subject: What Kind Of People Do Well Working At Home? [print this page] Many people want to work at homeMany people want to work at home. They have the vision of it as easy and laid back. No boss right there, no dress code. Maybe even a great paycheck, depending on the type of work.
There's a degree of truth to all that, but it's really not as simple as that either.
The big paycheck comes to few who work at home, especially home business owners. Many struggle to make any sort of a living at all. Most of the classic work at home jobs don't pay all that great either, although some professional level jobs pay pretty nicely. On the plus side, you usually save on things like childcare costs.
It takes a certain personality to work at home and thrive at it. If you aren't the sort to enjoy it, you'll be ready to go back to work outside the home as soon as possible.
Independent
You need to be very independent when you work at home. This isn't just about working without a boss around. It's about working without coworkers around or usually any other adults around. It gets lonely.
There's a lot you can do to combat loneliness these days. There are many forums and social networking sites you can join. You can find others in your neighborhood who work at home and spend occasional bits of time together - not too much or you'll interfere with each other's work day.
Organized
You must also be very organized. All the little things that need to get done are your problem. You can't have your work wandering the house either, or you'll spend too much time looking for that one important piece of paper you could have sworn you left on your desk.
You might have left it there, but because it wasn't put away one of the kids or the cat knocked it down or moved it. Better keep things organized.
Self Motivated
What keeps you going when you work at home? Mostly, it's you. It doesn't matter if you have a boss or a client with a deadline or a deadline you set yourself, the only thing that keeps you motivated when you work at home is you. Without that self motivation, it's all too easy to waste time and be unproductive.
Able to Cope with Distractions
There are a lot of distractions when you work at home. If you're a parent, the biggest distraction is the kids. They won't always let you focus on your work. Too often there's something they need, and they need it now!
There's also the distraction of simply being at home. The television. The internet. The telephone. It's much easier at home to allow your use of these things to keep you from working the way you ought to.
Flexibility
Working at home often means working unusual hours and using a wider range of skills than you might expect. You have to do all kinds of things yourself. How will you cope when your schedule didn't work out as planned? What will you do when the computer crashes in the middle of a project? You have to deal with a lot when you're at home.
