Redefining the workplace

After moving to İstanbul 12 years ago, I decided that I had had enough of working in an office and dealing with the office politics that inevitably come along with any job. Most of my working life had been in positions that required me to be in the office all day, every day. I felt that it was time for a change, not only in country and language, but in how I viewed my workday as well.

Once I settled in and began learning enough Turkish to find my way around town, I embarked on the job hunt. As a dual national, I had a much easier time of it than many other expats who have to either work illegally, usually teaching English, or wait until they can find an employer who is willing to obtain the required work permit on their behalf. By choosing to work as a freelance writer and editor, I have been able to choose which assignments I want to accept and which ones I opt to pass over.

The upside to this arrangement is that I can usually work from home, and I am able to work when I want. This has provided me with the opportunity to have a more active social life than if I had instead chosen to work in an office. In the United States, office hours are generally from nine in the morning until five in the evening. In Turkey, however, it is not uncommon for office hours to stretch longer into the evening, making family life hard for both parents and children. Since our son is in school just a short walk from our home, it is ideal for me to be working from home so that my husband can sometimes drop him off on his way to work, and I am almost always available to pick him up later at the end of his school day. By working from home, I am able to miss out on İstanbul’s nightmarish rush hour traffic. On the rare days that I am working away from home, I try to plan my schedule accordingly so that I am still able to miss the traffic and simply take a boat to the Asian side and walk home or to my son’s school.

However, in spite of no traffic hassles or office politics to deal with, there are some downsides to working from home as a freelancer. With no set salary, income levels vary throughout the year. This can be a major drawback when trying to work out the budget for school fees, rent and bills. In addition, my workload is in a constant state of flux. Some months are particularly busy for one type of work, while during other months my work is fairly light and manageable. There are times though when my schedule is packed so full that sleep suffers as I struggle to meet looming deadlines. It is during the times when I am juggling multiple projects, as well as family life, that I think fleetingly of how nice it would sometimes be to have a job that actually ends when you walk out of the door at the end of the day instead of one that needs to fit in around my family’s schedule.

For me, probably the biggest drawback to working from home is well-meaning friends. When they are off work for a holiday, or in between jobs, since I do not have set office hours, they call me and tempt me out for a cup of coffee or other impromptu social gathering. Even though I know I should be stricter with my own work schedule, I am too easily lured away from my hours spent toiling in front of the computer. In addition, there are my neighbors who have decided that since I am at home, I am also ready for company to drop by unannounced for a cup of tea, a snack and the chance to catch me up on the latest neighborhood gossip. These women are happy for an escape from housework, children and husbands underfoot all day, so once they come over, I know that for at least a couple hours I will not get any work done. None of my neighbors has worked outside of the home before, so to them, all work is done in an office. Therefore, in their minds, I too do not work and have time on my hands.

In spite of the distractions of friends, housework that needs to be attended to and family obligations, I would not willingly change my situation in regard to working from home. Many Turkish friends have told me that now they too want to find ways to work from home so that they no longer have to deal with commuting to the office, long work hours and limited time available to spend with their children. I suspect that they have a rather romantic idea of what it means to work from home. However, with a little planning and a strong will against temptations that will arise to do something much more fun than work, it is possible to be productive from a home office.