Balancing Work and Family: The Benefits of Working from Home
On a typical workday, Matt Keefe leaves his home office at lunchtime and greets his 5-year-old daughter, who is just returning from school. The two enjoy lunch together while she shares highlights of her day.
“By working at home, I spend much more time with my daughter than I would if I had to leave the house every day like my own father did,” said Keefe, 47, an Orange County commercial photographer who has worked from home for 18 years.
Keefe finds that lunching with his daughter, Alex, and spending short breaks with her throughout the day keeps their relationship strong.
“When I want a break, I go out and push her on her swing set for a few minutes,” said Keefe, who is divorced but regularly has his daughter stay with him.
“It’s really refreshing to see her excitement and enthusiasm when I share a small part of her day. I feel lucky that I’m experiencing a lot of those golden moments that won’t be around long.”
The Growth of Home-Based Businesses
Although the practice was unusual when Keefe started working from home in the 1970s, today a growing number of people are choosing to conduct business at home. California has nearly 5 million home offices, according to Debra Schacher of the Home Office & Business Opportunities Assn. of California, which is based in Irvine. Throughout the country in 1993, about 2.1 million people started a home-based business.
“Home-based businesses are proliferating,” agreed Rudy Lewis of the National Assn. of Home Based Business in Baltimore, which provides support and development assistance to home-based businesses.
“We’ve identified 200 professions that are adapted to home office work, and by the year 2000 we project that there will be 300 to 400,” Lewis said. “Thanks to advances in telecommunications, a lot of businesses are heading home.”
Benefits of Working from Home
- Home businesses allow parents to monitor their children’s activities more easily.
- Flexible schedules make it easier to attend special occasions.
“If I choose to go to a special function at my daughter’s school during the day, I don’t have to ask a boss for time off,” Keefe said. “Just recently she was awarded Student of the Month. In the morning, I took her to the school assembly and went back to work later.”
Challenges of a Home-Based Business
Despite the benefits, working from home comes with its own set of challenges. As Rudy Lewis points out:
- Family members may not view the business as legitimate.
- There can be distractions from neighbors and family members.
- It’s difficult to balance work and child care without additional support.
“One of the problems with home-based businesses is that many people, including the person’s family, don’t see it as a legitimate business,” Lewis said. “I’ve been working from home for 10 years now and answer 300 to 400 calls a day from people all over the country. My mother still doesn’t think I’m really working.”
Lewis also notes that spouses and others often expect the home worker to take care of the children, which is not always feasible, especially with young kids. Neighbors might also cause disruptions by dropping in when you’re trying to focus on work.
Setting Boundaries
Lewis suggests creating a family plan before launching a business from home. He believes that some businesses can overwhelm the home environment, affecting family life. “It’s best to discuss the business with the entire family and set ground rules before starting.”
Keefe emphasizes the importance of setting boundaries: “To be productive, it’s critical that your family and friends respect the fact that you are working and need to put in regular hours.”
“I sometimes have difficulty with people thinking because I’m not taking photographs one day that I’m not working,” he said. “In reality, I’m always working. There’s much more to my business than photography.”
Keefe also finds child care essential for maintaining productivity.
The Importance of Child Care
“It would be very difficult to work from home without child care,” Keefe said. “I can’t just bring my daughter home from school, feed her and then put her in front of the TV while I go back to work. That’s not healthy or even safe.”
Sandra Davidson, 35, of Laguna Niguel, used to work around the schedules of her two children, which meant early mornings and late nights in her home office. Recently, she hired a live-in worker to assist with child care and office duties, which has significantly improved her work-life balance.
“Before I had child care, I constantly felt behind on my work and worried about neglecting my kids,” Davidson said. “Although people often expect to take care of their children when they work at home, it’s not really feasible. Parents who go to an outside office would never dream of taking their children to work every day.”
Conclusion
While working from home offers many perks such as flexibility and proximity to family, it also requires careful planning to avoid distractions and ensure productivity. For parents, having reliable child care support is crucial for balancing work and family life.
