The Top 4 Reasons I Love Teaching Online and Working from Home
The other day I was reminded that what I do is very different from the usual 9 to 5 job.
Someone made a reference to someone else having a “case of the Monday’s” (does Office Space get all the credit for that saying, or did that movie just popularize it?), and I realized I haven’t dreaded a Monday since I (very briefly) had a desk job in marketing.
Sure, what I do isn’t perfect, but honestly, most of the time teaching online is very satisfying- at least to me!
Here are the top 4 reasons that I love every part of my job– the work at home aspect of it, teaching college students online, having the freedom to teach in a manner and on a timeline that is flexible, and even the parts that can get tedious.
- I don’t even know what it feels like to dread Monday mornings. I’ve never woken up and thought “Ugh, I have to work today.” In fact, I kind of love sitting down in my home office and getting things taken care of.
- My job is a welcome break from my other ‘grown-up’ responsibilities. So many things can get boring, repetitive, and even chaotic in life- managing a household, taking care of a baby, tasks at your job. When I need a break from ‘domestic stuff’ working in my office is a treat and makes me feel productive, and vice versa.
- My students can be awesome. I’ve said it before on the blog, teaching online is very different from teaching in the classroom, and your relationships with online students aren’t quite as personal. However, I still have so many wonderful online experiences with students, and I love it when they share how they’ve grown as a speaker, and/or how our online communication class helped them survive and excel in a job interview during the semester.
- I love love love not having to get out the door to go to work! I enjoy being in the classroom a few weeks out of the year, but I still can’t get over the fact that I have to get my activities together, print stuff out, put on professional clothes, and then drive and get there early. Honestly, sometimes that whole ‘getting ready’ part takes 5 hours alone!
If you’re looking for a new challenge, a side hustle, remote work you can do while traveling the world, or a flexible job that’s great as a stay-at-home parent, seriously consider teaching online.
For more information about how to do this, check out my newest book, Happy Professor’s Guide to Working at Home: How to Teach Online, Manage Your Time, and (Kind of) Balance It All on Amazon.
And, of course, if you have any questions, feel free to contact me at erin@happyprofessor.com.
Happy teaching, learning, and living!