Difficulties of Working From Home

“There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it.”

- Oscar Wilde

I have long wanted to work from home, but, having spent the past couple of weeks working from home, I realise their are quite a few difficulties as well as the undoubted benefits. Whilst many would like the idea of working from home; it is worth being aware of the potential drawbacks.

No Structure.

Working for yourself gives a tremendous freedom; you can choose the hours of when and indeed if you work. There is no 9 to 5. But, this means you need to be quite disciplined in setting aside time to concentrate on work.

No Finish Time.

If you work in an office, you at least know, when your work day is over. But, working from home means that you can be working until late at night. Sometimes, it is important to set a time to completely switch off and not touch any more work.

Mixing Work And Pleasure.

Sometimes your not sure whether your working or just pursuing a hobby. In a way this is a great thing. But, it means your work can sometimes lack focus. For example, I have a blog on cycling; but, I’m not sure how productive it is to watch highlights of the Tour. True, I could blog about it, but, it is not really effective work. Similarly, I spent a lot of time looking at photos from a cycling trip. I did get a blog post out of it but, it took a long time.

People forget you Are Working

If you worked in a office people wouldn’t interrupt you. But, because you’re at home people don’t think you will mind being disturbed and asked to do errands.

Where Does time go?

One of the amazing things is how quickly time disappears and you try to work out where it went. It is surprising how long it can take to do the washing, pay bills go shopping or sort out some cables. Somehow when you have a regular job you squeeze these little things into a smaller time period.

Working Alone

Working from home usually means working alone. There is a lack of social interaction that some people may find difficult. On the other hand it means you don’t have to meet irritating co workers.

These difficulties don’t change the fact that I enjoy from working from home; however, the arresting feature is that you really have to plan and prioritise certain jobs and tasks. Working from  home may not suit everyone; the transition is certainly easier if you are used to working for yourself and have a certain self discipline.

The most important thing about working from home is that you enjoy what you do. If you do enjoy something then it is always going to be easy to be motivated and self disciplined.