The Benefits (and some cons) of telecommuting aka Working
at home.
No not everyone has the option of working from home, but
if you get a chance to do it, you need to seriously consider it. The Pro’s outweigh
the cons. At least they have for me.
6 years ago I started working from home 2 days a week,
then 4 years ago I started working from home 3 days a week and 3 years ago I
started working from home all the time.
Benefits, economic and otherwise:
It saves gas and wear and tear on the car. I was spending
$200 a month on gas. And that was with an average commute and free parking.
Plus I was adding over 1200 miles per month to my car.
It saves on electricity. I seem to be the only one
capable of turning off a light in this house. My bride and children have some
genetic disorder that prevents them from turning off the lights when they leave
a room.
It saves on food. I never went out to eat lunch that
often, but there was always some event that came up that I felt obligated to go
to. No more going out for silly luncheons.
My office is my computers, 2 laptops. I can work wherever
I can get an internet connection. Is the weather nice? Why not work on the back
porch and get some fresh air and sunshine.
Don’t feel like shaving or showering? Don’t have to. Want
to work in your boxer shorts? Sure, that’s allowed. Want to sleep in until
8:59am and still be able to start work at 9am? That will work too.
You also get mental benefits from avoiding traffic and
all the crazy drivers out there. No putting up with traffic jams,
thunderstorms, snow, ice etc…or the crazy co-worker that wants to tell you
about the great weekend he had building a new climbing toy for his cats.
You get time for “free”. My commute was 35-45 minutes each
way. I now have an extra 70-90 minutes each day in which to do something I want
to do, or to sleep.
Taking a work-from-home job with a lower salary may be
worth it. Do the math and consider the fringe benefits.
It’s not all ice cream and cheesecake though. There are
some issues that have to be dealt with.
Especially in a homeschooling home with 12 kids still
living here to one degree or another.
It can be difficult to stay on task and focus on work. It
is easy to get sidetracked and start doing other things around the house:
little projects, watch TV, work on the cars or yard. BS with the wife and kids.
Take kiss-breaks with the Misses.
The spouse and kids will think you are fair game and that
you can be asked to do things or help with school. Especially if you are
working in a common area of the house like I do at times. I have a desk setup
in my bedroom but like to work in other areas of the house. Since my office
consists of 2 laptops it’s pretty easy to work wherever. I just have to make sure I focus and get the
work done that is expected of me.
***all posts applying to my family only - your results
will be different***
2 comments:
An enjoyable read!
Working from home is the way to go for sure. My morning commute consists of padding it down to the kitchen for the morning cup of coffee!
That's what working from home is all about: not the money, but the freedom.
There are also many benefits for employers to offer telecommuting to their employees. One of the main benefits is a reduction in days missed. An employee who misses work can cost a company a great deal of money over the long term. There can be a wide variety of reasons why an employee would call in; when they are sick, children who are sick and cannot go to school or daycare and car problems. When an employee telecommutes, the work can still be accomplished.
Post a Comment