Working from home has its advantages

Yes - working from home can have its adventages. Here's a great setup with my laptop, phones, and files out on my deck on a bright sunny day. No - I don't do this all the time. This was actually just a little setup I had going to take care of some weekend work, but I guess I could if I really wanted to. On the other hand, I enjoy being in my office at home where I can work and concentrate on exactly what I need to do.

Working from home is not for everyone - there are people who fall into the traps of sleeping in late, running errands all day, watching TV, and doing anything else they can manage to distract themselves with. For me, it has been a good thing though and luckily I am not easily distracted by such things. Knowing that we have bills to pay and that I am only paid when I actually make something happen seems to be enough motivation to keep me going.

On occassion I miss my office job. For 3 years I worked at The Myers Group (aka Hell) and went into the office everyday. I loved what I did and I loved my co-workers, but that was where it stopped. I worked for a tyrant who belittled women and took advantage of young women. The commute was awful and the inter-office distractions were incredible. I was always being asked to prepare information for meetings, to train some newcomer who wouldn't end up lasting more than a week anyway, and to sit in meetings listening to complete BS that resulted in absolutely nothing. The next year and 8 months I spent at Canton-Street / Wilson-Gray. Here I did get to work from home and realized that I was much more productive than the employees who were actually in the office. It helped me to realize that I would be OK when I went off on my own. I do actually get work done on a daily basis and with no overhead and no greedy business owners to report to, I am able to make more money than I had in the past.

If you are ever given the option to work from home, you should consider it. Make sure that you are disciplined enough to be productive and not to waste your time. Think of the time and money you will save in commuting costs, eating lunches out, dressing in formal business attire and the hours it takes to commute. You can even get a break on your car insurance expense and your accountant can show you how to save some money when you allocate office space in your personal home. Some people need to be micromanaged - however most people do not. For those who do not, working from home can be a great way to increase your productivity and decrease your stress level.