Posted on June 24, 2010 by Michele
I’ve written about this many times before but it is something that really gets under my skin. In my research I am always uncovering web sites to help parents work from home. Working from home is great but it’s the sites that purport ”Spend more time with your children! Save on the costs of child care!” that I loathe. Many have their heart in the right place but too often these sites lead folks down an unrealistic path.
I’m not sure who these folks are that care for their children and are also employed at home with a successful business. I think parents are kidding themselves if they think that writing a blog post or listening in on a conference call with the mute button pressed while their child colors on the floor next to them is the same as caring for your child. It’s okay to work occasionally when your children are around, in fact, I think it’s good for them to see this side of you. But the idea that you can have a successful career and care for your children at the same time, both from home, is ludicrous. If you think it is possible, I’d love to hear your explanation.
In fact it’s making me rethink my logo, which shows a mom working with a baby at her feet. I suppose when you have a baby you can certainly get more done than with a toddler, and when your children are in school you can get loads accomplished. But I don’t want to reinforce the false idea that working from home means you can have it all. It doesn’t. Work is still work and children still need attention. Child care is necessary.
And when we say that we can work from home while at the same time caring for our children, doesn’t that diminish the role of mother? I don’t consider the “supermom” who says she can do it all to be anything to idolize. For years mothers have been trying to get respect for the hardest job in the world. If we say we can care for our young children at the same time we can run a business, then maybe being a mother isn’t so hard after all. Anyone want to argue that?
Filed under: telecommuting | Leave a Comment »
Posted on May 28, 2010 by Michele
Do you need a home office makeover? I love this promotion from CSNOffice.com, a furniture retailer. The company is working with interior designer Taniya Nayak to find the Worst Workspace. And your home office could be it!
Worst Workspace
The company states ” Together, they’re looking to rescue woeful workspaces across the country, from homely home offices to cluttered, crummy cubicles to disgusting dorm rooms.”
Prizes are listed below, per the CSN web site. To apply you”ll need to describe your workspace in 25- 250 words.
Grand Prize for the Absolute Worst Workspace: A Herman Miller Workspace, featuring an Airia Desk, an Airia Media Cabinet, an Eames Aluminum Group Chair, a Leaf Light, a Cognita Bench, and $250 in CSNOffice.com Rewards Dollars to stock up on office supplies. (Value: $6,500).
First Prize for the Worst Home Office: A BDI Workspace, featuring the Sequel Office Suite, and $250 in CSNOffice.com Rewards Dollars. (Value: $4,200).
First Prize for the Worst Office Space: A Steelcase Workspace, including the Currency Single Pedestal Desk, an L Desk Extension, a Mobile Pedestal, a Think Chair, and a Underline Light (Value: $2,100).
First Prize for the Worst Student Workspace: A Humanscale Workspace, including the Freedom Chair, a Foot Machine, and a Keyboard System (Value: $2,000).
I am in no way endorsing CSN or it’s products. I just thought this was a fun contest for all of those who work at home. Good luck!
Filed under: contests, home office | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 15, 2010 by Michele
Uh Oh. Someone’s in trouble. Five thousand six hundred employees of Novartis are suing the company for sex discrimination against female employees.
Just because a company is on one of those Top 100 Best Places to Work list doesn’t really mean it’s the top place for you to work. Working Mother included it in one of its Best Lists because the company offered ” flex time, job shares, telecommuting, and seminars on pediatric issues.”
A neighbor works for another one of those Top Companies for Working Mothers. Her company was included because it provides onsite childcare for when one has to work extra hours. Gee thanks. Now I can continue to not see my kids but continue to work longer hours, for you, the company.
That’s fine if that is what employees want but I usually dismiss those Best Companies to Work For lists as much as I dismiss those Best Places to Live reports. The information is compiled from stacks of data, graphs on paper, not real life anecdotes.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 15, 2010 by Michele
They are just so darn good at explaining things (or digging up the resources for explaining things). For instance, in this survey, courtesy of SHRM (Society for Human Resource Managment), they give us a brief and simple explanation between telecommuting, job sharing, flextime and seasonal scheduling.
For example, ever heard of a results-only work environment? I haven’t, but it exists. “Under this arrangement, employees can work where and whenever they wish, as long as projects are completed on time.”
Filed under: defintions, flex time, job sharing, self-employed, telecommuting, work from home | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 13, 2010 by Michele
My husband works for a network storage company and many of the employees are hardware engineers. These jobs involve a lot of time at a computer. A lot. Which makes the jobs pretty amenable to telecommuting, if not full time at least a few days per week. One employee who lives over the border in the next state does exactly that. Telecommuting allows him get a full days work without a two+ hour commute. This saves resources without hindering productivity. But it got me to thinking of the tax implications. He lives in one state and works in another. Therefore he needs to pay taxes in both states. But is the percentage modified depending on how many days per week he works from home? Does the company need to pay taxes to the state in which he lives?
I’m not sure how that works for the employee but for some employers the situation can be less than beneficial. Forbes recently wrote an article about a company in Maryland who has one telecommuter living/working in New Jersey. New Jersey legislature has stated that one employee in the state of Maryland is sufficient to claim that the company does business there. Now New Jersey is requiring the Maryland firm to file corporate taxes with the state.
It’s quite a disappointment. That law will only hurt efforts to increase telecommuting in the future.
Filed under: defintions, taxes, telecommuting, telecommuting facts, work from home | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 12, 2010 by Michele
I learned a new word today.
Workshifting
Workshifting is working with a virtual office. It’s not new but it is gaining popularity thanks to technology – webcasts, browser accessed software – and it is becoming an increasingly viable option. Imagine working from these lovely beach houses over the summer instead of your cube.
Every Tuesday morning I workshift. My youngest spends the morning at a small daycare while my four-year-old and I spend time going out to breakfast and playing, then I take him to his swim class. While he is in swim class I drive to a nearby Starbucks and for an hour and fifteen minutes I enjoy a nice cup of cocoa and access the WiFi to do some work. Changing up the surroundings puts me in a better mood and increases my creativity. And because much of the work I do involves using the web it’s really easy to work anywhere I have a connection.
This web site www.workshifting.com ” features tips, reviews, and opinions about the world of Web commuting (relying on the Web to get work done at any time, from virtually anywhere.) If you work out of coffee shops, hotels, airports and your home every bit as much as the office, workshifting.com is for you.” I’m going to continue to check it out. And one of these days I hope to be working from a beach house.
Filed under: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Posted on April 12, 2010 by Michele
I’ve read a few reviews on the iPad and many of them say the iPad could replace the laptop for many folks. The rate at which technology increases in speed and computing power (i.e Moore’s Law) is astounding. But the rate at which new products are touted at the next must have item is equally astounding.
I am intrigued by the sexy, futuristic iPad but I’m overwhelmed, too. Long ago I would get excited over the newest iteration of cell phone but now I’m simply getting annoyed by all of this technology.
Last year the netbook was the “it” tech item, with reviewers writing that it would replace the laptop.
How many gadgets do we need? How many gadgets will marketers get us to purchase?
A desktop computer?
A cellphone?
A laptop?
A netbook?
an iPod?
Blackberry?
iPhone?
iTouch?
Kindle?
iPad?
AAGHHH!
And when the latest gadget comes along what do we do with the old? It’s such a waste.
I await the day not far into the future when we have what my husband has coined “the iWall”. We’ll be able to turn a wall into a giant touch screen and flip through documents and type simply by brushing our fingers across the wall.
Filed under: Phones, gadgets, productivity, reviews | Leave a Comment »
Posted on April 3, 2010 by Michele
I came a
cross this blurb from the Boston Business Journal that states that Boston has the largest percentage of telecommuters in a large city. The study ”examined urban areas based on such factors as the percentage of workers who say their jobs can be done from outside the office, and the percentage of companies with formal work-from-home policies.”
So where are all of you telecommuters? Get in touch. I could use some camaraderie in the area.
Filed under: surveys, telecommuting facts, work from home | Leave a Comment »
Posted on March 4, 2010 by Michele
I love this article from Reuters that points out that “control at work is good for health.” The findings were published in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 
Control at work, to me , includes the option to telecommute, which may cut down on stress from commuting and can provide more time for family and exercise. Unfortunately “the researchers found no studies of telecommuting or job sharing that met their quality criteria — pointing to a need for more research into those types of work conditions.”
But the study did point out (and somewhat obvious) that “For years, studies have found links between “high job strain” and heightened rates of heart disease, depression and other ills.” My mother, who recently retired, spent the last twenty years working at a power plant in a desk job. She was a union employee who was given no control over how she handled her work day. She clocked in and clocked out, so to speak. Over the years her health began to deteriorate slightly prompting her physician to put her on a few medications to combat high cholesterol and reflux. Two months after she retired her cholesterol dropped 60 points. 60 points!! While her situation is not a scientific study and cannot account for any cumulative affect her medications had on her cholesterol level, her overall happiness is greater because she now has control over her day.
Filed under: health, productivity, telecommuting, telecommuting facts | Tagged: health, job flexibility, telecommuting | 1 Comment »
Posted on March 2, 2010 by Michele
A while ago I wrote about a nifty document scanning service called Pixily. The company has officially changed its name to Office Drop to better reflect the service. I still use Office Drop monthly and will continue to use them until the stacks of membership applications I’m housing disappear (Office Drop recycles all paper if you like). The service is great for the small business owner. You can find out more about Office Drop here and how the service integrates with Evernote and Freshbooks.
Filed under: office tools, productivity, reviews | Tagged: office tools, Pixily | 1 Comment »
