Working from Home: Is it a Blessing or a Curse?

Posted July 12th, 2010 by admin

In a word: BOTH! Like any job, there are both pros and cons to being your own boss, setting your own schedule, and basically being in control of your career and your life. It may seem like sunny days when you start, sleeping until noon, wearing your pajamas to work, and taking a break for Pilates, lunch with friends, or The Young and the Restless any time you want. But your dream job can quickly turn into nightmare if you don’t have the discipline to hustle work and get your bills paid. So before you jump into a job that allows you to work from the comfort of home, here are a few pluses and minuses to consider.

To begin with, you will be your own boss. This means you enjoy complete authority over which jobs you choose, and you have the flexibility to schedule your time as you please. If you want to take a three-hour lunch and siesta every day, you can. And you don’t have to ask anyone’s permission to jet off on that trip to Paris with your sister in the fall. You don’t even have to rearrange your work schedule because you can either clear it before you travel or work remotely at your leisure. Sadly, there is a downside to this scenario. You are also responsible for getting work, and getting it done. If you aren’t securing any clients, you have no one to blame but yourself. Ditto on missing deadlines. Working from home means taking the initiative to get work, first of all, and then exercising the due diligence required to complete it in a professional and timely manner. You can rest on your laurels when you have prospective clients banging down your door. Until then, you need to hustle jobs and follow through to ensure repeat business.

Another thing you may initially appreciate is the lack of co-workers and bosses. It is definitely nice to have an uninterrupted workday (no gossipy peers whispering at the water cooler or nosy managers popping in to ask for TPS reports). The calm and quiet of home can be a great recipe for jamming through your jobs for the day with time to spare. On the other hand, it can also be extremely isolating. Over time, you can lose inspiration and even become depressed if you don’t schedule in some time for human contact.

And in many ways, it can sometimes feel like you have a hundred bosses attacking you from all sides with ridiculous requests and demands for revisions. Since you probably can’t meet with them in person to explain your position, you have to try to communicate through email or by phone, which is never as effective (and can be extremely frustrating).

Certainly there are benefits to working from home, and if you are a motivated individual, you stand to earn a solid living and enjoy the many worthwhile aspects of self-employment. However, not everyone is cut out be their own boss. Without dedication, time-management skills, and a lot of organization, you may quickly find yourself overwhelmed. So consider the many possible outcomes of choosing a career that allows you to stay home before you commit to making it a reality.

Diana Rivas is a writer for a popular massage website. A massage is a great way for couples to unwind! To find out more about the healing qualities of massage check out  Portable Massage Tables.