Tuesday, December 29, 2009

The Home Office

As the holidays are getting close to wrapping up and we look forward to a new year, I thought I would share my experience with working from a home office. It has been both a blessing and a curse, though I think at this point the positives slightly outweigh the negatives.

What to consider:
- NO COMMUTE!! That's a great positive when you want to save time. We were also able to sell one of our vehicles, which has saved us quite a bit of money. On the drawback, sometimes the few steps it takes to get to the home office are not enough motivation when you are having a lazy day. You can also be easily distracted by housework, since you are staying in the house.

- Unlimited office hours - we can work any time of the day or night. So if I'm not able to sleep, I can come in and work for a while. Or if I need to schedule an appointment, I can do it whenever is most convenient without having to ask off. The downside to that is that some people take advantage of this by assuming they can have us do errands, etc. without realizing that we still need to find time to fit work in. If I were to be at an outside office, they wouldn't expect me to answer the phone or run an errand.

- Being my own boss. It's nice to not have to ask permission to do things, make my own schedule, come up with my own designs, etc. It really allows us to flex our creativity and do things how we want them to be done. What negative is there to that? Well, sometimes it also means having to make very difficult decisions, or take the blame if something goes wrong.

- Having to get a PO Box. It is nice to have an address to use for "junk" purposes, to save having so much of it delivered to our home. But it does cost a little money, and it gets very awkward when a customer asks "what is the physical address?" and you have to explain that your business is primarily online and run through a home office. You don't want to be giving out your home address to strangers!

- Never having to pack a lunch. If I am in the mood for something that involves some cooking, I can just make it. Or if I don't feel like eating, I don't have to. Of course, that means sometimes our lunches get a little too long, or that we forget to eat completely and then feel a little sick later!

There are more positives and negatives, but I think that is where I will stop for now. As you can see, working from home has advantages and disadvantages, and it is not for everyone!

1 comment:

  1. I love working from home!
    The pros and cons are as you stated, but with a little boundary setting and an answerphone for the telephone - there's nothing that can't be overcome.
    And the extra bonus - I get to see my dog all day :)

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