Working from Home: Pros and Cons

Let's face it: home is probably everyone's most relaxing setting. Workplaces tend to be stressful. Walk-in traffic, office distractions and drama, nagging or gossiping coworkers, obtuse or micromanaging bosses... such is life. It's pretty safe to say we would all be happier if we were the rulers of our own kingdoms.

But would we all be quite as effective or productive if we were our own bosses? Working from home might sound attractive, but it is certainly no vacation, and it is not for everybody.

In today's shifting business climate, work-life balance is not such a far-fetched notion. Telecommuting and flex-work schedules are becoming more and more common. With technology now available that allows anyone to connect and plug in to the tools and resources they need from practically anywhere, the arguments against working from home are slowly dissipating and becoming harder to maintain.

Regardless, whether you wish to talk your boss into letting you stay home or if you're considering opening shop in your own living room, you first need to take a hard, frank look at your character and your habits in order to determine whether a work-from-home arrangement will really work for you.

With nearly every perk that arises from working at home comes an equal drawback. True, you might never have to see your annoying coworkers again, but you might have to deal with friends who assume since you're home they can traipse on over to see you whenever they feel like it. Yes, you might be able to work free from your boss's constant interruptions or priority changes, but you might also need to drop everything when your toddler comes running and screaming into your home office with a bloody nose.

If you are home, you are accessible. This perception is one of the first challenges you must overcome. Clear boundaries between work time and free time are still essential. When working at home, you don't have a separate office building to which you can flee to get away from the argument brewing between you and your spouse. And your work will always be there, just down the hall, beckoning to you to check your email or voicemail just one more time after dinner.

Be aware that collisions between your work and your home life are inevitable. If the washing machine overflows and floods into your kitchen while you're working at home, you're going to have a hard time concentrating on drawing up that client contract or proofing the materials for your company's next product launch. If an important client calls during movie night to frantically tell you about a shipment that has vanished off the face of the earth, you're going to have to explain to your spouse why you need to start making phone calls to contacts right that minute. You should probably know ahead of time how you'll deal with situations like these.

Many people who work from home say they actually end up working longer hours than they did in an office setting. However, working desired hours vs. prescribed hours does allow for the freedom to choose when work is performed. For instance, if you are an early riser, you can get to work at 6:00 a.m., take a breakfast break with the family at 8:00 a.m., work from 9:00 a.m. to noon, take the afternoon off, and then work some more from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. to end up getting in an eight-hour work day.

Choosing your own hours can be particularly beneficial if you work with international clients who operate in various time zones. When you work from home, you can work with your across-seas clients during the hours when they're working, and you can have the in-between hours to yourself. These are just a couple of examples of how you can utilize your schedule, but they serve to demonstrate the flexibility a work-at-home lifestyle can potentially offer.

Maintaining professionalism is another aspect of working from home that should be addressed. For instance, if you're on a teleconference with your stakeholders, it is probably best that your dog not be heard barking in the background. If you're mailing out a big proposal to a potential big-ticket customer, you won't want your toddler's sticky chocolate fingerprints to be the first impression you deliver.

While at-home workers are much more common today, and therefore more accepted and understood by colleagues and clients, you still need to adhere to appropriate business behavior. Phone etiquette and written communications skills are still essential, and keeping your work area organized is paramount.

If you don't conduct any face-to-face meetings as part of your regular work day, and if you can really stay productive without getting out of your pajama pants, then more power to you if you don't feel like dressing the part. Some work-at-home individuals believe sticking to a regular schedule and maintaining a professional appearance helps to keep them in the groove; others feel the release from looking presentable is one of the major perks of working at home. Either way, your personal appearance will have a psychological effect on your work attitude, and it is up to you to decide what gets the best results.

Last but not least, you need to know when to "leave work" for the day. When your business lives in your house with you, it can be difficult to switch gears between work and play. It is important to set rules for yourself, and close the office door - literally or figuratively, whichever is necessary - when work is done for the day.