What It’s Really Like to Work at Home
Individuals who trudge off to work every day often dream of the possibility of some day being able to work at home. They often wonder what it would be like to sleep as late as you wanted, to work in your PJs if you want, to take breaks and days off whenever you wanted.
Well, I am here to tell you what it’s actually like, Why you may be working your PJs because you just have not had time to take a shower and get dressed. I want to share with you what a typical day is like while running my transcription services business. My husband also works at home providing drafting services, so he is my one and only in-house coworker.
So on an average weekday morning our alarm clock goes off at 6:00 a.m. just as if we were going to a “regular” job. My husband and I have our first cup of Joe together as we wake up. We each then go to our separate computers and check our e-mail. I get work assignments through e-mail notifications, so these are my top priority for the day. I see what jobs have been received, download them, and see how much time they’re going to take. I decide which I will transcribe myself and which I will send out to my subcontractors. These jobs come in continuously throughout the day, so I must be checking my e-mail often.
About 30 minutes later my husband and I meet up again for our second cup of coffee and brief each other on what our work days are looking like. After the second cup of coffee it is usually around 7:30 and I work for about a half an hour. I stop for breakfast and my quiet time with God from 8:00 to 8:30. Back to the computer working from 8:30 to 9:00. Encino HVAC Repair . By 9:00 the rest of the family has showered, so I finally get my chance. By 9:30 I’m back at the computer. Since we both work on computers, my husband and I try to take a stretch break every hour or so. We usually take our dogs out to the end of our long private road.
Around 11:30 we will do our post office and bank errands, and by the time we return it’s lunchtime. We make a fast lunch and watch the noon news to make sure all is right with the world. After lunch we take another fast break with the dogs to the end of the driveway.
We’re usually back at our desks by 12:15 for the rest of the afternoon, taking a 5-minute break every hour or so. I spend my time at the computer either typing jobs, proofreading work, assigning jobs, or delivering jobs. I also try to find a little time each day for marketing – either sales letters, e-mails, social networking, website SEO, et cetera. I also need to carve out a little time for getting bank deposits ready, paying bills, doing bookkeeping, invoicing, etc. There is always something that needs to be done.
Also at some point in my day I usually take something out of the freezer for dinner, do a little laundry or vacuum.
One thing my husband and I are very disciplined at is quitting work at 4:30 or 5:00. If we stop at 4:30 we’ll go for a walk before supper. If we quit at 5:00 we will try to get a walk in after supper. But we do call an end to our work day at this point and won’t even answer the phone to clients any more. I check my e-mail one last time after supper and then I turn my computer off for the day. Until the next day when I do it all over again.