I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I work from home, full-time, for a well known US company. And while I consider myself lucky in the grander scheme, it's been 3 years and it is starting to get to me. It's a situation where I'm not quite sure what to do next. But let me give you some back story and then we can talk about the future.

The Setup

I'd been in NYC for a few years doing a job a largely enjoyed with a great group of people. Things were going well enough...not great...but nothing terrible. Lifestyle was good. Commute was good. Food was good. Financially things were moving in the right direction with the exception of one expense: heating oil bill. Being from a warmer climate, I was not happy with this. Adding this expense to my already high rent and I was basically living a little above paycheck to paycheck. I had enough to have a little fun but not enough that I was going on any package vacations. Again, not great, but not terrible.

Then tragedy hits. Mom died. Luckily I was able to say goodbye beforehand. And now my aging father is on his own. How will he handle everything? You see, my parents were fortunate in their empty nest years. They were able to put some money away and had fortunately sold their house, the one I grew up in, at the height of the housing market. It was a nice retirement windfall for them and they decided they wanted a place in the country and a place near the beach. So they found a mobile home near the beach and bought it. Then they found another in the country and bought it. Although Dad doesn't like the term mobile home. "They're manufactured homes now that the wheels are off". Each house was nice (despite your potential mental image) and they were happy in their retirement shuttling every few days the hour each way back and forth on a whim. Mom really enjoyed the country for gardening while Dad seemed to enjoy the beach a little bit more. With Mom gone, Dad makes an offer.

The Offer

It was a few months after Mom died. Dad sends and email. "I'm not using the country house and I don't want to sell it just yet. Why don't you come down and take care of the place for me." hmmm. Being a remote country place, it really could use someone there. There was also the generations of stuff that had collected that now needed sorting out. And Dad wasn't getting any younger so being close is probably a good idea. There certainly were a lot of pros on the list. There was one huge con though: no work. It's the country after all. There isn't any work for a guy like me without an hour plus each way car commute involved. I gave it a good, long think. In the end, family is more important and I had some savings to make it work for a while. Maybe I could get work at home thing? I've heard people do that.

The Ask

Having made my decision, it was time to give notice at work. The corporate landscape was changing and people were leaving on a weekly basis. Not because they wanted to, but because there just wouldn't be a place for them in the future with the decisions being made. Some of us were going to stick it out and see if we could transition into other roles. That was me. At least until The Offer. So I went to my (new) boss and told him the situation. I felt obligated to go help my dad and it didn't seem like I would be needed past the end of year anyway. My boss was completely understanding and then asked if maybe I would stay on until year's end and remotely help tie up things. Win!

The Result

The move went fine and I was setup and working from home. Everyone at work was super cool about the situation and it was almost like I never left. The end of the year came and the proposed changes hadn't quite been fully implemented. Could I stay on a bit longer? Sure thing! Then more work started to come my way. Then more. Eventually I was completely transitioned into a new set of responsibilities. These weren't temporary either. It's now been 3 years I've been working from home. I even got back to NYC on a few occasions. So yeah, it's been pretty great. There are so many obvious benefits from working from home. Though there are also some downsides that require discipline to overcome. The big one that comes to mind is setting and keeping normal working hours. When your office is in your home, it's really easy to just keep working. Or thinking "I'll just check that one thing real quick". It's a worm hole that you easily slide into when you don't have to physically go to the office. I slip in and out of that wormhole more than I like. I can often go days without leaving the house or even stepping outside. (I'm trying to stay cognizant of this though.)

The Future

I've now been working from home longer than I was in the office for this company. The corporate landscape is changing again so there is a lot of upheaval, confusion and disarray. I don't personally feel at risk but I am started to wonder if this is still right for me. I feel stupid and somewhat unappreciative of the gift I have and I can't figure out why. Everyone tells me how lucky I am and of course I know it. So what am I going through here? I don't long for the commute or distractions an office brings. I still like the work though I find myself rolling eyes and sighing about things a lot more than I used. It's a funk, a rut, a trough.

So what is this? Anyone else have a similar experience? Any suggestions on getting on an up cycle?