Breakdown of Desde que hago teletrabajo, organizo un pequeño despacho en casa con horario flexible.
Questions & Answers about Desde que hago teletrabajo, organizo un pequeño despacho en casa con horario flexible.
In this sentence teletrabajo is a noun, not a verb. Literally, hago teletrabajo is “I do telework / I do remote work.”
In standard Spanish (especially in Spain):
- teletrabajo = noun (“remote work”, “telework”)
- The usual verb is teletrabajar (“to work remotely”)
So you could also say:
- Desde que teletrabajo, organizo un pequeño despacho…
That is perfectly correct and very common. Using hacer + noun of activity is also very normal in Spanish, e.g.:
- Hago deporte = I do sports / I exercise
- Hago yoga = I do yoga
So hago teletrabajo fits that pattern: I do (remote) work. Both hago teletrabajo and teletrabajo (as a verb) are acceptable, with the verb sounding a bit more direct and modern.
With desde que meaning “since (the time when)”, Spanish often uses the present tense when:
- The action started in the past, and
- It still continues now.
So:
- Desde que hago teletrabajo…
= “Since I (have been) working from home…”
This is similar to English present perfect continuous, but Spanish just uses the present to express that ongoing situation. Other examples:
- Desde que vivo en Madrid, salgo más por la noche.
(Since I’ve been living in Madrid, I go out more at night.)
If you want to emphasize the starting point, you can use a past tense:
- Desde que empecé a hacer teletrabajo, organizo…
(Since I started working from home, I organize…)
But when the focus is on a state that still holds now, present after “desde que” is very natural.
Organizo (present) here describes a habitual / regular action, not a completed one-time action.
- Desde que hago teletrabajo, organizo un pequeño despacho en casa con horario flexible.
= “Since I started working from home, I (now) keep a small home office with flexible hours / I arrange it this way.”
It suggests an ongoing way of organizing/using that space, not “I organized it once and it’s done.”
If you wanted to stress a one-time change, you could use the present perfect:
- Desde que hago teletrabajo, he organizado un pequeño despacho en casa.
(Since I started working from home, I’ve set up a small office at home.)
So:
- organizo → regular / current habit
- he organizado → completed action with present result
In Spain:
- despacho usually means a private office / study (a room used to work in), especially at home or a personal office.
- oficina is more like a workplace office in a company, often shared or in a business context.
So in this sentence:
- un pequeño despacho en casa = a small home office / study (a room or corner for working).
desk in Spanish is escritorio, not despacho.
You could say una pequeña oficina en casa, but for a room in your home where you work, despacho is more natural in Spain.
Both are grammatically correct, but the position of the adjective often changes the nuance:
un pequeño despacho (adjective before the noun)
- More common, more idiomatic here.
- “Small” is a somewhat subjective, descriptive or background quality.
un despacho pequeño (adjective after the noun)
- Feels a bit more literal / contrastive, like “a desk that is small (as opposed to big)”.
With frequent adjectives like pequeño, grande, bueno, malo, putting them before the noun is very usual when they’re not being strongly contrasted:
- una buena idea, un gran amigo, una pequeña casa.
So un pequeño despacho sounds smooth and natural; un despacho pequeño is also correct, just slightly different in emphasis.
In Spanish, when you talk about your own home in a general sense, you usually drop the article:
- en casa = at home
- a casa = (to) home
- estoy en casa = I’m at home
If you say en la casa, it usually means “in the house” as a specific building, not necessarily your home, or you’re pointing to a concrete physical house:
- Hay mucho ruido en la casa de al lado. (There is a lot of noise in the house next door.)
In this sentence, the idea is “at home” in general, so en casa is the natural choice.
Grammatically, con horario flexible is attached to the whole situation, but by position it most directly follows un pequeño despacho en casa, so it can feel like:
- “a small home office with flexible hours.”
In practice, Spanish speakers will understand it as:
- “Since I’ve been working from home, I have a small home office and I work with flexible hours.”
If you want to avoid any hint of ambiguity and clearly show it’s your working schedule that is flexible, you could say:
- …en casa, con un horario flexible.
- …en casa y tengo un horario flexible.
But as written, most people will interpret it as “I work from a small home office and I have flexible hours.”
Both are possible, with a small nuance:
con horario flexible
- More general/typical: “with flexible hours” as a type of schedule.
- Sounds like describing a feature of the arrangement.
con un horario flexible
- A bit more specific or individualized: “with a (certain) flexible schedule.”
- Slightly more concrete.
In many cases, Spanish drops the article when talking about characteristics in a general way:
- trabajo a jornada completa (I work full-time)
- con contrato fijo (with a permanent contract)
So con horario flexible as a generic characteristic is very natural.
You can say Desde que estoy haciendo teletrabajo, but it sounds unusual or overly specific in this context.
Spanish uses the present simple much more than English for:
- habits,
- long-lasting situations,
- ongoing states.
So:
- Desde que hago teletrabajo…
is the normal, neutral way to say
“Since I’ve been working from home…”
Desde que estoy haciendo teletrabajo would sound like you’re focusing on a temporary, marked period (for example, a short project or a trial period), and even then most speakers would still prefer the simple present: Desde que hago teletrabajo.
Yes, the comma is standard and recommended.
- Desde que hago teletrabajo is a subordinate clause (a dependent clause of time).
- organizo un pequeño despacho… is the main clause.
In Spanish writing, it’s normal to separate an initial subordinate clause from the main clause with a comma:
- Cuando tengo tiempo, leo mucho.
- Si hace buen tiempo, vamos a la playa.
So Desde que hago teletrabajo, organizo… follows that rule. Without the comma it’s not “wrong” in casual writing, but the comma is preferred.
Yes, there are several very natural alternatives in Spain:
Desde que trabajo desde casa, organizo un pequeño despacho…
(Since I’ve been working from home…)Desde que trabajo en remoto, organizo…
(Since I’ve been working remotely…)Desde que teletrabajo, organizo…
(Using teletrabajo as a verb.)
All of these are idiomatic in Spain.
- trabajar desde casa and teletrabajar are especially common in everyday speech.
- trabajar en remoto is also widely used, slightly more “tech/office” style.
The original hago teletrabajo is fine, but many speakers would simply say teletrabajo or trabajo desde casa.