Working From Home: You're Not Really Working, Right?

by Hava Lyon | More from this Blogger

10 May 2007 10:30 AM

This past weekend, I got to go to my sister's house and spend the weekend with her and her family. I had a ton of fun, and I kept thinking, "I'm so glad I have a flexible job that allows me to do this." I had post-dated blogs so that this blog would be kept current while I was gone, I finished up the other freelance work that I had to do, and in the end was able to take four days off in a row without touching work even once. It was a great feeling.

As I was leaving, my sister gave me a hug and said, "Since you're not working this summer, you can come back and visit us later too! Maybe even stay for a week!" I just started laughing. I gave her a hard time for saying that, and she blushed.

"Oh, well, I meant working a regular job. You know, one that isn't flexible."

As I drove back home, I thought about what she said, (it was a four hour drive so I had lots of time to think. :P) Many people think that if you're working from home, you're not really working. When I first quit my bricks and mortar job and started working from home back in March, my husband used to come home and greet me with, "How's my unemployed wife doing?" For the first week, I didn't say anything, but then I started to get mad. Just because I was not going into an office, didn't mean I wasn't working! It made me want to beat him over the head with something. I finally confronted him about it, and he hasn't said it since. He learns quickly.

Considering the fact that no one seems to think that I'm working, I sure do keep busy: I blog here at Families, I blog at my personal blogs, I write articles, edit eBooks, do massive amounts of data entry for a company, and then any other side job as it comes along. Right now I'm helping a lady build a website--I've never built one before but it's been fun to learn. She's never built one either, so we're learning together.

The biggest difference between working at home and working in the office is of course the flexibility (yes, I can take on another job, or no, I can't) but with that flexibility also comes wild paychecks. It's scary not knowing how much money you're going to make in a month. I never have a clue. Luckily my husband has a very steady job and a very steady paycheck.

Does anyone else here ever have to deal with someone saying, "You can do this because you don't have a real job"? Leave your comments below!

Learn more about Hava Lyon

Hello, my name is Hava or Havs (depending on my mood and yours!) I am a freelance writer who writes for several blogs, both paid ones such as this one, and personal blogs.

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