Working from home vs. the office

Quote of the week:"We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails."  Dolly Parton


Being able to work from home two days a week (eventually three) is a blessing. 

The "which is better" work from home vs work in the office conversation reminds me of the working Mom vs stay at home Mom.

Both have their positives and their challenges.

Working from home is no easier than being in the office minus the 300 mile round trip commute and 6-7 hours in the car a day.

Working from home means wearing shorts and a t-shirt and no makeup vs business causal clothes.

I have to admit that Sunday's are less stressful since I work from home on Monday.

The work days from home are longer.  I sign on earlier and work later. Also, you miss some of the socialization.  I keep music or the news on in the background since the silence can be deafening.

Don't get me wrong, taking a shower, brushing my hair and teeth, throw on some very casual clothes and walk into my kitchen/office is great!!

I can see my neighbors walking their dogs, riding their bikes, out for a stroll or see a golf cart going by makes the view nice and ever changing.

When I first started working, never in my dreams did I think that working from home would be a possibility.

But then again laptops, cell phones, Iphones, email and IM's didn't exist. For that matter, you had a terminal on your desk as computers were in their infancy. The desktop set up took up a large portion of your desk while now I put my laptop in a small carrier along with my lunch. As I drive, I have my blue tooth hooked up so I can work and drive while making business calls and joining scheduled online meetings.

Now at the tip of my fingers is my whole work world.  I have team huddles, conference calls, can do a power point presentations, reach out to my team and customers all from my kitchen table.

I do not have a dedicated room in my house as an office which is fine with me.

The keurig is just a few feet away.  My dog, Jeter, lays on the floor right outside the gate blocking his entrance way to the kitchen (he tends to want to sit between my feet when in the kitchen which can be a PITA).

I often think of my Dad and he would have been amazed at how the work environment has changed in the 35 years since he left us.

I am sure he is somewhere thinking "and they pay you to sit at you kitchen table in your shorts and t-shirt?"

Out of the four Raboni siblings, I am the only one who chose an office/corporate job. Tied to a desk. 

I think in some ways that connected Dad and I. 

One night after returning from my job in the city, Dad was intrigued at the reading material I had in my work bag (along with my high heel work shoes, yes, it was back in the :Working Girl" movie day where you wore your sneakers to the office and switched to your heels once at your desk). I had a copy of the Wall Street Journal and the Village Voice laying side by side.  Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum.

The banking industry (of which I have been a part of for more years than I care to admit) has changed by leaps and bounds.  From bank branches closing their doors at 3:00 except for Friday late nights to 5:00 or 6:00 to the birth of ATM's to depositing checks at your kitchen table. 

When I started working in the mortgage side of banking it was paper files.  Now it is all electronic from application docs through sending the closing docs to the closing agent.

And instead of sitting at my typewriter completing all the mortgage docs.  I sit at my kitchen table and work with my team in the office and remotely.

How my work world has changed and me along with it.

See you next week.