Should I work from home?

Nowadays more and more people want to escape the 9 to 5 life and work from home instead. At first the idea of working from home is very appealing; cut out the daily commute to the office and be free to organise your work day how you choose to.

However, as you can imagine, any benefit also comes with downsides. In this article we will help you figure out whether working from home is a good option for you or not.

What are the benefits of working from home?

The most important thing to keep in mind when it comes to working from home is that you can work as much as you can, for as little or as much time as you decide. You are in control of your schedule, and that means you can adapt and adjust this as you see fit.

You can also make your own connections and work only with companies of your choosing. No one will insist you work for someone you don’t want to, nor will you be obligated to work on projects that might not be suitable for your skill set.

Another thing to consider is that this will help you become a communication expert. You will need to send messages, email people and connect with them frequently. That means you will have a great go-to system which will make it easy to keep in touch with the people in your network.

As we mentioned earlier, being able to work from home frees up a lot of your time. Most importantly, working from home could help you save hours your of day that you would usually spend commuting, just imagine cutting out all that time sat in traffic! If you add that to the additional time you spend getting ready before you go to work, then it’s easy to see why working from home sounds and feels very productive.

Depending on your circumstances, you might even be able to claim some tax relief or be reimbursed for additional household expenses if you are required to work remotely as an employee of a company.

Of course, you also get more time to spend with your friends and family. Many parents choose to start working from home because it’s easier for them than having to organise childcare whilst they go to work. It’s a great opportunity that you rarely get, especially if you usually work from an office.

Working from home allows you the opportunity to earn your living doing what you love, something that we all aspire to. And yes, there are bound to be challenges and difficult moments, however, you may surprise yourself with how much you are able to achieve with a different, less “traditional” set up.

The downsides of working from home

As you can imagine, working from home is not all fun and games, particularly in the initial transition period from office life to freelance or remote working and there are obvious challenges related to this.

One major downside for most people is that in their quest to increase their income and grow the success of their business, there is the temptation to over-work themselves. So while you do technically have control over your schedule, you may end up forfeiting the chance to maintain a healthy work/life balance.

Additionally, as you will now be working alone without other people to socialise with and bounce ideas off of. For some individuals this works fine for them, however, some people find that even just being in an environment with other people increases their mood and helps them to get work done.

On the other hand, some people find working from home more distracting because of the blurred lines between work space and living space. One way around this, is to dedicate a specific area for work and others for relaxing in order to create a clear distinction, this is of course a lot easier if you already have a home study, which not everyone does.

Another important thing to bear in mind if you work as a freelancer is that you will be responsible for sourcing and purchasing any equipment you require, setting your own budget for items such as computers, work phones or office furniture.

So, should you work from home or not?

As you can see, working from home could help you save a lot of time and energy, but at the same time, you also end up working alone with little to no social contact. Although it’s a great way to have control over your time, income and workload, another excellent option is to opt for a combination of both worlds.

Co-working is an ideal approach if you wish to work remotely with complete control over your schedule and projects. It also offers a way for you to easily connect with other people, networking with ease and at the same time it’s completely up to you how much time you wish to dedicate to it.

Not only that, but it allows you to stay accountable and work only within some designated work times, helping to prevent you from overworking yourself, while still making it easy to be your own boss. Don’t overlook using co-working spaces if you are currently working from home, it could be the change you never knew you needed!