whose ‘copter is the ‘Eye in the Sky’. I don’t have road rage and I don’t have to deal with others who get it. I don’t feel jealous of that luxury sports car that passed me, or those guys in the carpool lane. I don’t have to drive behind that sketchy pickup truck.

I don’t have to pretend like I’m busy when I’m not. I don’t worry about overtime keeping me away from meals and family. I discipline myself to be productive. I multitask without guilt. I don’t have to buy expensive clothing I don’t use anywhere else but work. I have exactly the right sized office with everything I want in it and I’m not jealous of anyone else’s office. Annoying people I’d rather not deal with don’t drop in on my unexpectedly. When I need to focus, I can do whatever I need to do to focus, smoke, drink coffee, listen to music, take a short walk.

I never forget something at home. I can get out of bed at 7:30 and make an 8:00 meeting right on time. I use exactly the electronic tools I want to use to get my job done. I don’t have to ask for a better monitor or desk chair. I don’t have to share access to my workstation with some administrator. I never have to wait in line to use the printer. I don’t snack needlessly on junk from a vending machine. I don’t have to eat mystery meat from a cafeteria. I don’t have to worry about missing a delivery at home. I can curse out loud when dealing with bullshit. I can say the word ‘bullshit’. Nothing is NSFW. I can watch the clock all I want, or not watch it at all. I don’t have to adjust my attitude. I can fart in peace.

I suffer no uncomfortable elevator rides or security checkpoints. I work at my own pace, with my own brand of air freshener (burning sage). I don’t concern myself with the weather. Nobody steals my pens or erases my whiteboard. My bathroom is always clean, well, as clean as I want it. I can shower or change clothes in the middle of the day. My entire library is right here. My clean desk policy is my own. I can decompress from stressful business. People take scheduling time with me much more seriously.

That’s work / life balance, and it is more precious than you can imagine. So if the tide is turning against this as the new normal, be the holdout. It’s worth it.