How to make working from home work for moms
With gas prices throwing the family budget for a loop, more workers are pressuring their bosses to give telecommuting a try. Reporter Dalia Colon did a great package for tbt* on how to convince your boss it can work, with some tips from experienced home workers and some tools of the trade.
For Mommas, the idea of working from home seems ideal, but be careful what you wish for. Working from home is not a substitute for child care. I work at home a few hours a day several days a week and can tell you that I get a lot more done in the office than I do at home, where I am subject to constant interruptions. Ironically, a lot of dads I know rave about working at home, that they get so much MORE done because they don't have co-workers stopping by to chat. I have a suspicion that kids are more willing to interrupt mom's phone calls than dad's.
When my kids were little, I usually saved work time for later at night or nap
time since you can't let a toddler roam the house unattended. That means you can't really count on when you'll have time for work if you have a troublesome sleeper, a nap-fighter or a sick child in need of attention.
Now that the kids are school age, it's much easier, but we still had to set some ground rules. If I have the doors to the office open, they are free to come find me. But if I have an important phone call, the French doors are closed and they can see I'm on the phone and know that unless they are bleeding, they are going to have to wait a few minutes.
I also made the deal with them that when I hold up one finger to indicate, "I see you, but hold on a minute," that I truly will be with them in just a moment. I usually tell my caller, "Can you hold on for just a moment," and I find out what the child needs and can usually take care of the problem or question quickly.
Veteran home worker Asha Dornfest of Parent Hacks did a terrific piece earlier this year about how to fit working at home into your family life. And the blog Web Worker Daily also had some good tips on how to manage kids in the home office.
-- Sharon Kennedy Wynne
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Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
Amy Hollyfield is a workaholic mother of two young
daughters, blessed to have a work-at-home husband who makes their life possible. She was born in Detroit and moved around a lot as a kid (read: Air Force brat). She has lived in Florida since the month after she
graduated from Northwestern University. She lives for the yelps, hugs and kisses that greet her on nights that she makes it home before bedtime.
Sherry Robinson was born in the Sunshine State but she feels more comfortable inside a mall than outside at the beach -- thank goodness her husband is the outdoorsy type. He takes their two sons on night hikes, beach runs and bug hunts while Sherry does her best to take care of the homestead -- and find out what is new on the store shelves. A graduate of the University of South Florida in 19noneofyourbusiness, Sherry has been at the Times for nearly 20 years. And with nearly 10 years of parenting experience, Sherry is eager to offer up some great dish on raising kids and keeping your sanity.
Guest blogger Tracey Henry, a.k.a. Suburban Diva, is a frantic, slightly frazzled mother of four. She is a freelance humor writer and author which is the only thing that parenting four children ages 12-1 trains you for, except perhaps court jester and professional bull rider. She and her husband have lived all over the country, but settled in Florida eight years ago because the beachcombing is so much better here than on the banks of the Mississippi. Their family time includes a lot of sport -- both watching and playing -- and fun in the sun and surf. Catch her in Whoa, Momma! and on her site, 
Sherri Day and her husband welcomed their daughter into the world in early 2008. So far, she describes parenthood as exciting, exhausting and exhilarating. A self-described Southern belle with small-town values and big-city idealism, Sherri was born in rural Georgia. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Clark Atlanta University and her master's of journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the Brandon bureau chief for the Times. Sherri moved to Tampa from Brooklyn four years ago.
I got some interesting feedback on this blog posting that I thought I should pass on to other working Mommas.
Some employers have been turned off entirely by the idea of letting their employees telecommute precisely because of the childcare problem I mentioned. A lot of mothers really think it will be great to be at home with the kids and work, but for the most part it’s the job that suffers. Some employers say they let someone work from home once and it didn’t work out because she couldn’t get her work done because of the interruptions from the children. That’s the only memory they have of telework and they immediately have a negative reaction to the idea of letting employees work from home. It’s unfortunate, but true.
I think it can work for some mothers, for some jobs, but it's not as easy it many think it will be. The No. 1 rule of working from home is that you actually get the work done.
Posted by: Sharon | August 22, 2008 at 09:36 AM