Yes I am lucky to be able to work from home

[MoaneyMcmoanmoan]

No I cannot look after your DD while you go to work .

No I cannot go out with you for the day. If I take a day off, I have to apply for it, just like you do.

No father-in-law, I am not happy you popped in for a coffee. I AM WORKING ffs.

And no I do not like all of you getting huffy when I repeatedly explain this to you.

My Mum actually says "Well you should still do the school run and make DH his dinner."

I AM WORKING!!!

I do do the school run, but that's mostly because I enjoy it and then I go back to work.

I can't seem to do that Mother....the DC get the idea that I'm up for grabs and nag me and nag me....I have to keep working till 5.30. Then they are welcome to me.

I used to get the "oh you're working from home" looks when I was working from home in a previous job. Everyone assumed it was one massive piss take and it really used to frustrate me.

When I worked nights people thought I was up for looking after their poorly DCs as I "was home anyway not doing anything".

Now I work for a very small company where we all work from home so colleagues not an issue, but other school run parents still think I'd be happy to look after their cherubs / wait in for a delivery for them etc.

RAAAH

I get the same thing when I'm working nights. No, I will not be available to do X during the day. I will be asleep. No, that does not mean I am a lazy toad who is /lucky/ to be able to fart around blissfully napping and doing household jobs all day.

YANBU, OP. I feel your pain.

In my case it's mainly a friend who is soon to be a neighbour

Oh, I share all your pain!

I recently said to someone that I didn't think our neighbours having one late-night party on a Saturday night was an end-of-the-world problem as at none of our household had to get up early with kids or go to work for a 7am shift.

I was airily informed that 'weekends are your relaxation time when you work full-time.'

WHAT THE EXACT FUCK DO YOU THINK I DO EVERY DAY THEN, YOU CONDESCENDING, ILL-INFORMED MARE

Sorry for shouting

Where I live you can rent a space in an office with desk/ phone line(optional) for a decent amout per month - for the woman whose DH doesn't work yet won't let her work crom home, would that help? I think your timetable can be flexible.

I also wfh a lot (on maternity leave currently) it isn't a breeze/skive it's purely because our company don't provide offices, I visit customers too. I have loads of conference calls when home, plus calling customers plus emails/reports and admin, the only thing I don't do is commute to an office, I normally start as at about 730/0800 and finish about 1800, but leave my laptop looged in longer in case of a distressed customer, whilst connected to the corporate network I have a messenger client open so that my boss/colleagues know that I am around.

Yet people still think that I don't work! I find that answering the door whilst always on the phone helps, I don't mind taking in parcels but I do mind a friend assuming that I am doing nothing and wanting to come around.

You have say no to the disruptions, your work will suffer otherwise. Also try to get a walk at lunch time or some other time?

Ugh. It's the worst. Sometimes I have to be in the office, sometimes I work from home. I get more useful work done at home, I work more intensely with fewer pointless distractions. I don't give a crap if my neighbours and local friends think I am lazy, I just hate the assumptions my family make.

What are you doing tomorrow, will you just be in the house?

To make it even worse I do actually have a pretty flexible schedule which involves a balance of very routine, quick tasks and mid to long term deadlines, some very busy periods and some very quiet spells - so it's hard to put my foot down and say, no I can't do an airport pick up for a family member, or cover childcare in a tight squeeze when I know that half the time I actually could do it and make up for it later - I just don't like the assumption that I can.

YANBU.

I work from home one day a week. My main role is working with our US office, and i have a long commute. So, on Wednesdays when I WAH, my typical routine is this....

up at 5.30, get online to see what has come in from overnight. Work until 7.30, DCs up, and ready for childminder and pre-school. Do school run, back home by 9.30. Work 9.30-3, do the run in the other direction, deal with DCs, dinner, bath, bed, at 8 pm, then online again until usually 11pm-midnight etc.

We had a summer 'guest' last year who said to me at one point 'well, it is hardly really working is it? '

DH had to lead me out of the room.

Trillz - That's not called "the exception that makes the rule", that is called "making it harder for people who want to work from home and actually work to get permission to do so".

I take your point.

Everyone on this thread obviously works very hard at home. I have a hard time doing it, I am the first to admit it. I do tend to save "easy stuff" for my home days (emails, reading legal docs etc), and there are certain parts of my job I can do much more efficiently in the office.

I do think there are a lot of people - not just me - who goof off on their work-at-home days. I'm just the only one who has said so here. I think all the other goofers-off are just not on this thread!

You've got me thinking though. Most of my WFH days are due to other factors than me just "wanting to take a paid vacation day" e.g. child off school, worked late the night before, need to wait for the plumber...

So this isn't maybe the most subtle way of going about things, but on my top rate which I don't always get and I'm certainly not getting for every hour I work I can earn £50 an hour. Now of course, that is as a freelance, so tax etc still has to come off, and I work part-time so I don't get £50 x 8 hours a day x 365 days a year, but it sounds like a lot of money. And, tacky as it is, I have told people how much I earn. Because it was the only way to make them understand that no, I couldn't just look after their kids, or make DH's tea, or take in their parcels.

I know a lot of people will be pearl-clutching at my common ways. But at least I get peace during working hours.

If your employer doesn't mind you not-really-working-from-home then you're not doing anything wrong as such, but you aren't helping the cause, IYSWIM :)

I am on mat leave at moment and people keep saying, Ah, you'll save so much money on childcare since you won't have to put the baby in nursery, since you work from home!!!

I am a home based worker but have an ordinary 9-5 contract. I need to have my head down during those hours or work would quickly pile up! I also need to attend teleconferences and regular meetings with travel.

I've always worked from home about half the time, but I don't get any grief, I must have a particularly unfriendly demeanour when interrupted.

I do find I have to NEVER be available on weekday daytimes, if I do the occasional school trip or anything really, people start getting ideas that I'm around and available, so it helps to be quite rigid even if you don't absolutely have to be. And if I am going to meet a friend for coffee or lunch it's usually out somewhere, like office-based people might do.

I work from home 50% of the time and run a business with DH and my MIL law asked if I would mind taking her to the dentist. I asked her whether her daughter-SIL who works part time and has a day off midweek could take her but she said she couldn't possibly ask SIL as she works but because I don't I could take her! Funnily enough I have been very very busy lately.

Wilson I'm the same! I had to tell my Mum "Mum, I've earned x amount today...I can do the same tomorrow IF you stop phoning me for a chat."

I agree. It's the ASSUMPTION that we are available that is the most irritating.

Today my daughter is going to the dentist. Yes I can take her, but I've been up working since 5 bloody am to be able to get there.