A Work From Home Professional

It's Monday and I'm getting back on track.  If you've sent me comments this last week and you haven't received a response from me yet, have no fear (not that I think any of you are shaking in your boots), I will respond within the next 48 hours!  Last week, I traveled up to Philadelphia to visit with some family.  It was a great trip, but I'm missing them a lot already.  On the way back south, I caught up with some friends.  One of those nights, I had the chance to see Elton John live!!  It was an amazing show.  He's such a talented performer--he sang for about 3 hours straight.  No joke!

Thoughts on The Train

Anyway, to avoid traffic and high gas prices, I opted to take the train to Philadelphia and back.  On the ride, I had the chance to do some thinking and reflecting.  One topic that was on my mind quite a bit was work.  I'm coming up on 1 year of being completely out of the Army and I've been thinking about how this past year has unfolded.  During my transition out of the Army, I witnessed God opening and closing doors and it was amazing!

  

Career Transition

Before I got out of the Army and before Scott and I got married, I had some career decisions to make. Scott would be in one place for a short amount of time while he completed training.  It would be just long enough to get settled, but not long enough to hold a permanent job.  I must admit, after 10 years (including college at a military academy) of not having a lot of free time and the freedom to pick up and go whenever and wherever I wanted, I was a little hesitant to immediately transition to a 9-5 job anyway.  Also, after 3+ years of dating Scott long distance and 1+ years of being engaged long distance, I wanted to spend as much time with my husband as I could--especially in the crucial first year of marriage.  With his ever-changing schedule, I wanted to be able to pickup and go when he was free but also have something going on to keep me busy, active, and bring in some extra income.  Freelance writing sounded like a great way to fulfill all of my work-related wants and desires.  Not only that, but I enjoy writing...bonus!

A Photo from President Obama's Speech

My plan was to start a blog to connect with others and to build a writing "portfolio" of sorts.  So I did.  I landed a freelance/contracting job in my city writing business summaries and started that a week after getting out of the Army.  My hard work paid off and the company later offered me a chance to do some freelance journalism/reporting/photography for a local online news source.  A couple of months into that position, my editor asked me to cover a big story:  President Obama's announcement of the end of the War in Iraq.  It was incredible! {Side Note: My oldest sister, Allison, was actually a part of the first wave of soldiers when Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) began}.  The pay was great, the hours were great, but I felt I could add a little more to my schedule.  

A couple of weeks ago, I landed another sweet freelance gig with a photography studio in Canada--gotta love technology, right?  So now I have 2 ongoing freelance jobs and I'm loving them both.  But on my train ride to Philadelphia, I realized that working from home has it's own set of challenges.  For me, the challenges are mainly staying on task (i.e. not being distracted by laundry and dishes), and feeling like a professional.

A New Journey

I decided on my train ride that I need to make changes to the way I approach my work and the way I view myself.  I believe these changes are necessary for me to be more productive and to feel like a professional even if I work from home.

Are you a work from home professional?  How do you do it??  I need all the help I can get!  

I thought it would be fun to turn my journey into a 4-week series to document my progress. Week 1 will begin next Monday!