The Perks of Working from Home

My workspace

You may or may not know that I work from home doing tech support. I've done this since August 2012. I work tech support and it's like any other call center job. But working from home has a lot of perks.

This first one isn't really a work from home perk but it's a perk. My boss is great and understanding. My coworkers are funny and help the day go on. And yes, I have coworkers. I'm on a team and we can talk in a chat room. We have one room for business stuff and another where we can talk about anything - and we do when it's not busy.

One of the biggest work from home perks for me, is I can work in my pj's. And I do. With all my health issues being comfortable while I work is really great. I can also work in the dark and there are no bright fluorescent lights. This really helps a lot with my migraines.

After my seizures happened last month,  I was told that I wouldn't be able to drive for three months. If I worked outside the home, I'd be screwed since Todd works 2nd shift. But since I work from home, it's business as usual. I did ease myself back in, thank again to a great boss, but I've been back full time for a couple of weeks now.

Working home works great for me. It seems like more and more people are going that route as well. As someone who has chronic pain, it really helps me be able to be comfortable, be able to crash into bed after my shift if needed but still make a living to help my family.

Chronic Pain and Being a Shut-In

June is Migraine Awareness Month. This is my 3rd in a series of posts about my experiences with chronic migraines. The first was about a day in the life with chronic migraines and the second was about an unfortunate superpower that comes with migraines.

The picture for this post is a meme that has been going around on my Facebook wall. This is a feeling I know all too well. I'm a bit of a shut-in. 

Now my chronic pain isn't the only reason I'm shut-in. Since Todd works 2nd shift, if I go anywhere after work I have to have an Emily with me. Now that she's older, it's not as big of a deal but I still can't do things like table top gaming because she'd want to play and her reading ability isn't very strong.

Some days, it's hard for me to get out of bed. And some days I have to go straight back to bed once I'm done working. I rarely leave the house since I work from home and sometimes just being able to go to Wal-Mart is a treat.

Unfortunately, I don't get invited to a lot of things. I don't get the Facebook invites for Browncoat karaoke anymore among other things and I don't really have a lot of local friends. I even have been missing church a lot lately because of illness.

It's sad and I'm lonely, but I can't make people like me. This is something I found out the hard way over the years. I've lost several close friendships in part because of my chronic pain issues. My only really close friend anymore is Todd, and he's required to be my friend because he's my husband. I have Emily - but she's my kid and not a friend.

I'd like to try to make more friends, but it's hard because I've been burned in the past. And because it's hard to go anywhere lately because of having one car, lack of money and higher pain levels. My anxiety levels have been higher too which doesn't help.

I'm afraid it might be too late for me - that I probably won't have a best friend ever again beyond Todd. My life isn't too bad on the whole but I do get lonely especially for female friendships. 

If you know someone who is suffering from chronic pain, try to keep in contact with them. Even just an email or text would make their day!

Second Generation Work From Home Mom

More and more people have the opportunity to work from home these days thanks to the wonder of the internet. I am able to do tech support in my pj’s from my home office and I make pretty decent money especially since I don’t have any commuting expenses.  But I am probably a little rarer that I’m a second generation work from home mom since for many years my mom also worked from home.

My mom worked a variety of jobs when I was little as she tried to work shifts that only took place when we were at school. When I was a little older, my parents started a water testing business since my dad is a microbiologist. Originally they rented an office but that didn’t last very long. They converted part of our basement to an office for my mom and a lab for my dad. She handled all the office parts and he handled all the science parts.

She didn’t do all the work from home since someone had to collect the samples. In the summer, I’d ride along with her and we’d talk. It was a great bonding time for me and my mom. But she was able to control her schedule completely so if either my sister or I were sick, she could move things around to be there for us.

When I was a sophomore in college, I got very sick. My mom was able to adjust things so she could drive two hours to pick me up and bring me home. I was very glad she was able to do that for me.

My parents ran the business even after my mom got cancer though it got harder as the cancer got worse. After my mom passed away, my dad sold it but I’m not sure if it’s still in business. But I have great memories of my mom working from home and being there for me when it was necessary. And I’m very thankful I’m also able to work from home too!

Pain in the Way of Plans

Emily with Chronic Pain Bear

I have chronic pain and am in pain every day but I’m luckily than a lot of people who have constant pain. My pain levels are generally low enough that I can live a mostly normal life. But sometimes the pain flares up and slams me down, reminding me that I am sick and will be for the rest of my life.

Saturday night I went to bed feeling ok with plans of working and then doing some housework on Sunday. I slept the whole night but I woke up feeling exhausted with high pain levels. It had been raining and I think that’s what triggered this flare.

I managed to work my whole shift but felt awful afterwards so it was off to bed. I didn’t get anything done that I had wanted plus I couldn’t even find a comfortable position in bed so I couldn’t even work on my cross stitch. My pain derailed all the plans I had for that day.

All I can do when I get a flare is rest because there is no medicine that works for me. I’m feeling a little better today but the pain levels are still higher than normal.

I’m still lucky though. Some people in my chronic pain support groups can’t work, can’t do much of anything because the pain is so bad. For me flares come and go, but the pain always goes down after a while.

Living Under Blankets

A few months ago there was an article on The Onion about a girl who was going to stay underneath her blanket for the next five months. Since it was The Onion, it of course wasn’t true. But I really do spend my life under blankets.

I’m cold a lot and my husband is warm most of the time. Since it’s easier for me to cover up, we keep our house at a comfortable temperature for him and Emily. Because of this, I spend a lot of time underneath different blankets.

I work from home, so I have a blanket that stays in my office that I have on my lap while I’m working. I also have a space heater in my office because it’s the coldest room in the house. I also have a couple of blankets in the living room. One for the chair and another for the couch so I can have a blanket no matter where I sit. Then, of course, I have several blankets in the bedroom.

I like blankets because they keep me warm. It also gives me a place to keep all my cross stitch things in one place when I’m working on a project. Plus it’s always good to keep our heating bills down.

Emily also loves her blankets – she sleeps with a bunch though most have fallen on the floor by morning. My husband uses blankets least of all of us, but still likes it for the living room in the wintertime.

Blankets are good, especially in the cold of winter!

Perks of Working From Home

I work from home doing tech support. Even though I sit in my home office, usually in pjs, it’s very similar to the other call center jobs that I’ve worked. I have co-workers that I talk to over a chat program and I have a set schedule.

My boss is very flexible about moving my schedule around if need be. If I get sick during the week, I just work on my day off. If I want the weekend off, I work longer hours during the week. Yesterday was Emily’s preschool Sharing Feast and I got to work a shorter shift to attend.

It was so cute to see her with her friends during the short program beforehand. And we got to eat lunch with some of her friends and their parents, which was nice as well. If I was working another job, it would be harder to take off without using vacation time.

There are some downsides from working from home. But as I watch it snow outside my window, I’m glad that I don’t have a commute and that I can be there for Emily’s school programs. 

Misadventures When Working From Home

Emily with our cat, Willow

For me, working from home is a lot like working in a call center. I have coworkers that I talk to over a chat program, I have one boss and a set schedule. My husband works 2^nd shift so generally he’s around if Emily needs anything. Sometimes Todd does have class or needs to leave for work early. Since Emily is four, she is pretty good about playing quietly with her toys while I’m working.

There have been a few incidents were she has damaged the calm of my office. One time, Todd was at class and she tried to change to regular TV. She pushed a wrong button which caused the TV to turn up to full volume. That didn't take me too long to fix though.

The other day we had our biggest issue to date. Todd had left for work and I was working a little over because I was stuck on a long call with a customer who really was clueless. About a minute after Todd left, I heard Emily start to wail. I quickly put my customer on hold to see what was the matter and found that one of our cats had scratched her.

We have three cats, two of whom have been around since before Emily was born. We do our best to have her realize that the cats are living beings and not playthings. But she has been trying to carry around our oldest cat, Star, around lately. He’s usually really gentle with her but he must have not wanted to be picked up so he scratched her.

It wasn't that bad but my child thinks any boo-boo is the end of the world. I hurried to get off my call and finish my shift but it took a while. It was hard because Emily kept crying but I had to finish that call.

Once I got off work, I saw that the scratch was bleeding so I got a band-aid on it. I snuggled her while we watched her current favorite show, Teen Titans Go. She was fine but it was hard to work hearing her cry outside my door. 

Hopefully that will be the worst misadventure we have!

The Ups and Downs When Working From Home

My Home Office

Last year, I reentered the work force after 3 years of getting my 2^nd degree. I did temp work for a while but I was always on the outlook for a full time job. I got laid off from my temp job and I managed to find a tech support job that I can do from home.

Working from home is great especially that means we don’t have to have a sitter for Emily. I usually work from 7 am to 1:30 pm, which works out very well because my husband works 2^nd shift and leaves for work at 2 pm.

I've worked from home for almost a year now. There are a lot of advantages to working from home, but some disadvantages too.

Because I have chronic pain issues, working from home is much more comfortable than working in an office. I can turn off all the lights in my office, wear comfortable clothes and adjust the temperature so it is perfect for me. I also only have to walk a few steps to get to my bedroom and am able to take naps because I have no commute time.

Also because of no commute, I spend a lot less on gas money and extra food. When I working outside of the home, I’d spend a lot of money on fast food and it would add up fast. I also save money on child care since Emily is very good about being quiet even on the days that Todd has to go to class.

I’m lucky because my job is a regular job. I get a paycheck with taxes taken out, which is pretty rare for work from home jobs. I make a decent hourly wage and I make extra for any sales that I make. Even though my hourly wage is $3 less than what I was making with the temp job because I have fewer expenses.

 Because I work a tech support job that’s open 24/7/365, I have to work Saturdays every week. Working 6 days a week, even though I only work 6 ½ hours a day can be draining. I do get the occasional weekend off but that means working a lot of extra hours throughout the week.

Since I’m home all the time, I get a little stir crazy. I don’t have a lot of local friends so I end up going to the store a couple times a week just to get out of the house. The stir craziness and my chronic pain issues do make my anxiety and depression worse some days.

The job I work isn't the best job. There are a lot of angry people and a lot of stupid people who end up calling in to get tech support. I can handle most issues and I do have supervisors that I talk to via a chat program if I run into problems. Some days are better than others, but that’s pretty standard with any job.

For now, the advantages of working from home outweigh the disadvantages. It works out really well now that Emily is small. When she’s a little older, I might want to work outside of my house but for now I’m happy with the situation I’m in now.