By DENISE ALBERT

I loved going to work. I used to breathe a sigh of relief at school drop off. I would kiss my son, wave goodbye and look forward to my day at work. Now that I work from home, it’s a different story, but to me, there was nothing better than working in an office. Now, I know some new managers working remotely and they love their work from the start, but everyone will have a different experience when it comes to this, and everyone will have a different opinion when it comes to working from home. I know many people who actually prefer it to working in an office environment. They’ve even found ways to increase their productivity at home, like setting up a little work station, using paperless software solution similar to ones on sites like filecenterdms, in the hopes of having less paperwork lying around and even have given themselves strict lunch and break time to help them stay motivated while at home. See, this works for some, but not everyone.

I’d prefer to be working in an office. I loved sitting on my comfy office chair (bought from this home and commercial office furniture in Brisbane company). I had a huge desk where I had plenty of space to work and I didn’t have any distractions at all. It was bliss! I didn’t spend my days changing diapers. (That was for mornings, nights and weekends). I didn’t do pick up or baseball drop off. And I didn’t spend time on playdates with my little one.

Instead, I read the newspaper on the train, as if I was alone…the only one there. No phone or blackberry. It was just me, the paper, and hundreds of thousands of commuters.

My journey to the office was calculated “me” time. Some mornings included a short coffee catch up with a friend or personal calls on the walk from the subway to the office.

By 10 am my “other” job officially began. I thrived in my office and because I had it, I accomplished more in my life. In fact, I got everything done at twice the pace.

I need the work interaction, the work relationships, the responsibilities, the creativity, and the opportunity to learn daily. I need the paycheck for many reasons. I need to contribute. It’s who I am. I also need the financial freedom to be able to buy those jeans without explanation to anyone other than myself. Financial freedom is amazing, you work hard and then you can live comfortably. Although, despite my new guilt-less life, I do sympathize with my friend who recently moved over here for work. She’s struggling to apply for a credit card because she doesn’t have a social security number yet and this is taking away her financial freedom. Luckily, she was able to stumble upon a blog telling her how to apply for credit Cards without SSN, hopefully she can start living happily now and buying whatever she wants!

Although it’s fun to be able to spend money, it can have consequences and negative sides. For example, my guilt-less life came at a cost. It’s not the path I planned to take. I made concessions in my career and at home. I’ve adjusted my professional goals in order to have flexibility. I took a detour from a lifetime of passion in one field – to work in another – to feel guilt-free. I missed my little ones’ first real walking. I found out by text – “12 steps – alone!” That morning – before work – I saw 4. I proudly showed the text in my meeting. “Oh – no, you missed it” was my colleagues’ reaction. But I had no guilt. Instead, I thought, my work with him that morning paid off!

Sometimes I wonder if there’s something wrong with me. Am I missing a certain “mom-ness” sense? Am I missing a guilt gene? Now that I’ve switched gears again and work from home, I can’t wait to get back to an office. But on my own terms.

I don’t feel guilty. I know I am a better mom because I work!