For some, the idea of working from home sounds fantastic. Especially for those that have spent many years commuting to and from their regular job doing 40+ hours a week. However, while being your own boss can be fantastic, there are some potential issues that you need to consider before you go it alone and work from home.
No Guarantees
No boss, work when you want, no commuting, and the potential to earn more than you did at your last ‘real’ job. Sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it is if you can manage yourself properly. Some people can get lazy with no boss around and full control over their time while others simply overdo it.
Additionally, at your 9-5 you would clock in and be guaranteed to expect a regular amount of money each month. This is not the case when you work at home as your income and time worked is likely to fluctuate. On a bad day you might work flat out for a good 12 hours and barely make any money whereas a good day could bring a standard week's pay for just an hours’ work.
You do not have what you can call a set schedule every day, and what you earn is not set in stone either. Therefore working at home does not suit everybody, even if they do not want to admit it. For some, the guarantee of a salary might be the better option.
Distractions
At home you get the distractions that come with it. A knock on the door or the phone ringing could cause you to be stuck in conversation for longer than you would like. Unrestricted internet and no boss could hurt your productivity as you veer to social media sites.
Then you have your partner and perhaps even kids distracting you even unintentionally. Sometimes people find it difficult to understand that although you are at home, you are at the office and working.
Try your best to make people understand that your time is off limits when working. Unless there is a genuine emergency, they should not distract you.
Also, use productivity apps such as time trackers to monitor what you are doing when working. These can help to keep you focused on your work. Also, try not to avoid buying software by being distracted through researching or messing around looking for shortcuts. For example, it’s a hell of a lot easy buying a VPN from a company like privatnostonline.com as opposed to looking for free work arounds that often fail after a certain amount of time.
Finally, if you do not have one already, set up your office in a separate room and lock it. That makes it much harder for your kids to distract you from your work.
Health Risks
Sitting down all day is not good for your body, so it is important to stand up, take a break and do other things every now and again. Back pain is very uncomfortable, and it gets worse later in life.
Throw overworking into the above and you could sit down for up to 18 hours a day. Overworking is not good for your health and state of mind in itself. Then you have a lack of sleep, as because you can work for endless hours, you think you can earn more money by working for as many hours as possible.
Put all that together and you have quite a few health risks going on. You should try to be strict about your working schedule. Much like a normal job, set working hours each day and do the same for sleep.
Conclusion
What we are trying to point out is that it is not always going to be the dream it seems it will be. Working from home has many great benefits but there are plenty of issues that can arise from it too. Think long and hard before making that jump as you might live to regret it.