My Favorite Thing About Working From Home

I decided to quit my “real” job long before I quit. I never felt at home or comfortable in traditional office environments and I wasn’t the biggest fan of sitting in traffic. I do like to read on the bus and listen to podcasts during long commutes, but RUNNING to catch the bus and inching along the freeway are different stories entirely. Quitting was a decision that took years to actualize, and one I wasn’t brave enough to make until I was laid off, spent six months finding a new job, and then decided maybe the layoff got it right after all.

I often hear people complain about a few things when it comes from working from home: the laundry staring at you, the lack of separation between church and state essentially, and the loneliness. Those are all real things and I do wrestle with them from time to time.

But the best part?

The part I would have a realllllllly hard time inviting back into my life?

The part that makes me EXCITED for each day?

The part that GETS ME GOING in the morning?

I don’t set an alarm.

I let my body decide when it’s time to get up, and my body usually lands on about 7 a.m. Sometimes, my traditional office environment husband and his multiple snoozes interrupt that, but not usually. Or a tiny, pretty feline scratching the furniture at 5 a.m. Or another slightly larger feline licking his junk on my pillow. But, again, not unusually. Actually, probably usually on that last one, but I’ve somehow learned how to fall back asleep after kicking him off my pillow until about 7 a.m.

And when I get up, I quickly shower and get dressed, and then I start my day around 8 a.m. It’s really nice, and it’s inspired a whole lot more in me. When things get frustrating or chaotic, I try to remind myself of that. That I get to live a life with very few alarm clocks and not much traffic. And that’s something, at least for right now, I get to add to my gratitude list.