Monday, June 2, 2008

The pros and cons of working from home

Many people are working at home now with being able to telecommute. Most people don't realize though, that people who work at home actually do work. Friends and family will think you can drop everything at a moment's notice since you can sometimes work your own hours. What they don't realize is that I put in about 70 hours a week. I do advertising, I take calls, and I work hard! But having said all that, I wouldn't trade it for the world. I want to list some of the pros and cons of working from home and running your own business. Others might work for someone while being able to stay at home but since I do run my own business, I'm tackling this subject from that point of view... hopefully, my humorous point of view.

The pros:

I get to wake up whenever I want! No more punching a time clock, worrying about the weather outside, or if I'm running late! Now I wake up when and if I want to and go to bed when I want.

No more boss! This is most important. Listen closely...no more boss! I only have myself to answer to. If I screw up, it's all on me. Now, that can be hard to take at times but no more being yelled at or berated for a mistake, unless I do it to myself of course.

I can spend time with my pets. If I had children it'd be the same but I have dogs, a cat, etc... so I get to spend all day with them and bond. That helps since one of my dogs is getting older and it's nice to be able to be with him. Plus, I don't have to worry about the weather if he's outside. He can come in and out as he pleases now and won't get caught in a storm while I'm at an office job worrying.

I can take breaks anytime I want! Yes, you heard me right, no more asking if I can go on break or waiting to go to the restroom because you have a customer. Mind you, sometimes I have customers on the phone and have to wait but there's always the mute button. And if I want to take a break and sit on my deck, I do it. If I want to sign out and go for a swim, I do.

I can surf the web all I want and view any pages I want. I can look at porn if I feel the need or download music from iTunes. And speaking of music, I can play it as loud as I deem necessary. Even better, I can listen to all of the Lifetime movies I want while I work. I can even watch RENT for the 50th time. No more fighting over radio stations or hearing how it's too loud.

I don't have to get dressed up. I never was one who liked dressing up anyway but now I do my job in shorts and a t-shirt and sometimes I don't even put on makeup. Of course I still like to look nice just in case the UPS guy comes over but the point is, no heels...no hosiery (God forbid), and no dresses...EVER!

I can take any college classes I want and not have to worry about okaying the hours with my boss. I do go to college part time and it could be a pain sometimes just juggling the two but now I don't have that problem.

The cons:

You are responsible for your income. If I get lazy and don't work, I don't get paid so I actually put in more hours at home than I ever did at an outside job.

People like to call you all day thinking you have nothing better to do. Now I don't mind the occasional interruption but sometimes it can be a bit much.

No more free copies. Now I have to copy my schoolwork at home. Darn those ink prices!

No Christmas parties, no getting to go home early due to a storm or emergency, no office gossip, no Christmas bonus, no insurance, and no vacation pay. And definitely no more employee of the month!

You don't get to have lunch with your friends anymore. I still do it with previous co-workers once in a while but it's just not the same and you tend to drift apart.

Having said all of this, I absolutely think that the pros outweigh the cons. I still have online friends I talk to daily, I can still gossip about work with friends who do similar work, and I get to go to my husband's Christmas party. I attempted to be funny through most of this but believe me, I do work hard at what I do and take it very seriously. If I didn't, I might just have to go out and get a job outside the home and what fun would that be? Oh and one more pro? I can write content anytime I feel like it.

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