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Now that I am back working in an office environment I get to enjoy all of the things office life brings. I forgot how annoying cubicles are. I wish I could put up a protective shield and avoid the customers. But, alas, that is not an option since we are a retail shop. Of course there is the usual office gossip that tends to be funny and or interesting.

Some of the other things I’m not too fond of while working in the office are as follows: dress codes, no music, a foreign and unknown machine on my desk, customers, office protocol, and having to clock in and out. Because we are a retail shop our rules differ greatly. I wish that there was more distinction between employees (ie. Programmers don’t answer customer calls and salesmen don’t code), but being a small private business we are forced to wear many hats.

I suppose many people are reading this saying “At least you have a job!”, which is something I truly am thankful for. OK, I guess I’ll just shut up now.

Since I’m no longer working at Care2 anymore, I’ll be spending some time working onsite for a company I used to work for. Other than scaling back on the hours I spend working the major difference is the fact that I’m now working in an office. You may ask why this is such a big deal. I’ll tell you why: I haven’t worked in an office for almost two years. There are things I need to get used to again: meetings, office politics, clocking in and out, nesting at my desk, and looking at my coworkers. It’s almost like culture shock.

Due to ever expanding on campus responsibilities I’ve decided to take a leave of absence from work. I still love the whole crew over at Care2. For now I’ll be working very part time in the area to cover some bills and focusing on finishing school.

As many of you know I am lucky (some would argue unlucky) enough to work from home. I spend my days sitting in front of my computer hacking away for Care2.com. Read on to learn what makes telecommuting great … and not so great.

First off being able to work in my undies is great - I won’t lie. I prefer to be as comfortable as possible and boxers + a tshirt is about as comfy as you get.

Also, I can easily turn on my favorite shows and watch them out of the corner of my eye while I work. Taking a lunch break is easy enough - a simple trip to the fridge. Other cool things include the fact that I can start working before combing my hair or even brushing my teeth - in other words I can look like a total scrub and no one cares. The biggest advantage I can see is that me taking off to run an errand (ie. send a package) isn’t rushed because I can make it during normal business hours.

There are some pitfalls to working from home. First off you miss out on office gossip. I have NO clue what’s going on in the office, which results in random inquiry emails to my boss and the various other mgmt of the company. The biggest pitfall to telecommuting would have to be motivation - try motivating yourself in the morning when the office is 2000 miles away. You could either a.) stay in bed for another hour or b.) spring out of bed and start working. Some mornings you can’t talk yourself out of a.

In the end I do enjoy working from home, but would prefer to mix it up with actual office work. Example: work from home 2 days a week and then go into the office the other 3. Now, if they’d only let me work in boxers and a tshirt at the office :)