What do you like about working from home?
Hmm, everything really, except for the small complications you learn to deal with, having your career and home life take place in the same general area. It’s critical not to let working from home turn into living at work.
That said, it’s definitely a good shift in the economy. People had been practicing this for a long time, it’s only now starting to become popularized. Whether you are an employee or an employer/entrepreneur, WFH has many advantages and disadvantages. Nowadays, my current status is working from home, but my new goals are higher, to work while traveling. Still, working from home is awesome, and I do not take it for granted, not for a second.
Here are nine things I like about working from home.
#1 Flexibility of working schedule:
I refuse to wake up early every day to make more money. It’s just a decision I settled on when deciding what being an entrepreneur was going to mean to me. Of course, not everyone is as lucky as me. Many people, for one reason or another, get caught up in extreme productivity, sometimes out of guilt that they don’t travel to a job. But if you are a freelancer or an entrepreneur, you have a complete hold over your working schedule, and you need to take full advantage of this fact. Do not waste your life grinding away so you can make money faster. Live your life, and discover new things you want, that you can earn your way into getting. Otherwise, you will not be sufficiently motivated to improve your income and the effectiveness of what you do. Check out my review of 4 Hour Work Week if you want more details on some of that, on my website.
#2 Work environment can be customized:
Unlike an office environment, where you can’t play music or enjoy pizza alone while working, with WFH you can customize your work environment. You can take a break and lay on your bed for a short drift before getting back up and finishing your work in an energized sprint. You can even work in bed, though I don’t recommend it. PS: Watch how much you eat, resist the urge to eat as an escape from doing your work. Exercise regularly, like with #1, do stuff, don’t be sedentary, live your life. If possible, work while standing too. There are desks now that switch from seated to standing like a convertible top on a car. I’m actually getting more into fitness advice from an entrepreneur angle as well, so stay updated with my website if you’re interested in more tips.
#3 You can wear what you want:
I hate uniforms, always have. I do not like wearing the same thing as other people. There’s no dress code at home, though, not that you don’t create yourself, anyway. I could write, network, and do whatever I’m working on in anything from pajamas to workout clothes. The point is just that I do not have to dress for work and then dress back down for my non-work life. This was weird at first, but now I find it a lot more comfortable, especially for getting started in the day.
#4 Every single day is the weekend:
Most people live their lives working till the weekend. 5 days of suffering, 2 days of pleasure and freedom. I say, make it 7 days of pleasure and freedom, with 2 hours or less of suffering spread out as a quota to fill up as I please, on my judgment and moods. In this lifestyle, no activity is forcefully relegated to certain days of the week. Hang out with family or friends on Monday. Do a massive work sprint to launch a product and rake in some more money over a three day weekend. The choice is always yours.
#5 Easier to call or interact with friends and family:
Unlike the office, there’s a much lower chance of being at the ready, busy addressing what someone wants, such as serving customers. I don’t need to rush to a conference room or leave my seat to take an important call.
#6 No office distractions:
That’s obvious. No managers asking you to do check something you don’t need to check, arguments or other distracting behavior form coworkers, you name it.
#7 No commute cost:
I used to hate getting gas. I realized it wasn’t because of prices, or driving. It was what the gas was going to be spent driving to.
Now instead of spending gas to go to a job, I take long drives across the countryside to chill and relax. I usually carry my laptop as I enjoy working in view of nature.
#8 More time with family:
Staying at home for the whole day gives me more time to interact and spend with my family, and I enjoy that for now. I plan on moving somewhere separate but at a reasonable distance for visits, but even now, what I’ve got going for me is something many are still working toward and would be totally satisfied with.
#9 Time utilization for learning skills:
Since I have more time now, I read, take courses, and practice things to learn new skills.
Working from home has disadvantages as well, or I like to call them logistics like distractions in your home life, staying physically and mentally healthy, lack of interaction, and entrepreneur mistakes like shiny object syndrome. The keys are positivity, consistency, and stubbornness.
The goal is never to work from home, or quit a job, like most people view it. You’ve gotta look outside those things for a bit. What’s life actually about for you, and what should it be about? That’s where you’ll start to discover your real goals.
At times, I had more reasons to give up this working from home culture thing than stick to it, or so I thought at the time. Had I given up each of those times back then, I wouldn’t be as near attaining financial freedom as I am today. I am very close to the goal that I had set after facing a lot of mistakes, failures, and disappointments. This is because setbacks are usually not setbacks, they’re just details you forgot about. Usually, nothing is the disaster you think it will be, if you keep going.
But, overall I like WFH and would recommend adopting this culture if it interests you strongly, with the caveat that you better be willing to actually put in some effort to make it possible, as much as you would to get a solid job to replace any current one you have, that’s about what it will take. That means you could get lucky, or it could take years, and it’ll largely depend on you. There are ways to reliable make this happen for you, and again I would say, one can turn this compulsion or ‘whim’ (if that’s all it feels like now) into a turning point in your life.
If you are interested in knowing about my entrepreneurial journey or the things that worked for me and can work for you as well, you can explore my website.
Feel free to reply if you have any questions or in case you need specific suggestions for increasing your productivity while working from home, as I know that’s a common concern.
Good Luck!
Thanks,
Cleo
