[{"@context":"http:\/\/schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#Article","articleBody":"I\u2019m sitting cross-legged on my guest bed as I write this because when I need to sit down and write \u2013 which is about 20% of my job \u2013 I find it easier when I\u2019m not at my desk. So I unplug my laptop from my external monitor, play movie scores through my headphones, and get comfortable.\nWhen I interviewed for my job over six years ago, it was for a position on a team based in Germany. I was given the option to work from the office in my then-home city of Chicago, but was told on the first interview that I could work from home if and whenever I wanted.\nMy manager explained, \u201cI want you to have the option to go in and feel connected with the team, but I understand that a noisy office isn\u2019t always conducive to writing and editing. As long as you\u2019re meeting your deadlines and doing good work, it doesn\u2019t matter to me where or when you do it.\u201d\nNow, I\u2019ve been working from my home for so long that I can\u2019t picture myself ever going back to a job that requires returning to an office setting.\nThe same isn\u2019t true for a friend of mine who has worked remotely over the past two years. She recently accepted a new job for many reasons, not the least of which she really missed going into an office. The separation of work and home, the built-in social atmosphere; the structure of routine \u2013 she realized she needed those things to be happy at her job.\nWhen I tell people that I (and now my husband!) work from home full-time, I\u2019m often met with wide-eyes and comments like, \u201cOh I could never do that.\u201d\nIt seems inconceivable to them that work can get done without becoming distracted by household chores (that\u2019s real), or they worry they\u2019d feel completely disconnected from their teammates (for me, that\u2019s not real. I feel closer to my team now than I have at any other job I\u2019ve had). Mostly, they just can\u2019t fathom what it looks like day to day.\nSo, what\u2019s it really like to work from home?\nWe asked our coworkers and friends who work remotely to share their favorite, funniest, and most challenging home-office stories to shed some light on the topic.\nStories from the work-from-home front: When conference calls go wrong\nRemember when Robert Kelly (better known as \u201cBBC Dad\u201d) was interrupted by his children while being interviewed as an expert on live TV? The video went viral and Kelly admitted he was concerned he\u2019d be out of a job \u2013 but for those of us who work from home, it was almost comforting to see that none of us are safe from conference call nightmares.\nWhen your client wonders if they should call 911:\n\u201cA client legitimately asked \u201cis everything okay over there?\u201d when my kids were absolutely acting appropriately (shocker!). From then on I\u2019ve taken to answering work calls on the back porch as at least two out of the three kids plaster themselves to the door screaming \u201cmommmmmmmmyyyy!\u201d for the ENTIRE phone call. I swear the minute I hit \u201cend call\u201d and come inside they could not care less that I even exist. \u2013\u00a0Abbey Fay Weispfenning\nWhen the dog is throwing shade about your call:\nI was on a call last week where the host asked participants to excuse the snoring in the background. She was working from home and her dog was sleeping next to her. Granted, it was 7am for us so I empathize for the dog. I wanted to go back to sleep, too.\n\u2014 Cindy Beauchamp (@MrsBeauchamp2U) February 7, 2020\nWhen everyone gets to see what you look like without makeup \u2013 and after:\n\u201cMy office was in a little nook in the bedroom. While I was on a video conference call, my husband\u00a0Andy\u00a0came in and without thinking started changing his clothes right behind me! Another time, I didn\u2019t realize my camera was on and sat there putting on my full makeup during a call.\u201d \u2013 Sarah Schulz\nWhen your coworker is gonna need to fake their own death and start over:\nI\u2019ve been on a call with a loud toilet flushing incident. The culprit remained nameless.\n\u2014 Cynthia Farrell (@cindypfarrell) February 7, 2020\nBut his momma is Wonder Woman, sooo:\n\u201cThe very second I clicked \u201cunmute\u201d to do my very first presentation as a global programs lead to the regional leads in my new role, my son stormed in the room fully dressed with a Thor costume and two swords.\u00a0#truestory\u201d  \u2014 Erica Vialardi Meraldi\nCOULD YOU REPEAT THAT:\nWhenever I\u2019m on an important conference call my neighbor gets out the leaf blower. EVERY. TIME.\n\u2014 michele hackshall \ud83d\udc3c (@pandamoo) February 8, 2020\nWhen you keep calm and carry on until you can\u2019t because you\u2019re laughing too hard:\n\u201cSeveral years ago we were hosting a call that included participation from colleagues in APJ.\u00a0Conference call \u2013 no video.\u00a0I believe our poor APJ colleagues were attending despite the fact that it was 11:30 PM their time.\u00a0\nAbout 10 minutes into the call, all of a sudden we distinctly heard snoring coming from one of the APJ lines.\u00a0No problem, I\u2019ll just mute them \u2013 nope \u2013 mute\u2019s not working.\u00a0OK, well, I\u2019ll just remove the person entirely from the call \u2013 nope \u2013 that isn\u2019t working either.\u00a0\nAll normal attempts to mute or remove our sleeping participant failed.\u00a0So we decided to carry on with the call \u2013 giggling \u2013 by speaking during the quiet pauses in between each snore.\u00a0Call lasted for another 10 minutes that way before we just couldn\u2019t take it any more because we were laughing so hard and ended the call.  \u2013 Tim Porterfield\n\u2026but the dress code is 10\/10\nForget makeup, putting on \u201creal clothes\u201d is a total novelty:\n\ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb\u00a0LEGGINGS \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb The WFH mullet outfit: business up top, party on the bottom \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb Not feeling like I have to put makeup on every day \ud83d\ude4c\ud83c\udffb The ability to control my own thermostat \u2014 Sacha Peiser\n\u201cI no longer work a job from home, but when I did, I remember sincerely referring to a pair of black track pants as my \u201cnice going out sweatpants.\u201d  \u2014 Megan Kuhlenschmidt\nYou still have coworkers to consider\nAnd you need to work around them, whether they\u2019re working or not:\n\u201cMy husband and I both work remotely 90% of the time. It can be challenging when we have calls scheduled simultaneously since one of us will have to move from our primary working space so we aren\u2019t talking over each other. It\u2019s great to have a built-in support system. Instead of just unloading all our work stress on each other in the evening we can sort of de-escalate stressful situations right after they happen so that things don\u2019t just pile up throughout the day.\u201d  \u2014 Kelly Carlton\nThe worst office mates:\u00a0\n\u201cI used to enjoy working from home, though it was always hard to keep myself focused and not worried about house cleaning and cooking. Now, though, 99% of the time I\u2019m WFH, I\u2019m there because my daughter doesn\u2019t have daycare for some reason. And let me tell you.. she\u2019s a terrible office mate.\u201d  \u2014 Sara Kelly\u00a0\nThe best office mates:\u00a0\n\u201cAny time I work from home, I have to accept that I will have at least one animal on my lap, one attempting to sit on my laptop, and one draped over my mouse-arm.\u201d \u2014 Andrea Foster\nIt can be harder to \u201cleave work at work\u201d\nPro: you have the flexibility to work whenever!\nCon: you feel compelled to work, WHENEVER.\n\u201cIt can also be a bit difficult to leave work at \u2018work\u2019 since our home space and work space often overlap, but in general our time is more efficiently managed since we don\u2019t waste precious hours commuting or feeling like we need to get dressed (read: shower, hair, makeup) to go into an office.\u201d \u2014 Kelly Carlton \nPeople don\u2019t always get that you are, in fact, working\nYes, I\u2019m sitting on the couch, no that doesn\u2019t mean I\u2019m checked-out:\n\u201c[People] will visit while I am working and expect me to drop everything and chat. I have always found it bizarre. I wouldn\u2019t go to their workplace and expect them to entertain me. Yet when you work from home, other people don\u2019t always view it as real work.\u201d \u2014 Margaret White\nIt\u2019s not for everyone, but for those of us who\u2019ve gotten used to working from home, we wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.\nHR, better. Employees, happier. Businesses, healthier. It\u2019s time to modernize the employee experience.","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#Article_Person","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#Article_Person_ImageObject","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/08\/Emily_Kelly-150x150.jpg"},"name":"Emily Morrow","sameAs":["https:\/\/twitter.com\/emkmorrow","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/emilykmorrow\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/contributor\/emily-kelly\/"},"dateModified":"2021-09-15T19:04:07+00:00","datePublished":"2020-02-18T08:00:00+00:00","description":"If ducking video cameras were an Olympic sport, you could take the gold. Sound familiar? We thought so. From loud flushing incidents to sleepy call participants, here's some of the best work from home stories.","headline":"The good, the bad, and the mortifying: What it\u2019s really like to work from home","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#Article_ImageObject","height":"630","url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/02\/thumbnail-4b49158daa74f52028dcbaa159024b83-1200x630.gif","width":"1200"},"mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/","name":"The good, the bad, and the mortifying: What it\u2019s really like to work from home","publisher":{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/","additionalType":"https:\/\/www.wikidata.org\/wiki\/Q1193236","description":"Relevant, timely information & analysis on commerce trends, both consumer-facing and B2B.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","height":"96","url":"https:\/\/23x6xj3o92m9361dbu2ij362-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com\/wp-content\/themes\/hybris_foc\/assets\/images\/layout\/logo-new-2x.png?_=1","width":"500"},"name":"The Future of Customer Engagement and Experience","sameAs":["https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/a-call-for-a-better-experience\/id1479742201","https:\/\/twitter.com\/FutureOfCEC","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/groups\/4844282","https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/feed\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/"},"url":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#Article"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"2020","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"02","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/02\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"18","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/\/02\/\/18\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":4,"name":"The good, the bad, and the mortifying: What it\u2019s really like to work from home","item":"https:\/\/www.the-future-of-commerce.com\/2020\/02\/18\/work-from-home-stories\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]