About

April Malone                             

Hello from sunny Arizona! I am excited to hear your stories and share with you in this adventure. Yes, I work from home; and I have been working from home since 2008 (12 years!) in several different capacities. I've created a home office space in 5 different houses in multiple states here in the USA and have also managed to work from AirBnBs and hotel rooms on occasion while traveling. I was teleworking as a single lady and have continued working from home through these first 10 years of my marriage as well as throughout our experience of having three children close in age. We have been able to minimize a need for extra childcare by juggling my schedule around my husband's school or daytime work schedule with a variety of different working hours, usually some sort of combination of nights, weekends, evenings, and extremely early mornings. Some of my various roles have overlapped as I've eased from one thing into another. I've worked for a major health organization, started an online store, worked as a freelancer doing some ghostwriting, and have been teaching English as a second language full time for 2 years.

Through these different roles, I've gotten to know some of my coworkers or colleagues and have encountered people in my local community who also work from home. I realize that, even though we all work in a variety of situations and have different lifestyles or live in different locations, we all have something in common in that we have unique challenges with balancing work and life, things that many of our friends and relatives and colleagues who work in office or storefront or other brick and mortar settings don't experience. I've attended onsite work parties where teleworkers mixed with those whose desks were onsite and have also been the person covering the phones from home while everyone else went to the annual holiday party. More recently, I've hosted gatherings for ESL teachers; and so many people express that they never get together with anyone else who works for the same company. Everyone seems to really enjoy telling stories about the strange things they've experienced working from home with people who totally get it.

A lot of people who move from an office setting to telework or freelance or who have gone into a more entrepreneurial role have expressed that they feel rather isolated. It breaks my heart, because I know it is a challenge for some but doesn't have to be that way. My personal experience is that I've had to work very hard to build community outside of work in order to have enough social contact, and I've been able to share a lot of tips and tricks with people and enjoy discussions that center around this lifestyle that is growing in popularity for various reasons.

You might work for a corporation, a small business, another individual, or yourself; and I can relate on so many levels. I've worked in busy offices and was able to transition within the same company to a remote work situation with 24/7 tech support with my equipment provided by the company. I've had to buy my own equipment and worked as an independent contractor with foreign companies with limited tech support. I've enjoyed the benefits of having amazing health benefits and a pension but also know what it's like to give up those securities in order to set my own schedule and create a new business. 

We have so many things to share with one another. I'm here to listen to what you've learned as you've worked from home. We can build a community together with people who understand this unique lifestyle so we can swap tips and tricks and discuss which approaches have helped us transition to working from a home office. I can't wait to get to know you!

April

About  

 Yes, I Work From Home

We're here to help you find:

Community

We are all about building a new community for people who work at home. Personality types aside, those of us who leave the office, store, school, or other brick-and-mortar setting for whatever reason often feel at least somewhat isolated if we don't establish new routines to replace some of the daily interaction we were accustomed to. It's not just the proverbial water cooler banter that we knew we would miss out on when we opted for a home office; but now we don't have as many greetings in the hallways, eye contact in the coffee shops, adult conversation. It's different now. We have something in common, so let's connect.

Accountability

Touching base daily with another human is a proven way to stay accountable about what we're trying to accomplish and what we're getting done. We can help you get matched with an accountability partner from within our group. If you need the next level of support, we can recommend a professional accountability expert or can introduce you to coaches who specialize in things such as procrastination or productivity, whatever you need. Coming soon: Easy to use tools to help you track your progress and goals to help you optimize your workflow.

Balance

Everyone who works from home knows about the freedom that can come with the arrangement: Roll out of bed, wear comfy clothes, food and drink the way you like it, and no commute. This can mean money saved and more time in the day. However, some of us find it hard to call it a day with constant access to the work environment. At other times, it's hard to ignore all of the household duties and distractions that are ever present. Let's work together to find systems that work to keep our households running smoothly and encourage one another to keep things in perspective and avoid burnout.

Support

If you have home office equipment or setup questions that you cannot figure out via Google or YouTube, you can use our Facebook community to search for solutions. We will work together to post our best recommendations and even crowdsource if necessary. If you are starting a small business or are an established entrepreneur but find yourself in a bottleneck trying to determine what tools you need to integrate, automate, etc, we can connect you with someone who specializes in helping make those decisions and who can do the setup for you or teach you how to use them.

Health

Easy access to your own fridge, couch, and bed can be a blessing or curse when it comes to staying healthy. We have connections with a virtual team who specialize in daily accountability with food and exercise without requiring a gym membership or particular diet. We can also connect you with an experienced board certified professional ergonomist to assess your workspace and teach you how to use your equipment safely so you can avoid headaches and injuries. It's so helpful to talk to other people who also work remotely who can make recommendations based on what we have available.