Last week while we were in the city for Macks’ doctor appointment Macks asked where MacKay was.
“He’s at work,” I exclaimed.
“Why aren’t you at work today?” Harlan chimed in.
“I’m lucky that I can do a lot of work from my phone. And the stuff I do need my computer for, I’ll just do at home tonight after you are asleep,” I replied.
“Because you don’t work in an office like daddy, you write on your computer about baby and toy stuff on A Mommy in the City,” she said confidently.
“Well I actually just re-named it to Sincerely, Lauren, but yes,” I answered back.
“Woah, it has your name in it now? That’s pretty cool,” she said excitedly.
I laughed as I told her that it is pretty cool to be able to have a website that I can name whatever I want and write about things that I enjoy.
She doesn’t fully grasp what I do, but she knows that I work on my computer from home. She sees the products come in, she hears me on conference calls with clients, and she knows that she gets to experience some pretty cool things thanks to my job.
I’d have to agree with her.
Six years ago I stepped out of the classroom and unexpectedly started a business from inside the living room of our apartment in New York City. Not only do I get to write about things that I love, but I also get to help businesses with their social media strategies and help them come up with some amazing campaigns. Getting paid to play on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook is a pretty great thing.
While there are great perks of the job, it’s hard work having to work for yourself. There’s trade-offs for sure. I never get a vacation or sick day, but I do get to work from anywhere that my heart desires.
On most days, that means that I’m working on my computer from somewhere in my house. While I have an office downstairs in our basement, that does leave it hard for me to watch the kids while I’m working. Often you’ll find me on a chair in our living room or sitting at the kitchen table, on the back porch while the kids run around in the backyard, or even in my car while I wait in the school parking lot.
One thing that I love about my job is that I don’t need much to do it. I can successfully do what I need to do with my computer, phone, camera, and the internet. The internet being one of the most important. Nothing gets published unless I have a way to connect. And living in an old house with walls that don’t let the wifi signal come through very easily can be catastrophic. I cannot tell you how many times I’ve been doing a live video on Facebook or in the middle of hosting a twitter party and my internet fails on me.
With good internet being the backbone of my business, I tried everything I could to fix it. I called our internet provider who brought a “better” router. That didn’t work. I tried to buy a device that was supposed to strengthen my wifi around the house. That didn’t work. I would even go as far as setting up my office in the hallway just to get good signal and watch the kids at the same time. It was pretty pathetic.
And then eero emailed me telling me about their home wifi system. After reading their pitch, I knew this was something that I needed in my life. And I needed it asap.
As we all know (and have experienced often,) one router is never good enough to cover the entire house with good wifi, no matter how small your house is (we had the same problem in our tiny NYC apartment.) It’s impossible (and expensive) to buy a router for each room in the house, so that’s where eero comes in.
Eero creates a wireless mesh network across your house by connecting to one another. Simply plug one eero device into your modem, and plug (into a standard outlet) the other ones into spaces in the house with poor wifi signal. Easily set them up on the eero app on your phone, and that’s it! All eeros connect to one another creating an amazing wifi network around your house that actually works.
Favorite Features of eero
Security: eero ensures you’re always secure with their state-of-the-art encryption. And best of all, is that it automatically updates so you don’t have to worry about it at all.
Stylish: eero isn’t an eyesore to display around your house. These small white boxes blend in perfectly with the decor of our home.
App: eero makes it simple to control because it can all be done on the eero app. From parental wifi controls, to sharing the network with friends, and even seeing download and upload speeds, it’s easy to manage from the palm of your hand.
We put an eero in our bedroom and in our basement and I can tell you with great enthusiasm that I’ve never been happier with our wifi signal. Even after a long day of playing with the kids and saving all of my work for when they are sleeping, I can sit in my bed with my computer and work without any issues at all. That’s the beauty of the power of a network that makes me happy to successfully work from home.
