Homeworking

I love the spring semester. And not just because we’re headed for summer, or because most of our students graduate in the spring, or because the days become longer and brighter. No, the main reason I love the spring semester is the fact that I don’t have to teach any classes on Friday. This in turn means I don’t have to drive three hours to and from work; instead, I can just stay home, keep my sweats on, and work from behind my very own kitchen table. The amount of work I get done in the quiet of my own home is amazing. There are no students asking a million students, no administrative distractions, and no need to be sociable. There is just me, my tea, and my computer.

The whole “working from home” concept seems somewhat alien to most of my coworkers though. Many of them seem to be under the assumption that because I am not in the office on Fridays, I have the day off. Similarly, friends seem to be surprised when they call me on Friday and I’m working. Even husband-dear needs reminding every once in a while that I can’t do our taxes, run to the post office, and complete a host of chores on Friday since I have classes to prep, articles to write, and papers to grade. And a gym to go to, of course. I may not have the day off, but a little cheating should be alright, right? Since I am shaving three hours off my commute, I figured I could spend that on swimming. Or biking. Or anything I don’t get around to Monday through Thursday.

Most Americans, at least people down here, appear unfamiliar with the whole notion of “working from home”. This in contrary to Holland, where they even have a verb to describe the concept; “thuiswerken”, or “homeworking”. Entire tribes of employees work from home on a set day in the week, or at least from time to time. They pack up their laptop, their books, and move their office to their kitchen, or their living room, where they can work and watch te kids or do the laundry. In all honesty though, when half the department claims to be “thuiswerken” on a Friday when it’s nice and sunny out, you know that “thuiswerken” is more likely to translate to “sitting outside having a drink contemplating my next research project among other things”. But in spite of the occasional abuse, most universities and other employers are very serious about allowing people to work from home. It’s supposed to ease the eternal traffic jam between The Hague, Utrecht, and Amsterdam, help people balance home and work, and increase productivity. In the last year that I worked for a Dutch university, I was actually given permission to work from home full time, as this would only speed up the completion of the research project I was working on. I wonder how my dean here in Georgia would respond if I were to ask him if I could just do all my work from home – teach classes online, use a webcam for meetings, and communicate via email. It sounds like bliss to me. And imagine how much gas, and thus trees that would save.

I don’t really understand why Americans, or at least American academics in Georgia, haven’t caught up with this trend yet. Everyone always seems to be at the office, plagued by students, secretaries, and at times, other co-workers, who all want you to do something right then and there. I find that when I get one day at home per week when I can really crank out some serious work, I have a lot more patience dealing with people’s endless demands the other four days of the week. You want tape? No problem. Need me to sign a form for the second time because you lost the first one? Bring it on. Want to talk about your problems with professor so-and-so, come on in. It’s all fine, because I know I have Fridays to catch up.

So if you have a chance, try to implement this “homeworking” strategy. It really is worth it. Now excuse me while I go put in a load of laundry and then continue rewriting an article. And when I’m done with that, I may just get changed out of my pajamas. Then again, maybe not.