Work from Home: Pros & Cons

Though most companies give a lot of flexibility to their employees, there are many who feel they end up spending a lot more time in office.

With times getting harder for business, this is definitely not going to change soon.

Employees are working more hours now than they have in the past, and it’s definitely impacting their health, happiness, and even productivity.

While some of the top organizations in the world are flexible about their working hours, there are still millions of employees around the world who wish they had more control over their working hours.

That is why many chose to venture out on their own, with internet based businesses being the more popular type (which can be operated from home).

Lets take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of working from home. Lets begin with the disadvantages first.

Disadvantages of Regular Job

Here are some things that make taking up a regular office job so boring and frustrating:

• Every day commute to & from work is waste of time
• Boredom at work
• Mismatch of skills and pay
• Office Politics, No recognition of your work
• No time for family

More Time for Yourself

I could go on and on but for somebody who wants to spend more time with family, or wish to take a break from office work, working from home does offer you many advantages.

With a few hours of work every day, you can expect to get paid decently and gives you all the time to do things that you always wanted to do.

And the best part is “You are your own Boss”.

More Benefits of Working from Home

Online business has become huge in the relatively short time that the Internet has been around. People in their thirties and late twenties can easily remember a time when the Internet existed only in the minds and laboratories of technological wizards, and computers were firmly rooted in the one place “both figuratively and literally”.

Now with the advent of laptop computers and WiFi technology, you can surf the Internet just about anywhere – even on a cell phone. The importance of the Internet to business has risen exponentially in recent years as a result of this.

If your business is online, it opens up a whole new world to you – almost literally. At one point unless your business was a specific import-export business you could trade only in your home country or near neighbors, even in some cases only in your home town. But with the advent of the Internet and the ready availability of mail order, a small shop in a small town can without batting an eyelid sell to a customer thousands of miles away. That’s progress for you. And you can use it to your advantage. Having such a broad reach the businessman can set up a customer base that is colossally larger than it previously would have been.

As most home computers are now linked up, it puts you right in the path of millions of potential customers.

Working from Home Disadvantages

Some things to be aware of if you decide to go on your own. Remember not everything is hunky and dory as it looks…

Working from Home has many positives, but only once you succeed which could take some time. So if you are keen to jump on the Wahm (Working at Home Mom) bandwagon, just take a while to go through the drawbacks as well.

Remember that some of you will be naturally inclined towards work at home kind of environment, whereas others may find the transition more difficult to make.

 

Success Depends on Current Profession
If your job involves sales or administrative tasks, or if you are into a creative job like design and writing, then the transition is easier.

If you are in the medical field or are a police officer, then it will be a challenge for you considering that you will have to change careers completely.

Difficult to Work when Kids are at Home
If you have young children, it may be difficult to work when they are awake, especially if they don’t go to school.

It may be difficult to work when they are awake. This means lots of late nights to get your projects done when they are sleeping.

You Need to Be Really Self Motivated
To be able to work from home successfully, you need to be self-motivated and disciplined in order to get your work done on time.

If you are the type of person that is motivated by outside factors (such as a supervisor), then working at home may not be your cup of tea.

Can be Lonely
Working at home can make you feel very lonely and withdrawn, especially if you are prone to being depressed. You will need to take steps to combat loneliness, if you want to succeed at working from home.

How to Maintain Your Social Life While Working At Home

If you’ve recently started working from home, then probably you may have not experienced this but working from home can make you aloof.

Though you do get the flexibility, there are some disadvantages when you are on your own. You cannot share your ideas with a lot of people, there won’t be many around you to have a laugh, and so on.

So you need to think how to combat the loneliness that can creep in occasionally.

Have a Plan for the Day
We all do this in a regular job and have been taught to plan in advance, but this is even more important when you work from home, so that there is no chance for boredom to creep in.

It is very important to try and establish a structure to your day when you work at home. And it is even more important to load yourself with lots of work, and to accomplish them. I’m sure you should not mind working hard for your own self.

Connect with Adults
You may not realize it, but when working from home, your conversation will be limited to your spouse and your children.

Somewhere down the line you’ll surely miss having conversation with adults. So catch-up with your buddies frequently, and do step out of the house.

It makes sense to join some group or attend seminars related to your line of work. More than connecting with people, this will also help you to share your successes and get some suggestions for your problems.

Go and Workout
Joining a gym is a good idea; it’s a good place to talk to other people. If you want to make some friends, try going at a fixed time every day so that you will see them often.

Take Regular Breaks
Irrespective of whether you join a gym or not, it’s a good practice to take frequent breaks, maybe every one hour for around 10 minutes. Even if you can’t stick to that, try getting up from your seat at every possible opportunity, or as frequently as you can!

Studies have shown that sitting at one place for longer hours is bad for your health, so keep that in mind.

Arrange Picnics / Get-Together
It is better to socialize offline, than to constantly stay in the online world. Using blogs and forums for your work related thing is okay, but it is more fun to meet people and have some adult interaction.

Don’t wait for people to approach you, do the other way round. Call up friends and invite them for a movie, lunch, picnic, or just for catching-up over the weekend.

Just because you’re operating from home doesn’t mean you’ve to stop interacting with the world. You may not do it intentionally but after having worked in a regular office for long, working from home can put you in some sort of isolation. The above are some terrific ideas to network and to make contacts, so that you can share ideas and also keep updated with the latest happenings, in addition to juggling your home business and a family.

There is a Learning Curve When You’re On Your Own

Being able to work from home is a dream for many, but then you need to work to achieve it.

Though there are a lot of online opportunities available, there is a learning curve and you should be prepared to put in the efforts.

So in case you are planning to give up your full time job, it makes sense to do some research as to what sort of online jobs you would do from home.

I guess everybody has their own reasons for working from home. But whatever be the reasons, start exploring what is on offer and some day you will really enjoy the advantages of working from home.