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Both my husband and I work from home.
I do books/office work for a construction company and I also do the work for our side business.
I love it because of the flexibility and I'm around for my teenage son.
My husband is a sales engineer for a New York based company. He loves working from home as well.
The biggest key is having the true "office space". And we both have separate spaces. He is down in the basement, I'm two stories up.
If you work from home, do you love it or hate it. Also if you do, what is your occupation?
I love working from home! I am a medical coder by trade--I commuted to local hospitals for 7 years when I lived in the Seattle-Everett area, then switched to travel consulting for a year...money was great, but I detested being apart from my family. Plus, consulting is very sketchy, and there was a lot of downtime.
After searching for months, I finally found a company in a neighboring state that is fully remote. So now I am finally allowed to work alone without a supervisor breathing down my neck, and I am far removed from office politics.
Some people cannot handle the isolation--I couldn't ask for anything better.
The parking is great, there is no dress code, and there is never a waiting line for the bathroom.
I work from home for a Disease Management Company. While I enjoy the flexibility; I really miss working with people. It is hard at times and can be lonely! But the upside is I love my job!!
I've been working from home since December; I left a job in the safety field that I had been in for 22 years. We moved from Ohio in September and I didn't want to rejoin the corporate rat race. I searched FOREVER to find a LEGITIMATE work at home opportunity and did! I love what I do, I can work as little or as much as I want - depends on how big I want my paycheck to be! It is hard to get disciplined and not want to just work when it is convenient for me; especially with the awesome weather, but I'm getting into a niche and making a living while making a difference!
Freelance marketing consultant. I've worked from home since 2001 and love it.
Now, that being said, here are the good points and bad:
1) After a while, you crave human contact. The checkout girls down at the grocery store all know me by name. Not that I'm hitting on them, mind you, but I'll go down to buy the quart of milk or whatever just to get out of the house for twenty minutes.
2) You really, really have to treat it like a job. That means being up, showered, dressed, and ready to go when the clock strikes 8:30 (Except you can wear comfortable slippers). No reading the paper at 10:30 a.m. and ABSOLUTELY no hooch before 5 p.m. I've known more freelancers become closet alcoholics than I care to name, simply because they can get away with it.
3) A large proportion of the world will think, no matter how hard you work, that you're not busy. Neighbors will drop by. You mother will call, when she'd never think to call you at the office.
4) With today's technology, all you need is a laptop and a weekly backup disk. With eFax, you don't need a fax machine. With Wi-Fi, you don't need a desk. With computer files, you don't need file cabinets. Occasionally, you might need a computer. Otherwise, make a game out of how little stuff you need to make the money you do. You'll be surprised.
5) You'll be surprised at how many legit things you can run through your at-home business. Car expenses, insurance, etc. etc. Make sure you consult carefully with a good accountant about what's allowed and what's not, but with the right guidance, you'll be surprised how you can really deduct as opposed to having a regular office job.
6) Kids and personal life. I like being home with my kids. But they have to respect your space when you're working. I pretty much work in bed from 3 p.m. until the end of the day. However, working from home means you can knock off in the middle of the day to see their school play, take them to baseball practice, etc. etc.
7) If your wife comes home at lunch, you can get a nice little nooner. Try doing THAT at a regular office.
If you work from home, do you love it or hate it. Also if you do, what is your occupation?
Yes I work at home and I love it. In fact my whole family works from home. We have a real estate investment business (apartments and commercial real estate), insurance business, and a travel agency. We set up an office in our den and things run smoothly. We also have a virtual office not to far from home. We use this when we need meeting/conference space.
I could never keep a job in corporate America, so this is perfect for me.
I work from home for a major computer technology company. Many of my co-workers are also at home across the nation. I've been doing this since 2001. Sometimes I miss the office, but not too often. I think many of my co-workers feel the same way. We've lost our sense of comraderie so to speak. We don't keep up with each other's personal lives like we used to... which can be both good and bad. I think I feel more removed from them because I do live about 1.5 hours away from where I used to physically report to work and they don't. This is because I remarried and moved in the last 4 years. Prior to that I would meet with co-workers periodically for lunch and now we don't.
Everything everyone else has said is true, the neighbors come by to borrow things, the adult kids call in the middle of the day and say "What are you doing?"... the husband is insanely jealous because he travels 55 miles each way to his job and is watched like a hawk while there.
Here are some other thoughts.
1) I have to make my own lunch... but on the other hand I don't spend a lot of money on lunches out and it's easier to stick to a diet.
2) I don't have to buy "office clothes" because I work in T-shirts and shorts with either bare feet or slippers
3) I get to read the mail first
4) I'm here for things like contractor / repair visits.
5) I get bi-weekly visits from the Schwan's guy
6) Since my office is in the front of the house I get to see all the comings/goings of the neighborhood.
7) My dogs love having me home all day
8) I don't have to listen to the hub bub of the office noise when trying to concentrate on detailed work.
9) I don't have to listen to office gossip
10) I can play my music as loud as I want
11) My employer pays for my DSL and phone line.
12) The mileage on my vehicle does not climb as fast as it used to.
13) The amount we spend on GAS has dropped dramatically
14) I dont' have to go into the office to fix problems when paged in the middle of the night.
15) I can get out of bed at 7:30 and be working by 8:00 after a shower and breakfast... on the other hand there are always crumbs in my keyboard from eat breakfast at my desk.
16) I'm free to move about the country as long as I have Internet and a phone line... and I will be moving to Kentucky soon.
I think there are way too many 'work from home' scams in the classifieds. Anything where you can do so might be something where you typically have to be self-employed or doing daycare, unless you are one of those who are fortunate enough to where your company gives you a workload you can tackle from home on your computer, but otherwise, there really isnt any worthwhile money in it. o
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