working from home: what they don't want you to know

That title feels like something you'd get in a spam email. Ha!

I am very fortunate to have a job that allows me the flexibility to work from home some days. I really enjoy working at home, I like the quiet, I like the familiarity, and the fact that I don't have to brush my hair or even get dressed! But in all truth, I am very productive at home. My job is a very online-intensive environment and the people that I work with are scattered across the globe, so I don't need to be in one physical location to make it all work. BUT there are drawbacks, of course. Which no one ever seems to talk about, since the pajama wearing and home-brewed coffee tend to overshadow everything else.

But here's what they don't tell you. You will go through toilet paper like nobody's business. Seriously. When you're not peeing on somebody else's dime, it starts to add up. Especially if you're a girl. Think about it: how many times do you pee in a day? 3? 4? More? And if you're going to work every day, you probably go more than 75% of the time out of the house. Whether at the office or in a restaurant at lunch. But at home? 100% of your peeing happens inside your own house. Which is comforting (there's no place like home!) but also taxing. That jumbo pack of toilet paper that you thought would last a month, doesn't. So off you go to buy more. And then more. And then...

And it seems like every day you get into the bathroom and what's there to greet you? An empty cardboard tube. But you just changed that roll! Yep, and now it's gone. Go grab another one.

Other items that deplete faster when you work at home: the fridge (where are all those groceries you just bought?), hand soap, paper towels (you don't want dishes to wash, so sandwiches are served on paper towels), water (seriously WHO keeps putting the empty Britta pitcher back in the fridge?), ice (!), Cheez-its, and even more.

I don't want to bum you out. But seriously. Think about it. Pajama-clad conference calls are awesome, but be prepared to start buying in bulk. Set aside some of the gas money you're saving toward a Costco membership.