The Work from Home Diaries Chapter 1

I remember wanting to work from home so bad, it was like a dream. I had this vision of being able to wake up when I wanted, work when I wanted, and not have that dreadful commute! No more getting up early and trying to figure out what to wear. No more having to go to be early and set an alarm. I was tired of this way of living. I wanted to work from home and I was going to do what it took to make this a reality.

The first thing I did was a little research. This was before the internet, so my research consisted of buying work-at-home magazines from Books-A-Million and searching the Want Ads in the National Enquirer because that just tells you the kinds of work from home jobs that were out there during this time. Now, let me start by telling you this was way before working from home is what it is today, so there were some scams and I fell for them.

Take for example stuffing envelopes. There was a time when I was told I could stuff envelopes at home and earn money. I had visions of sitting on the floor with envelopes all around me and just stuffing away and then getting this massive paycheck for doing that and only that. I remember filling out my form and sending in my money by snail mail. I would check my mailbox every day just looking for my opportunity. Turns out, you too can earn money if you put the ad up, request money, and send the same exact request to someone. Isn’t that a great way of saying “stuff envelopes and get paid?”

Create dollhouse furniture, make cards, create Christian jewelry. I did them all and they ended up being nothing. They were almost impossible to do and to follow the standards created. I was frustrated, but I had not given up. And then one day I saw an article about working from home teaching. This would be perfect for me. I am a teacher and I have a Master’s degree, which are two of the main things needed. The author had a book that gave all kinds of tips on how to find these jobs, so I ordered it off Amazon. I think I read it in one day with tons of underlines and pages marked and then I started my journey. My journey to work from home teaching took off. I crafted my resume with the needed “buzz” words and created a teaching philosophy and I was ready to go.

I was fortunate in my journey because I stumbled upon a university that was hiring and I had the qualifications! When I filled out that job application, I was full of excitement. I filled it out so fast and waited every day with anticipation to hear from this university. Even though in the book I was told the hiring process was not a hasty one, I was not aware of just how long it would take. I waited and checked my email and waited and checked my email some more. I even went back to the website to see if the job was still posted. I was pretty much a psycho about it. Finally, one day, I got an email to sign up for an interview. After the interview, the process went a little bit faster. Within a couple of weeks, I was enrolled in the teaching interview, which was being in an actual online class with some peers. Not soon after successfully completing that, I was given my first online teaching job. I was beyond excited!!!

I loved my first work from home teaching job and I just knew that was something I wanted to do full time. I began to search even more for more opportunities and as luck would have it, the economy tanked and online enrollment went through the roof. With this online enrollment, came more work-from-home teaching opportunities and I was thrilled. Pretty soon, I was teaching from home for five different schools and the money that was coming in was incredible. I was loving what I was doing. The only thing is that I was not doing it full-time.

I was working a full-time job and then spending all of my free time doing my work from home teaching and it was rough! One day I finally decided it was time to teach online full time. So, I quit my full-time job and online teaching became my full-time work-from-home job. I loved it! I would wake up when I wanted and work when I wanted, it was heaven! I did not have anyone breathing down my neck and as for the commute, what commute? If you call walking down the hall to your office a commute! It was awesome!

I remember my first day on the job. I actually had Little House on the Prairie on TV while I did my job. I loved this show and being able to work while watching it just made me happy. I remember very well that day and for a few days after I did the same thing. I would stay up late watching TV and just lounging around, I was in heaven.

Of course, this fun was short-lived. One day I looked in the mirror and was not too thrilled with what I saw. I had not showered in two or three days. My hair was in its forever ponytail. I was only wearing athleisure and never leaving the house. I had better conversations with my dog than anyone else in my life. And that is when I knew, it was time to change some things and come up with a routine for working from home.

Stay tuned for Chapter 2 to see just how I came up with my routine