Being Home: The Blessings and Challenges of Remote Work

It’s been exactly one week since I was let go from my job. As difficult as the moment was, the week that followed gave me something valuable. Time to reflect on the parts of my work that I truly appreciated.

One of the biggest blessings was the ability to start my mornings at home. Many dads I know are already out the door long before their kids wake up. It is amazing that I could share more time with them in the busyness of life. But if I’m honest, I’m not always good at being intentional with my family time.

Being home but not present

Any remote-working dad can probably relate. Being home doesn’t automatically mean being present for your family. There are days when I pour so much energy into my work and what needs to get done that I didn’t check in with my kids, help out around the house, or set aside focused time for them.

The challenge of good time management

When I got deep into a project, it was easy to slip into overtime without even noticing. Some days I would start at 6:30 in the morning and still be working at 5. Other days I’d realize I hadn’t taken a proper lunch break because I simply lost track of time.

Committee work didn’t help either. It meant even more screen time, and to my family, there was no clear difference between “work work” and “committee work.” If I was at my computer, I was working—that’s all they saw.

Seeing the blessings

Yet even with those challenges, working remotely was an incredible blessing. It allowed me to stay close to the people who matter most, to step in when I was needed, and to share parts of the day that many parents miss entirely. Being more or less in control of my schedule meant I could be part of the everyday life of my family in a way that traditional work often makes impossible.