I work from home, and there’s a lot of benefits to that. But one thing that kept coming up over the holidays was how many people I ran into who told me how frikkin’ happy they were that they were on vacation and didn’t have to get up to the alarm clock. Now that most of us are back in the office, my Facebook page is full of people complaining about not getting enough sleep and having to get up when that stupid alarm goes off.
I, on the other hand, only get up to an alarm for the relatively rare early-morning meetings we have every once in a while. I go to bed pretty much when I’m tired, get up when I wake up. For me, that works out to bed between 10:30 and 11:30, up between 7:30 and 8:30, give or take an hour depending on the season. I have no sleep deficit, and haven’t in many, many years. My sleep habits are the same during the week, on the weekends, and during vacations (except on vacations, I sometimes tend to be up later because I’m out with friends or whatever.)
I tend to forget what a really great benefit this is, but everyone around me has made me remember it.
So what about you? What do you take for granted but is actually really cool?
Internet access from work would have to be the biggest perk. Yeah, it’s ubiquitous now for most office type occupations, but dammit if it’s not one of the best ways to get through the lull of the working day.
Being single can be shitty a lot of the time but it made car buying, home buying and home decorating a breeze. Sometimes it’s nice to have a second opinion when it comes to making nuanced decisions but sometimes it’s so much easier being the final and only decision maker around.
I decided to go back to school a few years ago and my current position at work gives me free time (roughly about 2.5 hours a day) that I use to do homework/research. While I have limited internet access, generally I find what I need to accomplish homework needs.
There are days when I almost feel guilty when my cohorts complain about not having time to do their homework. I get over it pretty quickly when I think about the fact that I have 3 teenage children who are involved in stuff and my nights are busy with games, practices, cook-offs, art shows, friends over, household chores, and much needed down time.
Right now I have a lot of autonomy in my position. There are deadlines and times when I must be at work, but I’m not on a time clock and am not usually not obliged to be there at x hour until y hour. I also don’t have a boss breathing down my neck every second or monitoring me while I’m working.
This is an intangible, but as a young male, having a career that is universally in the “respected” category is nice. I feel bad for friends who are doing things they definitely find more rewarding than I find my job, but who always have to justify their line of work.
I’m about to have a baby. We found a great daycare right around the door from work. Daycare has an open door policy so I can stop by anytime and breast feed. I know my job is totally chill about me popping in and out, I’m pretty lucky.
I don’t intend to pry into your friends’ personal lives, but I’m curious, what is it that your friends are doing that they have to justify? Maybe it’s just the people I know, but I feel like for people in their 20s working low paying or multiple jobs is the new norm because of the way the job market is. But if they’re doing what they want to do and are able to earn a living, what’s the big deal?
A bit of a rarity, but workers in our office are considered “essential personnel”. In the few times we have curfews imposed due to hurricanes I can still be out and about as needed. If we get another really bad one I know I still have access to basic resources like gas.
Our normal work schedule is 4 on, 4 off. That makes it easy to take care of any business on days off rather than scramble during lunch hour to take care of banking and such.
Like the OP, I work alone, at home. Yeah, it’s great to never need an alarm clock. I sleep when I need to, get up when I want to (well, except for one of the cats). I can work in a t-shirt and gym shorts, and I really don’t even need to take a shower or shave. And I don’t have to listen to coworkers’ crappy music.
And the best thing: I get to do the kind of work that I love doing. For decades, I worked for other people, many of whom I despised. I finally decided to stay home and develop my own art. In spite of getting a fraction of my former income, I have never regretted that decision.
On the other hand, I get no paid vacations, bonuses, holidays, sick days, personal days or health insurance. And I also don’t get paid if my work doesn’t sell.
I have a similar thing, though slightly different than you. I am also going back to school and I am so glad I have no children and thus have all the time in the world to do my hw. Other people in my classes complain constantly about having to wait until after the kids are out, etc. I never have to worry about that.
I take my health for granted. Back in October I had to get a prescription filled for an antibiotic. That’s the only prescription I’ve ever had as an adult. I’m 50.
I own my business. If things get to me, as they do maybe once every three months, I can say screw this and head home. If an employee periodically ditched, they’d likely be fired.
Oh, and my dumpster. It’s nice to never be eager for garbage pick up day.
I’m one of the bosses, so lots of benefits. (can wear what I want, can work when I want, people do what I ask, etc.) But ones that are not related to being an owner:
Free covered parking (with an outlet to plug in my Volt)
View of the water from my office. (I actually don’t take this one for granted)
I’m a technophile and maybe I sometimes take it for granted just how many cool gadgets I have access to. I have an HDTV, a Wii, a gaming computer, a Macbook Pro, an iPad, an iPhone, and two Kindles.* The most recent conundrum was whether or not to get the Kindle Paperwhite since I just bought the Kindle Touch last year. That has to be the ultimate first world problem right there. I mean sure, we worry about our student loans and our retirement and our net worth, but at the end of the day we live very comfortable lives. Even if I went bankrupt tomorrow, I’ve still got nice stuff and a warm apartment.
Living within walking distance of my office is wonderful. I don’t have to worry about parking or putting wear on my car. I get my daily exercise and meditation and sunlight. It makes for a very “zen” existence.
I like having an office rather than cubicle. An office means I can close the door when hallway noise gets to be too loud or when I want to turn my office into a workout studio. I can listen to music and talk on the phone as loud as I want. Having a window means I can keep a little garden. I don’t have to worry about snoops and busybodies looking at my monitor. I have private bitchfests with people. An office is terrific.