I know that we all wish the very best for our employers. If teleworking saves corporate bucks, that's great! However, let me share the benefits of teleworking to the individual - you. The thing that makes teleworking such a great sale is that, while it is good for the environment and corporate America, it permits the individual to regain control of her time.

My own first hand experience with teleworking occurred about five years ago. It was still fairly new at that time as an organized concept. I remember feeling an enormous sense of relief. I felt as though I had put down a huge weight that I had been carrying for a long time. The relief I felt was doubly exhilarating because I was unaware of it until its removal. The weight consisted of all the stress that came with leaving your home and family for lengthy periods of time every day. If anyone (possibly me) had a doctor's appointment, my commute time was doubled for the day. I usually would have to make up the work time lost that evening (the time formerly known as my personal time). Any deliveries or repair work to be done at home became major efforts in scheduling. Whatever project I had at work still had to be completed. The only place to find additional time to borrow was my personal time, again. Sick family or pets are managed as quickly as possible, usually to their detriment. Because of the rush to get complete one thing and return to work. Nothing is worse than the feeling that you have neglected a loved one when you were needed. There is no substitute for your personal involvement in your home life.

If you are teleworking, a doctor's appointment takes only the time for the appointment. You have not had to drive to work, to the doctor, then back to work, then home. Your time away from work has been reduced, lessening the time needed to make up for your absence.

Any appointments at your home for delivery or repair persons takes very little time from your day. This flexibility is especially helpful when your appointment time is "sometime between 8 AM and Noon". You have saved a lot of time that can be used much more productively. Work continues while you wait. You have also avoided the stress of meeting someone at a certain time, the conflict such a meeting creates at work, having to ask to leave the office, and worrying that the person will be late and take much longer than you planned.

One of the most rewarding aspects of teleworking occurs when someone at home needs extra care. By working at home, break times that you would normally take may be utilized to tend to whatever needs to be done. Your first hand observation of what needs to be done is invaluable. The benefit to your family of your presence in such a situation is incalculable. How can you measure the difference made to your quality of life and that of your family?

Another immeasurable return of being more available in your home environment is the absence of the need to rush. If you are delayed for any reason leaving the house to go to a traditional office, you are not then required to hurry off in your vehicle, trying to make up that lost time. Rushing and driving while distracted and hurried are an obvious formula for disaster. So many mistakes are made under such circumstances.

It may take you ten minutes to organize dinner, lay out clothes or do laundry while you are at home during the day. If these tasks were left to be done after a full day away from the house and a two-way commute, the time required to complete them would be at least triple the amount of your undistracted ten minutes.

You will probably not be ill as often because of the manageability of your schedule. You are less likely to be exposed to every new germ because you are not leaving your home as much. Because you no longer are rushing as much, you have the opportunity to be more rested and less susceptible to the "bug of the week". If you should get sick, the adjustments to your work schedule are much easier to make. If you are capable of working at all during this time, it is much easier to do so because you are at home. You can usually continue to work with minor adjustments. Your workday may not be as productive as it normally might, but you did not miss an entire day. If you are required to recuperate for several days, the advantage is even greater to you and to your work productivity.

Every person's schedule is very individualized. I may not have touched on the benefit of teleworking that will be the most beneficial to your life. I have given you examples that will permit you to analyze your own schedule and determine the personal advantage to you of teleworking, whether full time or part time. I do not believe there is anything that enhances one's life more than regaining control of your time.

Telework - The Changing Face of the Workplace

Telework - An Introduction

Why Telework

Home Office Set-Up