Gabrielle Edits

Right now as I type this, I’m wearing black sweatpants and a faded X-Files t-shirt I’ve had since 1996. It’s a little cool here today, so in a while I might put on a pair of black and pink striped socks. I showered and washed my hair this morning, then ran a brush through it and let it air-dry into the random soft ringlets and waves it likes to make. And… makeup? What’s that?

Technological advances have made telecommuting possible. Working from home is a commuter’s dream. No queues, no crowds, no traffic, no weather. Many days, I’d be slipping up the stairs of the bus at 6 a.m. and squishing into my seat, staring out at the rain or slush and envying those friends who were snug and warm in their own home offices, with their own hot cocoa, sleeping in until 8:50 and padding across the hall in their bunny slippers at 9:00.

If you ask any random person what the biggest draw of working at home is, they’ll likely give you the same answer: Going to work in your pajamas. (Okay, some of them might say “underwear”. Personally, I live in a place where it’s not that warm, and I like to have a window open. Let’s not scare the neighbors: Pajamas, it is.)

One of those same advances that make telecommuting happen, though, also seems to threaten to undermine the very spirit of it.

I’m talking about videoconferencing.

Bunny slippers and messy hair may be the hallmarks of the telecommuter, the freelancer, the work-at-home professional. But don’t get me wrong, I clean up every bit as nicely as the next girl.

Freelancers are still professionals. There’s a time for wearing pajamas and shuffling across the hall to tackle edits, but there’s also a time for looking like the professional that I am.

With a little advance warning, I can do my hair and dig out some eyeliner. I can adjust my laptop’s built-in webcam and my room lighting, get frustrated and run back to the bathroom to put on foundation and do my makeup again. I can make sure that my big-name reference materials and my own clients’ books are featured front and center on the tidy shelves behind me.

I have colleagues in four countries, but I have yet to work with anyone in my own timezone. Phone and video chats are the closest things I have to meetings with my clients. I think there’s a definite benefit to being able to see the nuances of the people I’m conversing with. It adds a face, literally, to the transaction.

Videoconference may feel like the enemy. It may feel like a threat to the freelancer way of life.

It isn’t.

A videoconference is your chance to show your client that you are that professional they hired. It’s another tool in your professional arsenal, and if the opportunity comes up, don’t be afraid of it. Use it to your full advantage.

(And you can still wear your bunny slippers. I won’t tell!)