Games?  Magazines?  Rest?  Who needs them?  When you’re a telecommuter, you’ve got a lot of (extra) work to do!

1. Neighborhood Watch
You will after all, be appointed a part of the unofficial “neighborhood watch” for your block – much like the seniors who sit on their front porches and doze – once your neighbors discover that you don’t “go to work” everyday.

 

Digg this

 

2. UPS/FedEx Delivery Receiver   
For some reason, delivery services almost always deliver to home addresses during the regular working day.  But you’ll be home, won’t you?  So you can sign for your neighbor’s 20 boxes of catalogue shopping and store them until someone can pick them up.

 

3. Delivery Driver
You are in a perfect position to fetch something for someone.  After all, you are where they are not, and your time is “flexible”.  Example: On your way to location A, drop by location B first to pick-up and deliver item X.  Or (worse yet), you are not on your way to anywhere, but if you could be so kind as to deliver item X, that would be much appreciated.

 

4. Phone Buddy
Your friends who are students, or who work the 3rd shift, or are on vacation will call you during the workday or IM you constantly.  Why not?  Your boss will never know.

 

5. Dog-walker/Baby-sitter
There’s no good reason the dog shouldn’t be exercised/entertained since you’re at home all day.  Four walks a day should be fine.  The dog thinks so too.  As for the baby, it goes like this: “Can you just watch the baby for an hour or two.  It’ll be no problem; he will be asleep the whole time.  You just can’t go anywhere or make any noise.  Oh, and if he does get up he’ll be hungry.”

 

6. Tortuous-Calls Maker (Secretary)
So-and-so can’t tie up the line at work for a long call, or is on the road, but urgently needs information from the credit card company/insurance provider/Dept of Motor Vehicles, etc.  But you, you have plenty of time to kill listening to muzak and conversing with digital assistants.  And you also take notes.

 

7. Personal Shopper
The question is: “Can you look this up for me?  I shouldn’t be surfing the web at work for shoes, but I gotta know – is $300 for running shoes a good deal?  Do you like the red stripe on the sole?”

 

8. “Off-hours” Shopper
Everyone knows the best time to buy groceries is on Tuesday at 10am.  You can go then, and save everyone else from suffering the long lines.  It’s the least you could do, as you work from home and basically get to do whatever you want.

 

9. Homemaker
There’s no way working from home could be tiring; to hear others talk, at the end of the day you’re absolutely glowing.  A question for you from your partner, returning from work at the office: “Could you put on dinner?  And I’d like to eat early, I’m beat.”  Here’s another: “Why is this house still a mess?”

 

10. Slacker
You don’t really work.  You simply stare into space until everyone else comes home.  You’re likely to hear: “What’d you do all day? You’re still in the same place you were this morning!”