Written by Lately, I have been getting many comments about working from home, in my pyjamas. I am often told to grow up, put pants on and actually get some work done. Most of the times, I get this as a joke, but the really funny thing is: I spend a lot of time working, I absolutely love my job and I am very professional about it. I turn in my projects in time, I guarantee quality translations, I work on this blog in my free time.
However, I’ve been reading a lot about the evils of being a freelancer, working from home and never changing out of your pyjamas. The argument is that we associate pyjamas with sleeping and lying around, not work. I am supposed to feel a lot more professional when I put work clothes on, even if no one is there to see me.
I’ve spent a decent amount of time in my pyjamas, doing actual work, believe it or not. Back at university, and even high school, studying was done at home. Going to the library wasn’t a big part of the School of Languages, and there has always been plenty of room at home, so getting out of my pyjamas to put my thinking cap on has never really been necessary. Once I finished university, I continued to do work from home, in a similar fashion. I’ve moved to an entirely different continent and my habits haven’t changed. I just work well in my pyjamas.
For me, and for many other people I imagine, “pyjama mode” doesn’t mean browsing Facebook all day while eating ice cream out of the container. Give me comfortable garments, a cup of coffee, a computer, and it’s on! I generally wake up early in the morning, check my work e-mails, and get down to it. I find my deadlines to be motivation enough to stay focused, and, since I’ve been following a few translation blogs myself, I’ve realised how much I still have got to learn. So many ways in which I can still grow and specialise! Needless to say, I don’t find it very hard to feel motivated either. I find this profession to be riveting.
Whenever I feel a little bit trapped, I seize the opportunity to leave the house and treat myself with some nice food in a nice cafe with an internet connection. Working in a different environment can be very liberating, indeed. That is why I do it quite often. So don’t worry! I do leave the house now and again. I exercise, I do the shopping, I’m a functional adult. I guess it is very useful that I can be dressed and presentable in an average of three minutes, but, even so, I feel like working in comfortable in-house clothes helps me save valuable time that I would otherwise waste deciding what to wear.
Translations with AM 