| |
| |
|
Careers & Employment Information |
|
|
|
The Telecommuting Tightrope
For many of us, telecommuting seems like the ideal situation. You wake up, shuffle over to your home office, work at your own pace. You take a break when it suits you, you end your day when you're ready to. You can rearrange your work schedule to fit around your personal life. Or can you? What motivates most people to seek telecommuting is the need for a balance between work and play. Ironically, it's often this desire for balance that leads people to the realization that telecommuting is not for them. Take Meg Rottman. Now the President of her own Public Relations company, StylePR, Meg once thought that telecommuting was the perfect solution. At the time, she was working as a Fashion Editor for a company located in New York. Since she was on the West Coast, and her job didn't require her presence in an office, she felt it was a natural fit to work from home. "At first, it seemed like a great opportunity," says Meg. "Ultimately, I found that I didn't have 'work time' and 'play time'. It morphed into just 'time'". "I found that there was no beginning or ending to my day. And there was no time off. I would jump out of bed in the morning with an idea and go directly to the computer. And then, often I would still be typing at 11:00 at night. It was almost like being on call. I wanted my time to be more compartmentalized". This is a common side effect of working from home. It takes no small amount of discipline to structure your day- and stick to it. The funny thing is, having the ability to take a break and do other things in the middle of the workday is the reason many people want to telecommute in the first place. Meg realized this. "If you really schedule your day, then how can you justify taking a walk, or putting a roast in? You can't," she says. "Maybe you're giving up what made working at home so great to begin with." It wasn't all bad though. Meg did discover some things about herself. "I really did not need supervision, I was completely self-motivated. The surprising thing was that I worked more". Not surprising is the fact that Meg now owns her own company. "[Telecommuting] definitely gave me the feeling that I was already working for myself, so why not do that?" she says. "Yes I have to drive to my office now, but it is easier for me to separate work and home and create a more balanced life." Sometimes, things just aren't what you thought they'd be- and sometimes that's a good thing. -------------------------------- Sharon Davis is the Mom to two girls, the owner of 2Work-At-Home.Com, Work At Home Articles.net and the Editor of the site's monthly ezine, America's Home. In her spare time she reminisces about what it was like to have spare time. This article may be reproduced providing it is published in it's entirety, including the author's bio. For a text version via autoresponder, send a blank email to tightrope@sendfree.com
MORE RESOURCES:
Employment - Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
No Degree, No Problem According to a recent survey, 52% of job candidates polled lied on their resume about having a college degree. Here are 3 brief horror stories: A new Director of Logistics and his family were actually loading the moving van provided by his new employer for relocation from California to North Carolina. Avoid Potential Job Interview Disasters There are definitely things that you can do to avoid minor mishaps which could ultimately blow an interview. Become familiar with these 7 potential interview disasters so you can prevent them from obstructing your path to that ideal job. What A Former Stay At Home Mom Knows About Creating A Stunning Resume That You Dont Recently I was asked to touch up a friend's resume. Her challenge was simple. Telecommuting Website (Part Two) Last article I discussed why a telecommuter would benefit from starting a website, and what you should include on the website. This article, I'm going to cover how to market the website and the basics of getting one set up. Writing a Resume: To Template or Not To Template? Are free resume templates a viable answer to preparing a killer resume?It's a fact that if your resume doesn't stand out--both in terms of content AND appearance-- you'll find it very difficult to get the job you seek.Hiring managers get hundreds of resumes for every open position, but usually have time to interview only a handful of applicants. How to Transform a Boring Note Into A Killer Cover Letter - Part I The AIDA formula is as old as dirt. It was taught when I was in school over a decade ago. Everyone Should Have a RED BALL in the Job Search May I explain what about what a red ball means to me and how I counsel others as a career coach.A RED BALL is a symbol of what you can do and want, especially in a job search. Experience Hear-See-Do Research indicates that we retain only 10% of what we hear; 20% of what we see; 65% of what we hear and see; but 90% of what we hear, see, and do.Every day at work we demonstrate Hear-See-Do when we use a combination of our knowledge, wisdom and skill to perform a task or plan what we will do at a later date. An RX For Your Résumé Whether you are an accountant, virtual assistant, or a corporate executive, your job skills are constantly refined. A new sales presentation you've organized or the new spreadsheet package you've mastered should be included on your résumé. Job Interviews -- The Real Reasons Why You Need to Follow Up Effective follow-up after a job interview is often a key reason why someone gets a job, even though there are other equally qualified candidates. Many candidates treat follow up as an optional add-on to their job search. Love What You Do! "To love what you do and feel that it matters, how on earth could anything be more fun?" --Katherine GrahamI want to share with you a great success story from one of my clients, Susan*, because I am so proud of her. Susan had been working in the computer industry since college (8-10 years) and though she was financially and professionally successful, she felt dissatisfied with her career. Why Bachelors Make Bad Decisions: Five Tips to Move from Reality Television to Your Career Change The Bachelor is one of the many reality shows that have gripped the US television viewing audience.Premise: A very eligible Bachelor (last season featured an NFL quarterback) stays in a mansion with several eligible young women. Losing A Career Can Feel Like Getting A Divorce Most of us are aware that we need to grieve the death of a close friend, relative or favorite pet. We are beginning to learn that other events -- relocation, divorce, illness -- can also be experienced as loss. You Should Interview the Interviewer, Too I know what you are thinking. You're thinking, "Wait a minute. 7 Tips for Writing Winning Resume Cover Letters Writing a good resume cover letter is something you should seriously consider when preparing to send off your resume to potential employers.Here are seven important cover letter writing tips:Address the individual by name. The 5 Ps Of A Job Search Step One - Plan:Most people spend more time planning a one to two week vacation than they do planning their lifetime career. When planning for a vacation, you look at where you want to go, what your reason is for wanting to go to that particular place, how long it will take to get there, whether or not you want to take any side trips, what type of budget you will need, and what type of clothes you will need to take. Job or Career At this present time I have a job. It pays some of my bills, and again I have a job. Ten Healthcare Fields That Cant Wait To Hire You Healthcare is one of the hottest career fields in America today. The aging and retiring of the largest population segment in the country, known as "baby boomers", has left the healthcare industry racing to find enough employees to fill the void. Find Passion for Your Work Most people spend approximately 25% to over 67% of their waking hours working. Eventually, most everyone will want to work in a career that they enjoy and are paid well enough to live a prosperous life. Gray Hair, Black Prospects If you're reading this article, I'm sure I don't have to tell you that discrimination has become much more sneaky than in the past. No one comes out and say, "We're not hiring you because you're too old.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
