Karen Karabinos, an associate attorney at Drew Eckl & Farnham, began teleworking over a decade ago and continues to reap the benefits of more family time by working from her home office four days a week and setting her own hours.

It used to be that parents had to give up time spent with their kids to make the daily commute to work. In these cases, child and parent each sacrificed their time together. But improved technology and “greener” habits have prompted some parents to leverage their teleworking options so the whole family benefits.

Teleworking is a critical part of Karen’s effort to provide balance to her fast-paced work life. Teleworking has made all the difference in enabling Karen to have a supportive role in her children’s development. Rather than driving a 60 mile round trip daily commute, Karen is making smarter use of her time.

“Teleworking lets me spend time with my children both during the school year and during the summer,” she said. “I found that my children need one of the parents home in the afternoon after school. This is when events at school are fresh in their minds and they want to talk about their day - good, bad or indifferent.”

The benefits are also apparent to her children. According to John Karabinos, a student at Northview High School in Duluth, having his mom at home in the afternoons is the best part about her teleworking. John – who was four when his mother began teleworking – is pleased to have his mom at home when he arrives there from school or when he needs a ride to an activity.

Karen also says that teleworking reduces the stress in her family. After she started teleworking, she noticed that her children were never worried about who was going to pick them up from school or what would happen if their parents were running late.

She says teleworking four days a week makes her household run smoother, and therefore, her work load runs smoother. Karen is more productive at home, working on her own schedule. And, of course, she is saving hundreds of dollars every month on gas.

If you are looking for more family time, better work/life balance and ways to reduce the stress of your commute, consider teleworking, Even if you only telework once a week, you can slash your commute costs by 20 percent. The Clean Air Campaign offers tips for starting a conversation with your boss about teleworking and provides all the tools needed to launch a successful telework program. So join Atlanta’s 500,000 teleworkers and reduce your pollute by eliminating your daily commute.