For many home office warriors, you work at home and work for the same company you worked for before. You telecommute and work as an employee. Technology has opened the door for more companies to allow such an arrangement.
As with anything, there are benefits and there are disadvantages. If you are looking at moving from working at your employers actual location to working from home, Explorer News provided some thoughts to consider:
The benefits:
You’re free to do as you please, more or less.
Your commute is from your bed to your computer.
Unless your boss requires a Web cam, you can be productive in shorts and a funky T-shirt.
The boss doesn’t pop into your office unannounced, unless he or she has remote access to your computer. (My side-note, I would not work for a boss who had access to my computer).
You may get a tax break by writing off your home office area and related business expenses on your annual tax return. (Check with an accountant or tax professional for advice on this matter).
You may get a new computer, office equipment and furniture out of the deal from your employer, or possibly partial compensation for all your business-related expenses.
You get to spend more time at home with your spouse and family or maybe with your roommate and friends.
You can watch TV or listen to music and work at the same time because you won’t be disrupting another office employee. This option may even increase your productivity by improving your mood throughout the day.
The downside:
If you aren’t self-motivated, don’t have proven self-discipline and don’t have the capacity to begin your work on the same schedule as those who commuted to the actual business office, you may have some immediate challenges.
You’re it, all day, every day. There are no co-workers or opportunities for office socialization. If you like your own company all the time, that’s great, but if you thrive on being around others, professional camaraderie and practical joking now and again, this is going to be difficult for you to handle.
If you have a habit of hitting the snooze alarm, you’ll need to buy a clock with only one loud wake-up setting.
You’ll be having lunch alone, with your spouse or whichever friends are available and in the immediate area. And just because you’re at home, that doesn’t mean you get two-hour lunch breaks.
If you’re a slob at home, this habit may spread to your work area as well, and that can detract from not only your creativity but also your home comfort level after business hours.
You’ll meet the new employees at special office parties, and they may think that you’re a new employee.
You are judged and compensated based solely on your productivity. The fact that you work until midnight every night won’t be noticed by the boss. Your diligence will go unnoticed. Only your final product will determine your success or failure.
You can become an over-workaholic or office junkie who’s trapped in a routine that is destined to result in personal burnout.
I sometimes feel like some in the “mainstream” media attempt to come up with these list to discourage people from exploring the “work at home” alternative. While I would agree, working at home is not for everyone. I would also argue no one should dismiss it too quickly.
However, I would agree that you should “take a critical look at your options before jumping” into working from home. Look at all the ups and downs and decide if you fit the mental picture of someone who can make it work. I have been working from my own home office now for just over three years. And quite frankly, I can not see myself ever going back to a “downtown” office.
Categories: Home Office, Home Office Warrior, Home Office Worker, Telecommuters
One Comment
One of the difficulties I had with a home office was socialization and meeting with clients. On the socialization side, I got lonely without interacting with others throughtout the day. Moving into an office provided this for me, even if it’s only waiving or chatting with my office neighbor in the morning in the parking lot. The other issue was meeting with clients: I would meet with them in the law library at the courthouse. They didn’t like this because they had to go through metal detectors to get to the library. Plus, parking is usually a problem around the courthouse. Based in part on these two factors, I decided to get a small office. It’s not in a high rise in downtown because my area doesn’t have highrises. It’s a small office, and I’m able to keep my overhead low but still meet with clients in a more convenient location and have more social interaction with other professionals.
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