7 Tips for talking with your significant other about making the switch to working from home

In my last blog post we talked about coming to the decision to make a change from floor nursing to working at home.  Now that you made the decision and signed up for Marie’s course, it is time to have a conversation with your significant other in order to prepare for the transition before you start interviewing.  There is a lot of thought that needs to go into having this discussion so you will need to get prepared on your approach in case you may be taking a pay cut.  Check out my tips below.

1.      Have your mental and physical symptoms list handy for your talk.  It is important to share with your significant other how your current job is affecting your mental and physical health.  Make sure you are calmly discussing how you feel before and after working.  (If you did not read my first blog post, please refer to it now)

2.      Know how your symptoms affect the family.  If you are not taking care of yourself, you are not taking care of your family.  Trust me, you may think you are, but not in the way you would if you did not have the stress in your life from your job.  Anger, frustration, exhaustion follow you home.  You may be too tired to make dinner or lack the desire to go back out with your family after getting home from work to enjoy a night out.  Perhaps you are drinking more or not taking care of yourself like you used to.  Stress can show its ugly face in many ways so think hard about how your family is being affected.

3.      Choose the right time to talk and what is most important for you to get across to your significant other.  If you have children, be sure to have this discussion when they are in bed or outside playing in order to have complete focus to your conversation. WHY do you want to leave your current job so bad in order to work from home?

4.      Do your homework on ways you will save money by working from a home office.  Figure out how much you spend on uniforms, shoes and supplies per year.  How about wear and tear on your vehicle, gas, childcare (keep in mind if you have small children, you will still need someone to watch them while you work from home) I have compiled some average savings from the Flex jobs website that might help.  If you want to read the in-depth version of the breakdown, check it out here.

a.      Gas - $686

b.      Car Maintenance - $767

c.       Dry cleaning and laundering - $500

d.      Lunches and coffee - $1,040

e.      Professional wardrobe - $925

f.        Tax breaks - $750

g.      Time - $4,867 THIS IS THE MOST IMPORTANT = Have you ever tried to place a value on the amount of time not spent commuting? Think of all the time you spend behind the wheel to and from work.  That time is valuable and all lost. Given that the average commute time is 52 minutes (see above), that’s nearly another hour every day devoted to a work-related activity, namely, commuting. However, by working from home, the average former commuter will be spending 225 fewer hours on a work-related activity, or about 28 fewer eight-hour days every year. How does that translate when it comes to your salary? Say you earn $50,000 a year and you’re commuting to an office. That would mean you’re making about $21.70 per hour (because you’re working an eight-hour day plus your 52-minute commute, or just under nine hours daily).

h.      Childcare – I did not add this in and keep in mind, small children still need childcare while you are working from home, however, perhaps children that are in elementary school will no longer need before and after school care.  This would be another cost savings.

i.        Total savings per year – approximately $4,000 +++++remember, you can’t put a price tag on TIME.

5.      Be prepared for possible objections. You know your significant other better than anyone.  If you may be taking a pay cut from your floor nursing job to work from home. Be sure to share what is most important to you.  What have you lost from working a stressful job, what will you gain by working from home, how will you feel better, how will the family benefit?

6.      Share your willingness to save money in other ways.  How can you save money to offset the lower pay IF it ends up being less based on cost savings above.  Use digital coupons when shopping, spend a little less at Amazon, do your kids really need every new toy?  Can you increase your temperature in the house during the summer instead of using the AC as much?  Change the light bulbs to LED, all of this saves on electric. Maybe cut down the amount of times you go out to eat per month. Little things all add up at the end of the month.

7.      Share your vision.  This is probably the most important.  Share and paint a picture for your significant other of how you think your mental and physical health would be better as well as the family based on leaving a job you are stressed and burnt out to work from home.

I hope these tips help you and I can’t wait to see where Marie’s course takes you on your journey to work from home.

If you have not signed up for Marie Pepper's Medicare Chronic Care Management Course to learn the skills to work from home as a Nurse, please learn more here Medicare Chronic Care Management Course