Work at Home Education Center

Working from home isn't always what people dream it to be. There are advantages and disadvantages just like any job. The biggest challenge telecommuters face is staying focused and disciplined. Focus can be difficult when you aren't in an office environment with peers who are also focused on work. Discipline is a tough one as well - because when you work from home, you're often faced with many distractions.

Discipline and focus go hand in hand. If you aren't set up properly in an office environment at home, you'll have an even tougher time. Distractions such as paying bills, cleaning the house, and socializing for example, can shake your focus and ability to get your job done.

Working from home doesn't necessarily mean "work whenever you want". Most telecommuters have to stick to a typical 9-5 schedule, and often interact throughout the day with other team members and/or management.

What a lot of telecommuters actually end up doing is working TOO much, to try and overcompensate because of the impression others might have about their productivity (since they aren't physically in the office). This isn't an ideal situation either, because by working beyond the normal business hours you're expected to, you just end up burning the wick at both ends. It can be difficult to achieve a balance between work and home life.

Yet while focus and discipline can become challenges in any telecommuter's day to day life, there are still many advantages to working from home.

For example, not only do you save money on commuting to the office, but more importantly you remove the STRESS of commuting. In today's world, commuting in the rush hours is a huge source of people's daily stress. To be able to wake up and walk five feet to your office is irresistible to most.

The other great thing about eliminating a commute is the time saved. Time is so precious in today's busy world. For many, just having the time to send your kids off to school and greet them at the end of their day is priceless. For others, simply having the time to sit down to a hot dinner before late evening is a joy.

Another great plus to telecommuting is LESS meetings. Meetings drain so much of our time while in the office, that there can be many days where NO work can get done due to meetings. Working from home most often results in being pulled into less meetings, and not being interrupted at your desk so much. Hence, many telecommuters' productivity actually increases dramatically when given the actual opportunity to get some work done.