There has been a lot of talk in the last couple of days concerning the advantages and disadvantages of working at home. My Fashion E-Mail Blog just ran a two part series on the subject. Part 1 discussed the advantages, while Part 2 discussed the disadvantages.
The advantages mentioned were:
- Low overhead
- Home office-tax deductions
- Flexibility of hours
- Security, peace and quiet
- Safety in inclement weather
- Family time
While the disadvantages discussed were:
- Isolation from consumers and the business world
- Home chores can come in between of office work
- Motivation is difficult to attain
- Business isn’t taken seriously
- Difficulty in keeping a set schedule and/or routine
- Family members do not respect the home office
- Good weather can tempt you to play and not work
On another blog I have in my RSS feeder, ReadWriteWeb they had a post titled, The “Work From Home Generation.” Like the other blog mentioned, they give us both the advantages and disadvantages.
The Good Things About Working from Home
- No commute
- Flexibility
- Saving money and the environment
- Increased productivity
The Bad Things About Working from Home
- Brainstorming is difficult
- You never leave work
- Entropy is after you
Let me make just one point. I agree with some of those items listed above and disagree with others. What I would like to do is for as many of you to comment as possible on what you see as advantages and disadvantages. And what you do to combat the disadvantages. I will than take those comments and do a follow-up post about this in the next week or two. In the process, I will add my own take on this subject. I look forward to hearing from you on this.
Grant, it seems to me that most of the disadvantages listed on the My Fashion e-Mall Blog are but a single disadvantage: lack of motivation. Items 2, 3 5 and 7 all have this same root cause.
And if you lack motivation, perhaps it’s because you don’t really enjoy what you are doing. That’s going to be a problem no matter where you’re working.
Of course, everyone lacks motivation, or is tempted by sunny weather (or household chores) once in a while. But it’s just as easy to procrastinate in an office than it is at home. In fact, working at home may actually help you overcome procrastination because you may find it easier to reward yourself for reaching specific goals (e.g., work for at least 2 hours on that project you’re dreading) if you work at home, than if you’re working in an office.
Yes, everyone does lack motivation not only at a work at home position but with many other aspects of life. However, motivation is that much harder to attain when you don’t have a “Boss” so to speak to cheer you on.
When working at home, that motivation falls entirely up to the individual who has decided to take the plunge and start a work at home business. The title “Boss” is now this individual who’s decided to work at home. To me that should be motivation in and of itself.
I agree that working at home may be a stepping stone to reward oneself when a specific goal has been accomplished, however, always keeping in mind that constant moving forward to succeed should be the main focus and once success prevails, motivation will never go away!
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