Working at home versus working in office

Many people dream of working from home, from the comfort of their own house, but just few experienced this before ‘getting in the boat’. I’ve did it for a few days in past years, when I’ve took a few days off to focus on my personal projects. It isn’t as easy or pleasant as you might think, but it’s definitely worth doing in the long term. But I think it’s better to tell you the pros and cons I’ve found and let you decide if it suits your own style.

Working from home

Pros of working from home

1. You gain the time commuting time, which you can spend with your family or working a few hours more. For me that’s at leas 2 hours per day.
2. You can ‘mold’ the environment to suit your working style, make it more comfortable to get ideas and increase workflow
3. You spend less money on food if you eat at home versus going each day at the restaurant, plus you can cook what you wish at home.
4. You can make a more flexible working program, work at night, work early in the morning and in the evening with a big gap in between, depending on what’s best for you

Cons of working from home

1. Without a boss to tell you what you need to do today is hard to motivate yourself to get things done. That’s a big problem for me
2. At home there are a lot of distractions and things your family expects you to do, as you work from home and now you have time (that’s not true, but it’s what others think)
3. Having no physical contact with people can affect your character, as we all have social needs
4. If you’re not disciplined and organized you won’t make it on your own
5. Sometimes you need to exchange ideas with other people and that’s not easy using software tools. Don’t underestimate the power of a well planned meeting

I think these are the main advantages and drawbacks of working from home. You must think carefully what kind of person you are and what suits you best. Depending on the answer you can choose one of those options, but I highly recommend trying working from home for a few days before making  the big step into becoming your own employee.