It's a whole new world out there

Ever since I gave up the corporate life a few weeks ago and left the land of cubicles, memos and staff meetings, I've realized why we created those things in the first place: Working at home is hard.

Believe me, before I left the office to be a freelance writer, I spent many hours daydreaming about being my own boss and doing my own work in my own time in the peace and quiet of my own house. (Of course, I didn't daydream about leaving work while I was actually at work. That would be wrong.)

But the reality is a bit different from my fantasies.

For one thing, I'm beginning to think that my former corner cubicle in the out-of-the-way and down-the-hall office I shared with two other people was much quieter and more peaceful - and for that I blame our four cats.

When I first started hanging around the house instead of rushing out in the morning, they naturally were suspicious that my continuing presence would limit their secret cat behavior - or whatever cats do when we're not around. Call China and order pizza is what I'm thinking, although I have no evidence of that.

Now, after a few weeks, the cats realize, of course, that I'm home solely for their amusement. They have me playing all sorts of games, such as "What's On the Other Side of This Door?" "Now I Want To See What Was On the Other Side of the Door When I Was There A Minute Ago" and the ever-popular "Why Did You Think That I Wanted To Be On This Side of the Door, You Clueless Human, You?" Endless entertainment.

For another thing, when you work at home it's hard to find time to actually be at home.

For that, I blame my non-time-clock-punching friends and family who are taking me up on my pleas to call me for lunch anytime so I won't be lonely.

In the working world, "Let's do lunch sometime" or "We should meet for coffee next week" are vague niceties that don't mean anything, since nobody with a job actually has time to eat. My usual work lunches were quick take-out sandwiches eaten in the car while frantically running errands. In the non-working world, however, lunch is a leisurely three-iced-tea affair where people sit, talk and enjoy themselves. Who knew?

But the real obstacle to working at home is my own easily-distracted mind.

I don't know if I should blame my latent housewifely instincts (that sound you hear is my husband laughing) or an embarrassingly short attention span, but I can't sit down to type a paragraph without thinking, "I need to put a load of whites in the laundry," "The cabinet under the kitchen sink needs cleaning out" or my personal favorite, "Some homemade chocolate-chip cookies would taste fantastic right now."

And we all know you can't argue with a homemade chocolate-chip cookie.

Cathy Wood is a freelance writer living in the Shoals. She can be reached at cathylwood@gmail.com.