Working from Home - There Are Some Things to Consider Before Leaving Current Job

About four years ago I was setting in my cubicle at work thinking I could use a break. Of course, it was no where near break time, I would have to wait. I had been seeing all the work from home emails and ads on television as well as the internet. This led me to imagining what it would be like working at home and taking breaks whenever I wanted. As I set daydreaming, I imagined how I could sleep in, not have to get fixed up, no more commuting to work, no daycare, and on and on and on. I had this great big image of staying in my pajamas all day, not doing hair or make up, and just doing what ever I wanted.

A good friend and ex- co- worker had started working as an independent contractor setting appointments for businesses from home. She convinced me to give it a try. I already had the high speed internet and unlimited phone service the job required, so I sent in my resume and was offered a full time position. I was so excited I gave my notice at work immediately.

Four years later and I am still at it, but not without some trials along the way. It was most difficult the first six months to a year. Since then all has been smooth and I am very happy I stuck with it. The friend who got me started did not fair so well. She actually gave up and went back to an outside job after about two months.

You should ask yourself a few key questions before leaving present job to work from home:

1. ) Do you have a distraction free space to work from? When I first started working from home, one of the things I was thinking was no more day care expenses. I was able to cut down on the driving time and gas expenses to and from work, but I quickly found day care was still a must. There are some jobs you could probably work around your children, but not when you have to be on the phone, such as my job requires. Another distraction can be friends and family. Once my friends and family found I would be home, they started popping in all the time. I found you have just got to let them know you have certain hours you will be working and to come by at other times. You can tell them to Instant message you if something just can't wait or to just leave a message on your cell phone, which I have the volume turned down on while working, and check messages on breaks or after I am done for the day.

2. ) Are you self motivated and self disciplined? If you have to be told what to do every step of the way, and do not like making decisions yourself, stay where you are. Working from home and making a living at it takes lots of discipline and motivation. I have always considered my self to be very motivated and very self disciplined, but still I had struggles in this area. Although I had a certain commitment of appointments to reach weekly, I was able to work whatever hours I wanted to get this done. I found I did need to set hours and set break times for myself. I learned to treat this as though I was still at my nine to five job. Once I got into a routine, I was able to get my commitment completed and am able to work less hours to do so by staying focused. I was able to discipline myself as far as my commitments were concerned quite quickly, but personal discipline was a whole different issue. At the time, I was still a smoker. Here I was all of a sudden where I could smoke whenever I wanted. I went from a half a pack a day to sometimes over a pack a day in no time. I eventually learned to set a limit on this as well, and finally quit all completely. Within six months of working from home, I had gained a good twenty pounds or so. This was very upsetting to me. That is when I went to setting break and lunch times, and the kitchen is off limits all other times.

3. ) Are you an overly social person who is not able to work without others around to communicate with? This is something I had not considered at all before deciding to work from home. I immediately started missing my work friends. I had no one to laugh or talk with between calls or on breaks or lunch. Also, I was used to a certain amount of noise and commotion around me. I did feel very isolated. This was probably the hardest for me to get used to. I have always been very sociable, and for the first time in my life, I felt isolated from the outside world. I did find ways to keep in touch and did get past this as well. I found that I could plan my lunch hour the same time as my friends and ex- co - workers. I now meet for lunch with others at least once or twice a week, and when weather permits, I have walking buddies.

This article is not meant to scare anyone away from working at home. I just want to save others some of the headaches I had when getting started. The key is to be prepared. I had to really work at getting everything to- gather and running smoothly. I went in completely unprepared and it took about a year to get it all together. I am now very happy with my decision to work from home. I keep a fairly set routine, of course I can change it up without getting permission and If I need a day off, I just double up another day. I try not to stray too far from my routine, as I can see where it would be very easy to fall back into some back habits. Another thing I found that did not work me is the lounging around in pajamas. I find I feel much better about myself and am more productive when I get dressed, put on makeup and fix my hair.

There are other things you figure out as you go on to keep things running smoothly when working from home. If you are not self disciplined or highly motivated you will be wasting your time and should keep your present job. If you are strong in these areas working from home can be very rewarding. Although I had some trying times, I do not ever want to go back to an outside job.