This was definitely the case for me. Since I’m in a small town I chose to give self-employment and working from home a go for the sole reason of earning more money. Where I live my options were limited and turning to the good ole internet was my best bet.
I do enjoy working from home but not always for the reasons one would think. I get asked on almost a daily basis how someone can get started with a work from home position. The problem though is a lot of the time the people who are asking me are wanting some magic get rich quick scheme that is just not going to happen.
While working from home definitely has a strong set of pros I wanted to cover the other side today – the realities of working from home.
It’s Still Work!
Yes, believe it or not when you work from your home you still have to work. If you’re in a self-employed position you generally have to work much harder than you would at a day job.
Let’s take my last two day jobs for example, there was a lot of downtime at both of them. Even though I’d be at work for 40 hours a week I definitely wasn’t working those whole 40 hours. Working from home is different. You either work or you don’t get paid.
Expect to work a lot harder during the time you do actually work.
You Probably Can’t Keep Your Kids at Home
I completely respect all of the mothers who can put in 30-40 hours per week at home with their kids by their side. This, though, is uncommon.
The majority of my work from home mom friends hire a babysitter, at least part of the time, so they can get some work done. (As I do.)
Trying to work from home with kids is hard and an extremely stressful situation both for the parent and the child.
There are A Lot of Distractions
When you’re working from your house it’s easy to get distracted. I’m always tempted to get up and start cleaning versus sitting down and doing the work that has to be done.
A million different things can pop up when you’re at home and it can be hard to keep your focus.
You May Not be Able to Make as Much Money
And lastly, working from home is not a get rich quick scheme. If you have a high paying job you might not be able to make as much online. Or, it might take you a few years to get to that level. While this isn’t always a huge con it is something to keep in mind.