 |
| working at home |
Three years ago, I left my
job as a tax assistant in a public institution to start out on my own, working
online from home. It’s not been an easy road, as it’s always the case when one
decides to explore new waters. However, amidst the turbulence, there have been
some remarkable successes. In this short article, I wish to outline the
benefits and losses of working online from home to help anyone wishing to
embark on this journey. This is not a text book narrative. Everything is
derived from my 3 years experience working online from home. First of all, a
question: did you land in this situation by taking a conscious decision, by
circumstances or by both? I landed here because circumstances made me take a
conscious decision. Now here we go!!
The
Benefits
Flexibility –
The most prominent benefit of working online from home is flexibility. The fact
that I can get enough sleep, yet wake up in time enough to get my daily gym fix
before sitting behind my pc is awesome.
This is all made possible because I use the period that I would
otherwise have used to prepare for and commute to work to do it. This, as you
may guess, had improved my fitness a lot because I had very little time to
exercise when I commuted to work daily. When I had to commute to work daily, I
woke up as early as 4:00 am. Then again, I can create a relaxing atmosphere
with some music whilst I work and also work at my own comfortable pace without
an ‘evil boss’ breathing down my neck or an envious colleague sniffing his/her
nose in my business. Better still, I get to take a 1hr siesta after lunch which
gives me a refreshed focus to continue working. I could also use some of the
break to read or do research.
Longer Working Hours –
When working online from home, I realised that though I get more flexible
hours, I am still able to work more hours. At my old job, I worked the basic daily
8:30 am to 5:00pm shift, came home tired, had dinner and jumped straight into
bed. I could hardly read or do any research. Even then, there were lots of
wasteful days when there was hardly any job to do at the office but I still had
to commute to work. On days like these my colleagues and I spent the whole day
arguing about politics, sports, etc; wasteful indeed. At home, I am able to work longer hours with
much effect sometimes to as late as 12:00 midnight if the need be. The intermittent breaks I get enable me to do
other things; flexible.
Incredible Opportunities – When
I decided to try working online from home, I had no idea where to start
initially. Using Google search to find opportunities usually led me to what
seemed like scam sites selling fake teaching materials. However, I didn’t give
up but continued with my research on social network sites until I made some
awesome discoveries. My point exactly? I had always aspired to be my own boss
someday but working in a public institution barely challenged me to seek and
try other opportunities. It was an absolute comfort zone where I got paid at
the end of the month no matter what. Leaving my old job really challenged me
into succeeding on my own. It made me work harder to discover what I needed to
do to become successful. In the process, I have been able to unleash some
creativity that I never knew existed and also discovered great opportunities.
Infact, now discovering new opportunities online or anywhere else has become a
natural part of me. All this would never have happened if I was stuck in a very
‘tempting comfort zone’.
The
Losses
Lack of Companionship –
Working online from home can really be a lonely world, though this is relative
depending on the individual. Though it was unproductive, I must admit I miss
those free days at work when my colleagues, bosses and I, spent virtually the
whole day arguing about sports, politics and other social issues and after,
ordered a big lunch which we ate together in the office. Then there were those
T.G.I.F. nights after work when we hanged out at our favourite pubs to relax
with some drinks and enjoy some music. There is also the fact that, you can
always get help from a colleague when need be and also learn a lot from each
other. I consider myself as someone very comfortable with being a ‘lone ranger’
most of the time but even I, miss this work atmosphere a lot sometimes.
High Risk – Leaving
a job that guarantees you a monthly income no matter what, to venture into
‘unchartered waters’ is really high risk because the future can’t be predicted
with certainty. What you lose in this case is, a guaranteed monthly pay cheque,
job promotions with its benefits and a guaranteed retirement benefits. I speak
for my location in this case. If you are one for low risk comfort zone job,
then great you need to stay put in your job because the truth is if you start
out on your own, you’re going to invest some time and money which you’re likely
to lose. Believe me, I have had days with nothing to eat. However, if you’re
resilient and have the ‘never give up’ attitude then that’s also great because the
rewards at the end, if it works out, is the best. You would never need to
depend on retirement benefits to survive and you will be solving unemployment
problems for many.
Conclusion
It is never easy leaving a
well paid job to start working online on your own.. It can be hell if you have
no idea where to start immediately (by the way if you need a starting point,
read this: Easy online cash ). However, by my experience so far, the benefits of working from
home online far outweigh the negatives. At this point, I honestly do not see
myself working for someone else except being my own boss or partnering with someone
and hopefully having the life I wish to have. Feel free to share your opinions
and this article if you found it useful.
No comments:
Post a Comment