For some, the idea of working from home seems like a dream job! Some see this dream as unattainable, while others come to live this reality. There are clear differences between who is successful and who is not in working from home.
Working at home is an advantage for both the employer and the employee. This is why:
· Businesses are always looking for a way to reduce costs and overhead. Due to the need to cut costs, companies often outsource work and more often allow employees to work at home or work remotely.
For employees, the need to work at home or telecommute can range from health concerns, family responsibilities, transportation, and many other reasons. Often times, the simple lack of ability to travel prevents many from finding and keeping a job.
A trend that is gaining popularity
In 2004, the US Census Bureau found that more than 90,000 people in Missouri were gainfully employed while working from home. Many of the 90,000 were between the ages of 35 and 54 and were high school graduates with a few college credit hours and some even with degrees from many different universities.
The most popular choice of employment in this group was management and professional occupations or sales and services.
With a changing economy, the number of home employment opportunities has increased over the years, but the need to work at home remains the same.
With the growth of technology, the growing popularity of working from home has become a reality. Laptops, email, portable fax machines, and dedicated phone lines make it easy to telecommute and even work alone from home. With the technology available, working from a home office allows an employee and an employer to benefit from both worlds. However, there are drawbacks and challenges to working from home.
Challenges of working from home
Although it sounds like a wonderful alternative, it is not always easy. Often the idea is that by working at home, work will be easier, there will be more free time, and a person may even think that he can make his own hours. This, however, is not the case.
A home-based employee still needs to have self-discipline and regular work hours. Because in reality the only thing that is eliminated is the need to travel. Most legitimate businesses require their employees to clock in and out, regardless of whether they work from home or in a traditional office. This means that a person who works at home will need to adjust to the deadlines, schedules and daily demands that any job requires. Can a person work at home and do it successfully? You need to ask yourself a few questions to find out if you have what it takes:
Discipline: Do you have the discipline to initiate and complete each project without constant supervision? Often working at home means working with little or no supervision. Often there will be no team, immediate support or on-site supervisor available. You will need to consider household distractions that can often occur.
Family members often don’t understand that just because you’re home, you don’t have all the free time they’d want from you. Daily life can often cause distractions; phone calls from family or friends, children, TV shows, housework, and pets. These distractions often limit performance and soon become excuses for missed deadlines, poor work quality, and morale. To be successful, you must enforce strict self-discipline and need the understanding of family and friends to make sure that problems at home don’t interfere with work priorities.
Dedicated Workspace: Setting up shop in bed or on the kitchen counter will not be enough to maintain the quality of work. You will need to make the separation between home and work clear. To do this, a reserved and dedicated workspace will be needed. The prime location would be an extra bedroom, basement, or extra room that can be used as an office. This space should be large enough to hold a computer, desk, filing area, and other office furniture and stationery. Once the area is established, establishing established work hours and schedules will help create the distinction between “home” and “office.”
Creating a work environment is easy. But it takes motivation to work at home every day.
motivation to succeed
You must be completely honest with yourself about your motivation. In a traditional office environment, there are often perks to help keep you motivated. At home, the fun can wear off quickly and there may be little to no interaction with other employees or supervisors to help keep you motivated.
But just like any other job, salary and bonuses are based on performance. Often, that may be the only additional motivation you’ll have. The employer will expect quality, discipline, consistency and results. In a traditional office environment, there is peer pressure and supervision to help you stay on target. Working from home requires you to be an entrepreneur, someone who can motivate themselves and achieve results and be successful.
Many times the dream can end up becoming a harsh reality. While they want the comforts, many people don’t realize what it takes to be successful and find that it’s not the right career for them. On the other side of the coin, many with the right mindset, dedication, and motivation can successfully work from home with little to no problems.
If you can create the right environment, prepare well, and have the necessary discipline and motivation, there’s no reason why you can’t do it successfully.
