The home office diaries: Triumphs and traps of working from home

For Shirleen Muthoni, a 30-year-old visual assistant and mother of twins, the past three years have been nothing short of transformative.  

At just 27, when she learned she was expecting twins, the thought of navigating both the demands of her corporate job and motherhood loomed like a dark cloud. 

“I still remember the shocked look I exchanged with my husband during that prenatal hospital visit,” Muthoni said.

For years in the corporate world, she had lived by the clock. Up at six, out the door before the city had fully stretched awake, she would often be back home long after the sun had set.

Twelve-hour days were not the exception- they were the rule. Ambition was her fuel and every late night at the office felt like one more step on the career ladder she was determined to climb.

Her life was the textbook corporate hustle- relentless, disciplined and always chasing the next promotion.

During her pregnancy, she thought she was ready. She had told herself she could handle the sleepless nights, the feedings and still find her way back to the career she had worked so hard to build.

However, when the doctor informed her that she was expecting twins, her confidence cracked.

Suddenly, the math of her days no longer added up. One baby meant long nights, two meant no nights at all. Bath time would blur into diaper changes, breastfeeding into exhaustion and the idea of returning to work felt like a distant dream.

“Just as expected, I had no moment of rest after giving birth. My twins, being colic, did not alleviate my predicament,” Muthoni said.

Stepping back into the office felt less like a return and more like walking into a storm. Her desk, piled high with files, became a mountain she could barely scale on fumes of broken sleep.

In the middle of high-stakes meetings, the discreet buzz of her breast pump was a cruel reminder that her body was on a schedule her job did not understand.

Every decision, every report, every boardroom conversation dragged against the heavy pull of two wailing infants waiting at home.

Even in the sterile silence of corporate halls, she was haunted- a mother split in two, fighting to hold both worlds together as they threatened to tear her apart.

“After every three hours, I would rush to the washroom and call my house manager who was taking care of the twins at home- she must have thought I was a weirdo for how emotional I was,” Muthoni explained.

The final straw came when her company turned down her request to work from home, a benefit others enjoyed, but she was denied.

That ‘no’ was more than an answer; it was a wake-up call. She realised that if she wanted to keep her sanity, she would have to rewrite the rules herself.

With guidance from her husband’s best friend, a seasoned online worker, she dove headfirst into a world she knew nothing about.

And in true Shirleen fashion, what began as survival quickly became conquest. Within no time, she was not just adapting to online work, she was thriving in it.

“At the time, people around me thought that leaving a high-paying corporate job for an unpredictable online job was a misstep,” Muthoni said.

“However, after three years of thriving in my online work, I am happy that I made the decision to work from home- motherhood has even become more manageable,” Muthoni added.

In Juja, Bob Masila, a 26-year-old tutor, tells a story that echoes Muthoni’s- working from home did not just help, it saved him.

Fresh out of university, he landed a job within four months, a stroke of luck that felt like winning the jackpot.

For a young man fueled by the ambition of becoming a tutor, it was the dream he had chased for years, finally taking shape. 

“Even though my friends did not understand why I wanted to become a teacher, being a child to parents stirred my passion for it from a young age,” Masila said.

By his third year of teaching, life seemed steady for him until everything changed in a single, devastating moment.

What began as a carefree weekend with friends took a brutal turn on the road to a ‘boys trip’ in Naivasha.

Riding his motorbike, he never saw it coming. A matatu swerved out of nowhere, colliding with him and shattering life as he knew it in an instant.

“Within the blink of an eye, the trajectory of my life drastically changed- I had a gut feeling that the pool of blood I lay in was a sure sign of me fatally injuring my legs,” Masila said.

The words hit harder than the accident itself. The doctor’s verdict was final- his legs would have to be amputated.

In that moment, it was not just flesh and bone he was losing, but the future he had fought so hard to build.

The classroom he once commanded, alive with the laughter and energy of children, now felt impossibly out of reach. 

“The true wound was deeper than the surgery- it was the shattering of a dream of leaving my mark as an educator,” Masila said.

Just as the weight of depression threatened to pull him under, a glimmer of hope found him in the most unexpected place- a YouTube advert.

What seemed like ordinary scrolling turned into a revelation- teaching did not have to be tied to a classroom. With every click and late-night search on online tutoring, possibility began to replace despair.

Sparked by this new vision, Masila rose from the brink with fresh resolve. If the classroom doors had closed, he would build new ones online, and he was determined to walk through them with purpose.

“It has been a blissful year of online tutoring- being an amputee does not limit me from being an English tutor for Asian students,” Masila remarked.

Working from home may sound like a dream, but for some, it can quickly unravel into a nightmare.

In Kahawa West, accountant and new mother Diana Mueni recalls how her remote work experience nearly broke her.

Fresh from maternity leave with a one-year-old in her arms, the company’s gesture to let her work from home was meant to ease her transition into motherhood. Instead, it became the most chaotic, tumultuous chapter of her career.

“I was initially excited by the possibility of working from home particularly because I had already been anticipating ‘mom guilt’ the moment I returned to work after my maternity leave,” Mueni detailed.

It did not take long for her to realise that working from home was anything but the smooth transition she had imagined. Within weeks of her maternity leave ending, her days turned into a blur of diaper changes colliding with Zoom meetings.

One moment she was crunching numbers, the next she was soothing cries. It was a nonstop uphill battle that left her torn between being present for her baby and keeping up with her career.

“I was either too focused on my child or too focused on my work- finding a middle ground was both cumbersome and exhausting,” Mueni expressed.

After four grueling months of trying to make it work, Diana reached her breaking point. The stress was no longer just seeping into her days, it was consuming her work and her peace of mind.

With clarity born out of exhaustion, she made the call- the home office had to go. Trading the chaos of remote work for the structure of the office, she chose sanity over struggle.

“Though I had tried to be Superwoman in my home, multitasking work and taking care of my child was too much for me to handle,” Munei stated.

Speaking from Kilimani, Joe Kiragu, a graphic designer aged 25, admitted that two years ago, he realized that working from home is also not his cup of tea. Even though he has a passion for his job, the days he tried working from home were very unproductive.

A project that would take him two hours to complete at the office would end up taking him half the day. Urgent work messages sent would take him an hour to reply. With no supervision, he would find himself binging Netflix episodes the whole day.

“After two weeks of working from home, my boss and I agreed that working from the office was more optimal for me,” Kiragu comically stated.

Working from home is anything but one-size-fits-all. For some, it is the golden ticket- a chance to trade long commutes for cozy mornings, to blend family life with career and carve out freedom in a rigid world.

For others, it is a slow-burn nightmare- deadlines derailed by distractions and loneliness creeping in without office chatter.

According to Mirriam Ngatia, a career advisor, navigating working from home requires discipline and dedication.

Firstly, create a dedicated workspace. Ensure you have a comfortable and ergonomic setup to avoid physical strain.

Equip your workspace with everything you need to work effectively, such as a good internet connection, necessary software and any other equipment.

“Find a quiet space, preferably a separate room, where you can minimize distractions,” Ngatia advised.

Establishing a routine is also important. Maintain your usual wake-up time and sleep schedule to regulate your body clock. Create a schedule that includes designated work hours, break times and an end-of-day routine.

“Get dressed for work, even if you're not going into an office, to help mentally prepare for the workday,” Ngatia said.

Distractions are often the silent saboteur for working from home. Minimize interruptions from family members or housemates by setting clear boundaries. Turn off social media notifications and other potentially distracting apps while working.

“Consider using website blockers or productivity apps to limit access to time-wasting websites,” Ngatia reiterated.

Ultimately, success does not lie in the location of the desk but in the discipline, structure, and support that shape the workday.