Work From Anywhere (WFA): The Best Solution for Working Moms
Working mom, a phrase that describes the dreams of many women. Being a working mom does not mean being free from the task of preparing breakfast for your children and husband and other trivial things about household matters. Before starting work, you have to prepare breakfast for other family members. Also cleaning up the house. Preparing children’s lunch before going to school. After work, you can not take a break right away, sometimes there is still some homework waiting to be done. So do not be surprised, if a working mom has to wake up early and sleep late in the family.
Working as well as being a mother is not easy because you have to be smart how to manage time between busy work in the office and carrying out roles in the household. Especially, if your husband has to move outside the region or abroad for a long period of time because his job. So when women choose to be working moms, especially when they have toddlers, it is not an easy decision. However, that is not the reason why many women want to stop being working moms and I am one of them.
Starting my career as a Data Analyst in a private TV company, gave me a little idea about the challenges of being a working mom. Even though I was not married yet at that time, it was enough to make my dream of becoming a working mom start to waver. I had to leave early in the morning to catch the bus so I would not get stuck in traffic jams from Bekasi to Kebon Jeruk. Likewise when I come home from office, even though I tried to go home early but still I will arrive home at night. It feels like 24 hours in one day is not enough for doing the activities in Jakarta.
Until Covid-19 came to hit the world and became the main cause of daily activities outside the home being limited. The hashtag of #DiRumahAja was became trending on social media. Even at home, employees obligations for work must still be carried out. One of them was my office at that time which enforced Work From Home (WFH) to prevent the spread of the Covid-19. Even though at that time I was still single, WFH was really interesting for me because there was no need to meet the congested commuter lines and the traffic jams of Jakarta every day.
It turns out that I am not alone, many employees like this new work habit. There is evident from the results of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) survey which showed that more than half of the respondents admitted that during WFH their productivity was better than working in the office. Even few employees are getting used to WFH. Based on a Dell Technologies survey, at least 8 out of 10 workers in Indonesia said they were ready for WFH habit in the long term. So in the midst of the many losses and sorrows over the Covid-19, but we can also find advantages behind it, namely the number of companies competing to implement WFH, even developing into Working From Anywhere (WFA), which means we can work from anywhere as long as there is a laptop and it is connected with an internet connection. Because of that, I am convinced to become a working mom. For that reason, I tried to collect some reasons why WFA is the best solution for women who want to be a working mom.
Flexibility of working hour
I think having flexible working hours is a dream of many people, especially working moms. Because they have time to do homework, accompany their children to study, and also they have enough time for ‘me time’ because I do not deny that all day at home sometimes makes us bored and needs ‘me time’. Having flexible working hours is also effective to increase work productivity because it is able to adjust to one’s productive hours. Also, for example, there is a parent-student meeting that must be attended at the child’s school, we can attend it without having to apply for annual leave.
Work and life balance
As I said before, working in Jakarta makes 24 hours in one day is not enough. Whether it is because of the hectic workload in the office or the traffic jams in Jakarta when going to or come back from office. So we have to leave early in the morning and come home late at night. Unlike the case with WFA, we can start work earlier because we do not have to be in traffic jams on the road. Or even during a break, we can take the time to take a nap or just do a little hobby. So, life feels more than just work, work, and work.
Saving more money from women needs
As a working mom who works from home, especially those who rarely do video meetings, all they need is a stable internet connection and a laptop. Unlike the case, if you have to go to the office, you need work clothes, shoes, bags, headscarves, and also make-up. Of course, this is an advantage for working moms to reallocate that budget to a saving pocket for the future.
So, as a working mom, WFA habit is the best way to work. Obviously, this not absolute for all women in the world because maybe for some women, they are more enjoy to go to the office.
