Discovering the work-life balance of the outsourced paraplanner

Am I good enough?  Will I be able to cope with working from home? Will I be able to adapt to outsourcing? Will my new colleagues like me? Will I like them?

But the move’s been been nothing but positive for me.

In terms of work-life: I’ve found the transition to working from home a breeze. I honestly don’t know why I didn’t do it years ago.

And, although The Paraplanners’ team is dispersed across the UK, I’ve never felt alone. Someone from the team is always on hand to talk to – whether that’s for a technical question, to sound-off or just to say ‘Hi’.

I have also noticed a difference in the way I work compared to previous in-house paraplanner roles.

I’m much more disciplined and organised in planning and executing tasks – an area where, if I am honest, I worried I might struggle. But the software, hardware and processes that The Paraplanners have in place makes workflow simple. They have to be though: We’re busy all of the time and it is vital that we meet our deadlines.

I’ve been encouraged to maintain my involvement in both the national and local paraplanning community too. For instance, I helped to organise last Thursday’s Powwow North of the Border – the first mini-Powwow to be held in Scotland.

As for home life: The spare bedroom is now stuffed with a big desk and more screens than the Starship Enterprise. I’m hatching a plan for a ’man-cave’/office in the garden though – complete with flat screen TV for when Wimbledon is on.

An unexpected bonus, and my wife’s personal favourite, is that I am available to accept Amazon deliveries.

And a downside? I have to regulate the number of trips to the fridge.

Best of all, I no longer have to wrestle with the hour-and-fifteen-minute commute to Edinburgh, which means I can spend more time with the family and sit down to dinner at a reasonable hour.

And who knows? Perhaps the money I’ll save from no longer commuting means I’ll be able to afford that man-cave sooner rather than later?