Comments on: We ask the Brazen Careerist

By: Jess

Jess — Fri, 23 May 2008 18:15:01 +0000

“I’m hoping working from home will come with the flexibility benefits of taking them a little later, doing a load of laundry instead of going for coffee with coworkers, saving on gas, etc.”

Elizabeth, I couldn’t agree more. I work from home full-time and my 2 yr old is in day-care full time. Where I save is in those “extras” and by eliminating my commute.

I believe that if I worked from home and had son home I would either be a terrible parent or a terrible employee! Great tips everyone, and great conversation.

By: Julie

Julie — Thu, 22 May 2008 02:09:26 +0000

I agree that it changes when the children get older. I started working from home when my first was 8 months old and napping twice per day. Once baby #2 was born, it was impossible for me to get anything done. Frankly, if I ever had both kids sleeping the last thing I wanted to do was turn on my computer! Now, I work 20 hours/week and get a babysitter for 18 of those. I think it’s all about taking it one step at a time, seeing what works or doesn’t, and adjusting as you and your family change. Good luck all!

By: Kuan

Kuan — Tue, 20 May 2008 19:47:44 +0000

Everything is conjecture until you speak with your employer. Have a chat with your employer a few months before the arrival of your new family member. Have a plan in place just in case your boss has questions. The worst anyone can say is no, in which case you start on Penelope Trunk’s “just do it” plan.

A note on “flexin’” your time. Be there during core hours. This are times when most meetings are scheduled. If you can, take a lead role in one or two smaller projects. Lastly and quite obviously, take the serious number crunching or coding back home with you. This way people will hardly notice that you’re gone half the day.

By: Katy

Katy — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:39:08 +0000

Robin–

Yeah, I can imagine that that raised a few eyebrows! Employment/parenting standards are still so different for men than they are for women.

In a man’s situation, “flextime” might take a different form. I wonder if there’s any chance an employer might respond better to a request for four ten-hour days with one day “off” than for a request to work at home…? I have no idea really…just throwing the thought out there. I’d be curious to hear others’ experiences with male flextime (or lack thereof).

By: robin marty

robin marty — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:27:20 +0000

oh, I’m pretty aware that this won’t work forever. I intend to do daycare/bring in a caregiver, and was looking for one but decided not to rush anything. That’s something I’ll approach later.

I also probably should have mentioned two things — 1) I already worked from home before the baby was born, so for my situation, as long as they don’t notice much of a change in productivity/responsiveness, they don’t care what I do in my “downtime”. And 2)I tend to travel for work every month or two. So I am lucky to have a husband with a great deal of vacation that he can take when I need to travel.

But I’m hoping to keep it up until we hit a point where my husband can work from home a few days a week as well, and then we can see what happens from there. And honestly, with gas going to near $4 a gallon, I think more people are going to be asking for it soon.

But then that leads to an even tougher question — how does a FATHER convince an employer to let him work from home? His office is very flexible when it comes to moms, but as a very involved dad, they tend to look at him askance when he says he’s going to the DR with the baby and me. You can imagine their reaction when he asked about a flex schedule…

By: Sherry

Sherry — Tue, 20 May 2008 17:12:24 +0000

I guess I’d take a different tact from Claudia. It’d be great if you could make things happen in that sequence. But, if not, ask anyway. You might be surprised at what they’re open to and if you don’t ask you’ll never know. It might not be exactly the arrangement you want but it might be a livable compromise.

By: claudia

claudia — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:25:48 +0000

I was quite adept at working from home when my first child was under the age of one year. With a relatively predictable eating/sleeping schedule combined with the one-handed-typing I made it work when I needed to. However when baby became toddler and had more opinions and demands (i.e. going on the bucket swing for half an hour or skipping the morning nap or taking the home office apart one ballpoint pen at a time…) then it became much harder. A year later, throw in a newborn with a two year old and all bets are off. Even when one of the grandmas was around to care for baby, it was hard for me not to respond to the crying (which usually sparked breast leaking in the early months.)

I agree with the columnist’s no-nonsense advice about making oneself indispensible before asking for schedule adjustments and such - that is key advice.

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Tue, 20 May 2008 15:19:21 +0000

I agree. When I have thought about working from home to have some flexibility, it is with the assumption that the kids will be with a care provider most of the day. I’m hoping working from home will come with the flexibility benefits of taking them a little later, doing a load of laundry instead of going for coffee with coworkers, saving on gas, etc. I could most definitely not get any work done being the primary care giver to my very active 2 year old. Again, thanks for all the insight and advice. I feel so much more prepared.

By: Katy

Katy — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:31:48 +0000

I agree with Steph; I think this arrangement is much more workable when the baby’s a baby, but toddlerhood is going to really do a number on productivity.

In addition, Elizabeth (the original person with this question) is talking about wanting flextime when her SECOND child comes along…again, not a recipe for success when trying to get work done at home. Kudos to Robin for making this work, but I’m guessing that that’s the exception rather than the rule. That’s just my opinion, of course…!

By: Steph

Steph — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:37:22 +0000

I’m just curious how long this arrangement will work? Sounds like it is working well while baby is still a baby. Will you adjust your plan when s/he gets older? Mine went to one nap at 14 mos, and now at two needs to go to parks, take adventures, and we could not be by our computer all day, unless kiddo watched videos. I work in healthcare, but have a few days home. I could not do this situation with the work I do, but am envious of those that can. Sounds like it would def work most of the first year, and that would be a blessing to be the primary care person during the day that first year. It seems it would get much more complicated after that!