Hi - I work at home for a company based 500 miles away. It's been very hard to focus on work since D-day, six months ago. It would be much easier now to work in an office surrounded by other people. I was almost ready to switch jobs, but there are some compelling reasons not to.<P><UL TYPE=SQUARE><BR><LI>The flexibility of working at home lets me provide a lot of domestic support and free time for my wife. We have three kids aged 5-10, and my wife does not have an outside job, but she's out 3 to 6 hours per day without the kids. She genuinely appreciates it. This is an important part of my plan A.<P><LI>I think it strengthens my position for joint custody of our kids, should it ever come to that.<BR></UL><P>Are there any other telecommuters out there? I can use any suggestions on how to compartmentalize better in this situation.<P>- Tom

What kind of work do you do? I would love to telecommute, but don't know how to get started.<P>I know this isn't exactly the information you wanted, but hey, had to ask. <P>Thanks,<BR>TIG

TIG,<P>The general field is engineering - specifically software development, consulting studies and writing some reports. I know some software companies that allow partial telecommuting, say 2 or 3 days per week, rest of the time in the office. I would probably be better off in that kind of situation right now.<P>I was recruited into this company by some people who already knew me. I visit the home office 1 week out of every 2 months. They have a few other remote telecommuters, but at least one did not work out and got fired before I signed on. I've read articles in the last couple months that some companies have turned sour on telecommuting. I've seen managers in this company wonder "what's he doing" about another telecommuter who fell behind on a software project. This is not easily measured piecework and nobody sees how much or how little effort I put in. That's always a worry about telecommuting.<P>- Tom

Tom,<P>I work from home. I can tell you that for a long time my job pretty much went into the toilet after D-Day, which was 11 months ago. I don't really know what advice to give since I'm still struggling through it.<P>I finally went to the doctor a few months ago and got put on anti-depressants. I'm also in therapy. It's helping, but slowly.<P>I'm not sure...maybe I need to change jobs too.<P>Sorry. I know this isn't the answer you were looking for. I'm kind of in the same boat you are.<P>-HD