Re: Telecommuting Advice?

[Jeffrey Osier-Mixon <jefro -at- jefro -dot- net>]

I have been telecommuting full-time since 1999, part-time for two years 
before that.  The main purpose was to be at home and around the house 
while my toddler (who is now 8) was still a toddler.  Initially we lived 
about 45 minutes from the office, but took advantage of the situation to 
move farther out.  In 2000 we moved about 2 hours away, and I was going 
in about once a month.  In 2001 we moved way out, about 4 hours, and I 
got a pilot's license that makes the distance a little over an 
hour---close enough to be home for dinner, most of the time. 

The major concerns I had at the beginning were: time management, family 
management, work management, and job security fears.  I also hear you 
worrying about isolation.  I'll tackle each of these briefly.
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- Isolation:  this can be a blessing or a curse.  For me and my family, 
it is a blessing.  We are able to live where we want to live, but that 
has ended up being in a small town of 5000 people, mostly loggers, 
retirees, or professional artists examining their own navels.  There are 
very few high-tech folks around, and those who are here came here for 
the relative isolation.  Sometimes I wish there were more folks around 
who understand what the heck I'm talking about when I'm excited about my 
job, or are even interested.  On the other hand, it has given me 
motivation to explore my hobbies outside the office, as well as hobbies 
I probably wouldn't have considered if I had continued to live in the 
city. 

The advice to take from this is to examine your values---decide how you 
want to spend your time.  If you want to spend it at work, discussing 
work, then perhaps the isolation won't work for you.  If you work for 
money but your heart is in gardening, or canoeing, or whatever, then 
telecommuting makes perfect sense, as you can live where your heart is 
but still achieve your earning potential.  (Believe me, there are very 
few jobs in small towns that pay as well as technical writing.)

- Time management:  a very valid fear.  When you live with your own 
fridge and manage your own time with no one looking over your shoulder, 
you have to be disciplined.  Personally I have found that a lack of 
distraction makes it much easier for me to get into my own little head 
and do what I need to do, to the point where I find myself a few hours 
later having acccomplished a LOT of work without looking up once.  It is 
my preferred method of work.  Not that there aren't distractions---the 
internet is always there.  But I find that if I allow myself an hour or 
two a day to fart around, research things, read the techwr-l list, etc., 
I can then devote myself heart and soul to whatever I am working on.  I 
also find that meditating each day at lunchtime, even 15 minutes or so, 
really helps me to focus. 

I also find that telecommuting sets me free during the week to run 
errands, go to the dentist, etc. as long as I make up the time later in 
the evening, or at night after kids go to sleep.  But I set my time 
limits before I start working, and I stick to them like glue.  More than 
anything else, I have learned that my time is my own, and that is a very 
empowering lesson.

- Family management:  this one really depends on the family.  They have 
to be bought into the idea that when you are "in the office" your time 
must be respected.  I still get visits pretty regularly to hear about 
the latest dinosaurs or math problems (we are homeschooling) but when I 
close my door, the family knows to stay behind it.  The benefit is that 
making that decision is something that is instantaneous, and I get to 
spend my lunches with the people who matter most to me.

- Work management:  it sounds like you have already done The 
Confrontation with your employer.  I struggled mightily with mine and 
eventually left the company to find one that would allow me to 
telecommute.  (And made about a 40% raise in the process---but that was 
1998.)  Many managers are fearful about coping with offsite employees.  
You can alleviate their fears by being on the ball, communicating well, 
having complete integrity, and getting things done.  Same as in an 
office, really.

- Job security fears: this one is very real.  I now live a 4 hour drive 
away from the center of employment for my particular niche (computer 
hardware documentation).  That means if I get laid off, I'm in deep 
stink.  It happened once---I was out of work for 2 months in 2002, the 
worst possible time in the last decade for a hardware technical writer 
to be out of work.  I eventually convinced my last job that they still 
needed documentation, worked there for another two years, and left to 
join a startup last fall. 

Job hunting from the far corners is not an impossible task, but it does 
take some effort---much more effort---than an in-town hunt where you can 
show up for an interview on the spur of the moment.  I get about 10% of 
the callbacks I used to get when advertising myself locally.  But, those 
10% are much better qualified, because I state up front that I 
telecommute and my experience shows that it works for me.

- Travel fears:  I hate business travel.  Staying away from home is the 
absolute pits in my opinion.  Before we moved out-far, I got a private 
pilot certificate so that I could fly myself back and forth to work, and 
we moved out as far as we could so that I could fly out in the morning, 
have my meetings and power lunches, and be back the same day.  It has 
worked marvelously, and most of the time my boss finds ways for me NOT 
to come to the office.  I have even had co-workers drive up here to meet 
with me while enjoying a weekend away from the city. 

The lesson here is that there is always a way to do what you want to do, 
but sometimes you need to look for the non-obvious solution.  And you 
need to make sure you actually know what you want.
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I hope this helps, sorry for the length