Let’s break some WFH myths! Real work is defined by so much more than a paycheck or a schedule set by someone else.
Here are 2 of the Work-From-Home myths that really get me fired up.
- Myth #1: My schedule is flexible so I am available during the day.
- Myth #2: I am not getting paid so it doesn’t count as “real work”.
The Myth: My schedule is flexible so I am available during the day.
I have lost count of how many times I have had a neighbor, friend, or a family member make a request of me “because I am home”.
Here is a small peek into my life 15 years ago:
The phone rang. I looked at the number and then at my fresh cup of coffee and sighed. Shoot. This was going to take a while. I really needed a moment of peace before I feed the baby and start our school lessons.
I guess that isn’t gonna happen…
The conversation went as I expected. She had made plans that the kids and I should get together tomorrow morning. She explained the details (none of which I could afford or enjoyably take small kids to)… groan.
And now I had to establish boundaries and avoid an argument before I even had my morning coffee. My shoulders slumped.
This friendship mattered to me but it felt disrespectful when she demanded I do something on a busy weekday morning full of homeschooling and homemaking. Her schedule was a priority, but mine was not.
The conversation drained my social battery and left me feeling frustrated.
Some questions kept coming up.
Would that same person demand that her request be met if I worked in an office? Would she march into an office building, take the elevator up to the 4th floor, walk to my cubicle, and talk to me in front of all my co-workers? No, she would be stopped by security… 😜
Would she call me and demand that I have to meet for lunch or see her right now in the middle of my office job work day? Probably Not. 🤨
What about if I worked in a public school? Would she march into my classroom and demand that I come visit for the afternoon? I doubt it. 🤔
However, anyone who works from home with a flexible schedule deals with these expectations and intrusions from others ALL THE TIME.
I do make myself available, when it is appropriate, to help others and spend time with family. But this post is specifically about those people who do not respect the boundaries of the work day.
Yes, I can have my son do his math lesson in the afternoon during his free time. Does that mean that I should? No.
Sure, I can move things around and spend a few days catching up on school lessons. But do I have to do that? No.
The Truth: Having flexibility is an awesome benefit of working from home, but I do plan (and need to keep) my work schedule.
I should be able to enjoy the rewards of making my schedule on my own terms. It is not my job to drop everything for someone else’s “immediate need”, perceived “urgent problem to solve” or unreasonable expectation.
Do not let others (outside of your home) decide how and when you will do things.
Being a homeschooler does not actually mean that you are always at home or available when you are at home.
Being a SAHM (stay-at-home-mom) or WFH parent does not imply that you are available all day long.
Having flexibility does NOT mean that someone else’s personal agenda is more important than the whatever you have planned.
The Myth: I am not getting paid so it doesn’t count as “real work”.
Not only does homeschooling NOT bring in a paycheck there are usually big financial expenses. It is a lifestyle choice where the family often lives on one income and have a budget category called “Curriculum & School Expenses”. This can cost several thousand dollars each year depending how much time you take to plan and how scrappy you are.
Writing can be a lonely and difficult job to make any money from. It actually takes investment of time and resources to learn the skills needed to become a paid writer. A large amount of books do not provide the author enough to keep their career alive. Writers have to be inventive, do contract work, or find other forms of paid work.
The Truth: Real work is defined by so much more than a paycheck.
What we do is so much more than what money we make. Our worth is not tied up in financial success.
Unpaid work is a long-term investment with no guarantees. If you have been called to do an unpaid job from home then I’m sure you have a reason why.
What is that reason? Clarity will give you confidence in this lifestyle choice.
Having less income in a two-income society is definitely a downside of homeschooling, homemaking, and/or writing. But the sacrifices that you make will be worth it in your relational investments and creative work. You are earning money in an unseen bank account.
What you are doing matters.
We can all work on dismantling the myths in our home lives and in our professional lives.
So much of our American culture is “what we do” that it becomes “who we are”. You are not your job. Your job may be homeschooling, writing, or homemaking (or maybe that’s just one of your jobs), but you are more than that vocation.
Fight those myths with truth!