When I moved from the D.C. area to the Atlanta-ish area, my very generous bosses let me start teleworking from home part-time. While there are many things to love about working from home, it is not all champagne wishes and caviar dreams. It is occasionally difficult to get down to work while staring at a sink full of dishes. Instead of yelling a question over the cubicle wall, I shoot off an email and wait. And wait.
The biggest challenge of this lifestyle for me has been finding a work "wardrobe". It can be hard to put a lot of effort into getting dressed when the only people who see me outside the house in a typical day are my daughter's day care teachers and anyone who cares to peer inside my car in the carpool lane. On the other hand, I do not want to look like I just roll out of bed and occasionally run a brush through my hair. (Trust me, there are some people in car pool lane I really wonder about.) My sister and I love Tim Gunn and his fashion words of wisdom have begun ringing in my head. Wear things that flatter. Get rid of anything torn, dirty or unflattering.
I've really begun making an effort and I am telling you, it really improved my self-confidence. It is so true that if you look good you feel good. Just putting the extra two minutes in to put in earrings and throw on a necklace or bracelet does a lot. Some days I even have five minutes to spackle on some concealer and swipe on lipstick! I have a little extra spring in my step when I feel like I look cute, even trolling the grocery aisles. If you do one thing tomorrow, take five minutes to put on a sparkly ring, trendy necklace or colorful shoes and make it work!
I'm a guy, so it's the tie that makes it work for me. We're required to wear ties when we come in to work on The High Calling, but I've become a believer in the value of dressing professionally.
ReplyDeleteNothing against Silicon Valley, but I tend to take my work more seriously when I dress like I'm taking it seriously.