Working From Home

在家工作For many, working from home is more efficient and saves money 對許多人而言，在家工作效率更好而且又節省開銷by Laura Casey (c) 2010, Contra Costa Times (Walnut C

With a rich Bologness sauce simmering in a pot in her kitchen - that's for tonight's dinner - Cheryl Haga starts her workday. But instead of hopping in her car and driving 40 minutes to her San Francisco office, Haga takes about 10 steps to her dining room table and fires up her laptop.

Working at home is a delicate balance between being productive on the job and avoiding distractions like that pile of laundry. It's all about organization, Haga says.

"I've created an action plan for myself, and I prioritize what I am doing each day. I estimate the time each general task is going to take. For example, it's going to take me five hours to get to all e-mails on Monday, " Haga says. She organizes her time in terms of priority and checks off each task once completed.

According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and private studies on the subject, a growing number of people are telecommuting, working from home one or several days a week.
"There are radiologists working at home in their pajamas reading X-rays. There are nurses taking calls at home from anxious mothers-to-be. There are a lot of industries going this way even in a wholesale way, not just ad hoc. a couple of days a week," says Kate Lister author of Undress for Success: The Naked Truth About Making Money at Home. She says about 2 percent of the American workforce currently telecommute some days a week.

Lister is a champion of working at home. She says if more companies would allow their employees to work at home just a couple days a week, the overall savings nationwide would amount to billions of dollars. She also says that individuals would save $2,000 to $7,000 per year, including a total of $15 billion at the gas pumps. Lister argues that workers appear to lead more balanced lives when they work at home. "It does take an amount of discipline. There is a settling-in period," Lister says. "But generally, when you get a routine down, you work more when you work at home."

Rachelle Goldenberg, a contract social worker, says setting up a home office dedicated to work was a necessity when she started working form her residence. She also created a routine to keep her motivated to work rather than goof off throughout the day.
"I set a specific time when I start working on projects in the morning. When 8 a.m. rolls around, I start to work," she says.

Goldenberg says working at home has been a necessity because she was laid off last year. But she says she has been rewarded with more time for her kids and a flexible schedule. That allows her to, for example, take a break to watch her son's swim meet and then work later in the evening. Goldenberg is also highly organized. She creates lists of tasks that need to be done and checks them off when complete.

Author Lister says the most successful at-home workers are systematic with their work. They have a home office and never routinely take care of children at home while trying to perform work tasks.

"There are so many remote workers doing so many different jobs today." she says.

Song of Encourage:
"Dare to dream"
Deep within you'll find your faith,
You will have no regrets
Step out from the shadows
And from behind the silhouette
Now you're glowing like the sun
Your life has just begun
Should you stumble, you won't fall
Just believe and have faith
In the one who sees it all
He'll never let you fall
If you just...

Dare to dream, dare to believe
You can soar so high beyond the clouds
Discovering where dreams are found
Dare to dream, dare to believe
God knows all that you can do
How far you go is up to Him and you

Dare to dream, dare to believe
This is your once in a lifetime
This is your moment
Your time to shine
Any dream is possible
Any star is reachable
Life is so incredible when you can dream
Life is so incredible when you can dream

Any star is reachable
When you can dream

More Information:
If you're considering using your computer to work from home, you'll have a much better chance of succeeding if you....
**** Have a supportive family
**** Don't have to care for young children during work hours.
**** Have a quiet, secluded area to work in.
**** Have strong communication skills.
**** Are a self-starter.
**** Have a strong work ethic.
**** Have good time management skills.
**** Are goal-oriented.
**** Are comfortable with technology.

Grammar Tips:
When 8 a.m. rolls around, I start to work...
to roll around -rolling around/ to roll around (move in circle)
*The pig likes to roll around in the mud.
"to roll around" - to happen again.
When summer rolls around, the school campus becomes a very quiet place.
When evening rolls around, bats come flying out of their cave looking for food.

Vocabulary Tips:
simmer- 小火燉煮, 小火煨煮cook with warm fire, not cook with big fire.也指" 蘊釀"
*Let the beef simmer for 40 minutes.
*The spaghetti sauce is simmering on the stove. 正在爐上燉煮
*The protest has been simmering for weeks. 抗議..醖釀了一個星期.
fire up something - 啓動,激發 start up something, could be a car, computer or a conversation. *He fired up his convertible and headed to the beach.
*Jack is all fire up about this new project.
priority (n)-優先
*Katherine's first priority is to finish her schooling.
prioritize (v) -按優先次序排列(排出表來),排列出優先次序, make a list, put the most importance thing, urgent to be done on the first of the list.
*Frank's job involves many duties, so he's learning how to prioritize them.
Bologness - Italy cousin
delicate- refer to very fragile, soft thing, easy to break it. something need to be done with extra careful.
distraction- something is easy to take your attention away from what you are doing.
U.S Bureau: is a government department in USA, the job in US Bureau is collect all people who live in USA's for number of family, job, economy etc. information. Done it by every 10 years.
telecommuting - not traveling a distance to work through computer, electronic, WFH (work from home)
tele- over a distance, such as telephone, television, telegraph..
commuting - from home to work and back home.
wholesale-(n) 批發的，批發（價格）, (adj)-此指大盅的，大批的，大幅度的，全面性的，大規模的。
*The wholesale price of this TV is only $350.
*The wholesale changes in the management caused many confusion.在管理方面大幅度德量力更變造成。。。
*The bombing caused wholesale destruction of the city. 炸彈轟炸造成這城市全面性的摧毀。（毀壞）
champion - (n)冠軍。 (v) 對某事物的支持或提倡。
*Sherry is a champion of home-schooling. 支持留在家裏受教育。
*Lindsey has long been a champion of equal rights for the disabled. 長久以來擁護。。權益。
discipline -紀律，自我控制能力。自制力。
*The class needs better discipline for the students to excel. 需要更好的紀律，。才能突破。
*Ricky lacks discipline. He seldom shows up at work on time. 缺乏自制力， 很少準時上班。
radiologist- person specialize in radiology, able to read the Xray.
ad hoc -only one thing, one single thing.
workforce - is a large of group people who are working. A company or a country has their own work force.
lay someone off - company cut workforce to save money. 裁員
residence - 住所，住宅reside (v)- 居住
*The Peterson's residence is undergoing some remodeling now.
*The governor's residence is located near the state capitol.
goof off -偷懶，混日子，"goof"- 閑晃 take easy, play around wasting time.
*The boy has been goofing off the whole weekend and didn't finish any homework.
*Becky and her classmate goofed off and went for a movie.
systematic-有條有理，有條理的，有系統化的 system - 系統
*The article is a systematic introduction to the issue of global warming.
Hank is systematic in his job.

Chat Room:
productive -有生産力的，多產的，用在“人”身上是“很有效率的，工作事半功倍。
conducive -good for... 對。。。有幫助，有助於。
conducive to studying -有助於學習。
Smoking is never conducive to one's health.
Is that conducive for your health? -is it good for your health?
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the necessities of life -生活中必需的（東西）．
necessities (n)-必需的，必要的，須要的．重音在第二節． necessary － 必要的
necessary evil- 指＂不喜歡做的但是又必須做的＂，如：報稅，清洗浴室或做整潔等．
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HBWM = Home Base Work Mom. - working from home, 在家工作的母親
SAHM = Stay At Home Mom - mainly is staying home and take care of children. may or may not work. 主要是在家照顧小孩子的母親.
Housewife -married female, not employee outside the home, mainly stay at home to take care of children, family and also keep the house nice and clean, a 24/7 job, is a hardest job around. To some woman, "Housewife" the "title" has a negative feeling of lack of the working ability and knowledge. But to some woman, they take it seriously and proud of being a "housewife" , so be carefully when you use this word "housewife". 賢内助,不上班,但是從早到晚忙孩子,忙家務,在家為家人忙吃忙喝, 洗衣燒飯把家弄得整整齊齊,乾乾淨淨, 讓家人無後顧之憂, 在家工作24小時一天,一周7天,一年365天,沒日沒夜的太太.

My point of view:
Housewife:
Actual, not a lot of woman doesn't like to be a "housewife" , nowadays, one income is not enough to satisfy a family need, so wife have to go out to work hard.
Another thing is most of man are not appreciated their wife to be a good housewife. I see many men despise their wives being stay home, they don't support their wives, they don't bring money home on time, they don't hand money to wife before wife ask.
Next, most of woman go out to work, they don't want to be humiliated by their husband, many wife feel shame each time when they ask husband for household living, get their husband's insult look or words.
Another reason, woman work outside, is to show their abilities and gaining back self-esteem, some husbands, they are so stingy with their wives but spend money generously when they go out seeking their own pleasure.