“Yes, we can absolutely have a plan put together by next Wednesday.”
“Great. {Pause} Did I lose you?”
“Nope – still here, just trying to time my speaking in between the screams.”
“{Laughs} No problem.”
For the past three-and-a-half years, I have been self-employed. Though there are co-working spaces available in the area – I highly recommend either the Reno Collective or the InNevation Center – our home has been my primary workspace for most of that time. While it was easy to throw on headphones and get in a groove for the first few years, the addition of our son at the beginning of last year has added a new aspect to the work-at-home experience.
What It’s Like
A typical day looks like… who am I kidding? I already told you I was self-employed, there are no typical days. In addition to the marketing business my wife and I started shortly after our wedding, over the past year I’ve become increasingly involved in several new business ventures with some outstanding partners. It’s exciting, it’s challenging in different ways, and it requires a lot of communication. Day and night. Phone calls, conference calls, video calls. You get the idea.
For the vast majority of my workdays, I’m able to maintain focused sessions of productivity without any interruptions. This is made possible by my incredible wife who shoulders the primary responsibilities of keeping our son safe, our home functional, clean and organized, and our lives on track. Or as we so eloquently summarize for our company website “she keeps the lights on.” Working from home would not be possible for me without such a supportive partner. But for those who may be unaware, moms are people too. They have lives of their own and sometimes it isn’t always an option to bring a baby along.
While we try to plan ahead whenever possible to not double book the same time slot, there are times where it’s inevitable. There’s a call that can’t be moved and an appointment that can’t be missed. We don’t have any family members in the area or any established child care (yet), so sometimes the only option is to push through and bring a tiny, yet mighty plus-one along for the ride.
The CTO
Thankfully, all of my partners and most of my clients have been very understanding when our CIO (Chief Infant Officer) has joined our calls unexpectedly. Now that he’s over a year old, I think he has officially been promoted to CTO (Chief Toddler Officer). Before you ask, yes I’ve made that Dad joke to most of the folks who have been on the receiving end of a sudden squeal. I digress.
The first few times that our little man was with me for a call, I found myself feeling anxious. Would I be seen as unprofessional or unorganized? Would he be disruptive and inhibit productivity? But these thoughts always get pushed aside when I think about the reason I work from home in the first place.
The Ideal Life Plan
Shortly before we moved out West, my wife and I mapped out our ideal “life plan” in which, if we were able, we would find a way to work from home to maximize the time we were both able to spend with our future children. The FOMO has always been strong in these ones, and when it comes to our children, we never want to miss a beat. We are very fortunate that we’ve been able to see that plan through and continue to live it more than a year into parenthood. That reminder was all I needed to push through my initial discomfort.
The most important thing in the world to me is my family. They are the primary motivation for everything that I do. If it takes me an extra five minutes to get through a call, or if I have to have a conversation an hour after I had originally planned, the world does not stop turning. So far, the businesses I’ve started have not stopped. They’ve evolved, they’ve been restructured, they’ve grown, but they haven’t stopped supporting the life we’ve worked so hard to build. What does stop is my heart, every time I see my son’s smile as he looks up at me in the middle of the day.
There are things that I miss about working in an office with a team. Some days are harder than others, and living in a place far away from where you grew up presents its fair share of challenges as new parents. I love what I do and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world, but I’d be lying if I said I haven’t occasionally longed for a more structured, 9-5 type situation. But the extra time I get to spend with my son in his earliest years and the wise and reassuring words of my incredible wife always bring me back to my senses.
