Notes from the Spring Creek Arts Guild

Working From Home

When we moved our family to San Saba County nearly 20 years ago, my husband and I both left “good government jobs” to start a business. I worked at the school for the first year and thought I would stay there until I retired. But the new business and all the associated work did more than grow, it exploded. By the end of the first school year, it was apparent that I would not be able to keep up with my role in the business and work at the school, along with the demands of being a working mother, so I left my school job. For the past 18 years, I have worked from home.

“ Working from Home” (WFH) has become possible for more and more people mostly due to the internet, then became necessary during the lockdowns a few years ago. As we saw then, it does not work for some personalities, some jobs, nor some situations, but for some of us, it is the perfect fit.

There are some really great things about WFH. I only occasionally need to dress up and could work in pajamas all day, which I choose not to do. I do not have to pack a lunch or spend money on restaurants or coffee shops. I have a corner office with windows on two sides, both with views of birds, chickens, flowers, and the occasional wild four-legged or slithering animal. I do not have a set schedule, so I can often shift work around to accommodate non-work events during the weekdays—like travel, quilt retreats, and visits with friends and family. One of my favorite parts of WFH is that I almost always have a dog under my desk while I work.

Of course there is a flip side to the story I just told. Much of what I consider to be positive about my job is related to my personality. If you, however, are an extrovert, you would hate working from home where there is little opportunity to interact with other people. If you are a person who thrives on structure, you would have to figure out how to self-regulate and build your own structure to work within. Remember that part about not having a set schedule? The downside to that is we work nights, weekends, holidays, birthdays, etc. When we go on a trip, we take our work with us. The internet and cell phones have blurred lines between work and personal time. Like most small business people, we have no paid leave and we pay for our own “benefits.”

This is not the usual subject matter for this column, is it? I usually write about creative pursuits, mindfulness, and what I think of as a positive sort of situational awareness. My aim is to encourage people to step away from the constant noise and demands of the world and take some quiet time to think their own thoughts, create, be grateful, or to simply breathe. Like nearly everyone I know, I have to work at making that quiet time happen. It is most definitely worth it.