Time is money. Time is of the essence. There’s no time like the present.

Yes, time, like money, is in high demand these days and most people seem to find they don’t have enough of it. If only they could bottle time in a jar and you could buy it at the local store! Now I’d buy stock in the company that could do that!

But since I can’t buy extra time (and even if I could, I probably wouldn’t be able to afford it), I have to look at ways to save it. What can I cut back on? What can I stop doing? Sometimes it seems when I examine my typical day that there’s nothing I can stop doing to get back a little extra time. But that’s because I already telecommute!

Yes, I already mentioned in a previous post the obvious benefit of telecommuting that you save all the time wasted driving to work and back in traffic. 

But there’s more than just that. Telecommuting also gives you flexibility with your time which is really the next best thing to saving time. Personally you gain some flexibility over your schedule. For instance, I get up early and work for about an hour or more in the mornings before the kids wake up. Then I have time to spend with them, getting them dressed, giving them breakfast, etc before daycare. And then I return to my home office and dive right back into work. If I had to be in the company office to do my work, I’d either have to make the kids wake up much earlier (which means they’d go to bed much earlier and my husband would hardly see them) and I’d have to rush them through the morning rituals. Or I’d have to stay later at work on the other end of the day. Neither of those options is very appealing.

And the company you work for gains flexibility. Because, let’s admit, you’re much more likely to be willing to take an occasional 7am meeting with some customers or coworkers in Europe when you can do it from home in your pajamas, than if you have to be up, dressed, and in the office at that hour!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, telecommute, work from home

So there’s a new study that’s been circulating widely lately that looks at the impact of telecommuting on those workers who remain in the office. I’ve seen dozens of news articles and blogs with titles such as “Telcommuting May Harm Workers”, etc. I finally couldn’t take it anymore and felt I had to speak up.

After digging around a little I found an article that seems to have put some effort into covering the full story and providing the full set of facts: “Telecommuting May Harm Workers Left Behind in the Office” on Yahoo News.  The points are basically that people who work in the office but have a lot of telecommuting coworkers are less satisfied in the job. The belief for the reasons are twofold:

1. People build less strong, less meaningful relationships with their virtually-present coworkers.
2. People may feel that they have less flexibility and more work than their virtually-present coworkers.

I can see how these could be an issue. However, I believe people who have these experiences are suffering because the company itself has probably not thought through their telecommuting program carefully. Just like for all other benefits that an employee receives, the telecommuting benefit needs to be a program offered across the board with consistent rules for all. If some managers let their employees telecommute and others whose staff have very similar roles and functions don’t, this can definitely cause resentment and damage relationships. Of course, other factors such as performance may dictate which employees a manager allows to telecommute but the general rules and approach must be consistent.

Upper management needs to have policies in place about telecommuting just like they do for other employee benefits, and then provide tools and training for both the telecommuting and the non-telecommuting workers to make sure the interactions, communications and relationship-building opportunities are addressed and that the visibility of productivity (probably the cause of item #2) remains high.

I think many people believe telecommuting is something you can just ‘do’. But there are skills to learn and behaviors to modify for you, and your company, to be successful in telecommuting arrangements.

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, virtual presence, employee satisfaction, employee benefits

In a previous post I mentioned the environmental advantages of telecommuting because you reduce the number of cars on the road. And also the financial advantages. But in keeping with my ongoing theme (for now) of telecommuting advantages, I want to touch on one more advantage of avoiding the commute.

Unless you’re fortunate enough to have a quiet, easy-going commute with no traffic, chances are you suffer a lot of stress fighting those freeways. You possibly even experience a little road rage too. How does that affect your personal life - your spouse and maybe children? Do you come home tired and cranky and snap at the kids unnecessarily (and then regret it later after they’re in bed and you can’t say you’re sorry)? Yes, I’ve been there, trust me. Do you find yourself suffering physical maladies such as headaches when you’re under more stress? Yup, been there too!

Stress impacts may not be easy to put a dollar figure to, but they can impact your life in drastic ways. And telecommuting can help cut down on some sources of that stress!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, stress

Money makes the world go round. Show me the money. For love or money. Money talks. Yes, there’s a long list of famous quotes and phrases about money. That’s because, despite all those who say “money doesn’t buy happiness” or “you can’t take it with you”, money really is a major factor in most of our lives and affects our general quality of life.

What does this have to do with telecommuting you ask? Everything! 

Let’s be honest… while it’s nice to claim that you’re telecommuting to help save the environment, really it’s all that savings in time, and money that keeps you working at home! Even a modest 1/2 hour commute each way (and I don’t know that many people who have a much shorter drive than that during rush hour) still means you’re saving 1 hour per day. That’s 5 hours per week if you’re telecommuting exclusively - who couldn’t use time like that? And if you have an hour commute each way, we’re looking at reclaiming some serious time. What’s your equivalent hourly rate - times 5 or 10? What time-saving services do you pay for because you don’t have time to do it yourself?

But that’s just the beginning. What about the cost of your commute? Let’s say your car gets 25mpg (and there are many cars which get much worse mileage than that), you drive 30 miles each way, and gas costs $3.25/gallon. That’s $7.80 per round-trip! Of course your mileage (and driving distance and gas prices) may vary! But you get the idea. That more than pays for a fancy latte from Starbucks every day. Or, if you keep that money in your pocket, you’re saving nearly $40 per week. And of course, that’s just gas - I haven’t included the cost of wear-and-tear and maintenance work on your car.

But wait, there’s more! How much do you pay for those lousy lunches at the cafeteria - and what do you save be cobbling together a sandwich from the food in the fridge? Sure - you have to buy a bit more food to keep that fridge stocked, but it’s far cheaper at the grocery store! And unless you’re in the high-tech industry in Silicon Valley like I am (where everyone wears jeans and t-shirts to work), chances are you have to keep an office wardrobe up-to-date. How much do you spend on nice clothing (and dry-cleaning) as compared to the cost of a few extra t-shirts and pairs of comfy pants?

Now, to be fair, I haven’t mentioned the increased costs from your electric and gas bill (you have to keep your heater running more when you’re home all day - and you have to pay for the electricity to run your computer and keep some lights on). But compared to the above cost savings, it’s a drop in the bucket.

Yes, the cost of going into the office really adds up. And why do I belabor this point? Well sometimes people forget to factor this into decision-making processes. If you’re choosing between a job that allows telecommuting but pays a bit less and one that doesn’t allow it and pays more, you’ve got to consider how much of that higher paycheck you’re throwing away on commuting and other factors. And don’t forget - those expenses on gas, clothes, etc are post-tax dollars - how many extra pre-tax dollars do you have to earn to cover these costs?

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, work at home, commute

OK, so we’re still on the theme of advantages for telecommuting… In fact maybe we’ll be on that theme for a long time. I think I’m going to have to break away from this at some point without waiting to run out because the advantages for telecommuting are just so numerous!

Anyway, as I write this it is absolutely pouring with rain outside. In fact, it’s coming down so hard and fast that I can barely see across the street. And the wind is crazy. It’s already sucked some of the kids’ lightweight toys out from under our covered patio (protected on 3 sides by walls) and blown them down to the end of the yard. I had to go out in the pouring rain to save them!

Thank heavens I don’t have to drive in this! The commute would be unimaginably slow, with cars crawling along on the freeway at 20 mph. Also, thanks to the few idiots who drive fast in conditions like this, it would also be extremely dangerous. I’ve seen people do some stupid things in heavy rains and cause some serious accidents that involved innocent victims who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. It makes my blood boil! But I digress. The point is that avoiding commuting in this weather could, just possibly, save your life.

And yes, for all you folks in the parts of the country and world that get real weather, I know driving in the rain doesn’t sound that bad! You probably have to contend with even bigger issues like snow, sleet, major roads being closed, etc. So for you, telecommuting may some days even be a necessity! 

But either way, you can’t argue that telecommuting can help you avoid the miserable road conditions that could actually put you in real danger. So when people say that they’re so busy and avoiding the commute by working from home has been a life-saver, perhaps it’s quite literally true - without them even knowing it!

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, telecommute, work from home

OK, continuining my theme of advantages of telecommuting, here’s one that will blow you out of the water.

I stumbled across an article on earthtimes.org about traveling telecommuters. These folks have taken the idea of work-at-home one step further. They have moved to other parts of the world - often very beautiful, very low-cost destinations such as Thailand. And this is where they work. They’ve already established themselves and built their career, then they pack up and go wherever they want - sometimes traveling on an ongoing basis. You know that around-the-world trip that so many of us dream of taking but simply don’t have sufficient vacation for it? Well, here’s an answer.

What’s really exciting is that in many cases, people can maintain the incomes they are used to making while living in very low-cost parts of the world. This makes for a great oppportunity for saving money too - to spend on more traveling of course!

The article refers to a fascinating website - http://www.nunomad.com that provides a wealth of information on how to successfully live this nomadic lifestyle on a long-term basis.

The article seems to focus more on entrepreneurs, and independent workers who have a basic set of clients. But who says this can’t be done even for those of you in a corporate environment? Especially at a big company. OK, your timezones change a little and you and your boss/team will have to adjust. But if the company is big enough, perhaps your organization would have some need for someone who is willing to spend 4-6 months at each of their various sites around the world! Perhaps that wouldn’t work in your current job, but if this idea sounds appealing, keep it in the back of your mind for when you’re thinking of a change and looking around in your company at other positions.

So this may be more advanced telecommuting than you were thinking of. Perhaps you’re just trying to telecommute to get a little more time with the kids and save that long drive. But one day, the kids will be grown up and moved out to college. Perhaps then you can spend a couple years traveling around the world, taking your job with you? Hmm - I’ve only got about 17 years until my kids are out of the house - I think I’ll start talking to my husband to start some long-term plans in motion now!

Technorati Tags: telecommute, work from home, work at home, travel, travel

There seems to be a telecommuting revolution headed our way. I found an interesting article today on Webwire titled “Resolve to Telecommute or Web Commute in 2008“. It shows some fascinating statistics on telecommuting. According to this article, 23% of American workers work from home or another location on a regular basis! Wow - that’s something. And even more interesting is that 15% of the people polled would prefer the option to telecommute over stock options and onsite childcare!

The numbers continue to grow every year. This is great progress - so many people have the ability to telecommute - their jobs don’t require their physical presence in the office and the technology makes working from home more feasible as it advances. This telecommuting revolution can continue to be a success - with one requirement… proper training! This is as, if not more, important for the employers to realize as the employees - spend a little money up front and train people on the right skills so your company’s telecommuting program is successful.

Technorati Tags: telecommuting, virtual presence, work from home