The Pros and Cons of Working from Home

People are always intrigued when I tell them that I mostly work from home. For a lot of them, it sounds like a fantasy where you sleep in as much as you want and don’t have to deal with an annoying boss. For the rest, it sounds like a ridiculous idea that is simply not sustainable. There’s some truth to some of it so I thought I would break down some of the pros and cons of working from home.

Before I do the breakdown, let’s get into how you can work from home. There are some career options that require you to go to a place of work like if you work in a manufacturing plant or in a hospital. There are however, more and more career options that make it possible for you to work from home or to at least have flexi hours so you can work from home sometimes. Most of these options are tied to the internet and include blogging, freelance writing, social media management and coding but even running a small business can be done from home with your office being within the home or compound.

Here are the pros and cons of working from home.

Pro: You own your time

This is really amazing because you’re able to schedule your work around yourself. This means that you can create your daily schedule and goals and work more during your most productive hours.

Con: You need a lot of self-discipline

To manage your schedule and hit your daily or weekly goals when you don’t have a boss figure or colleagues keeping you on your toes can be tough. If you’re not the most disciplined or self-driven person, this will be difficult but with some practice you can manage.

Pro: You save money

You will be surprised by the amount of money you spend commuting every day. Working from home leaves quite a bit of money in your account that you can divert to savings and investments. With some discipline, you can also keep most of your meals home-cooked by avoiding eating out and save on lunch or dinner money. Also, there aren’t any after work drinks with colleagues so you can save on that too.

Con: You get lonely

Having colleagues can be stressful simply because people in general can be stressful, but the interaction with other people is good for us. Working from home especially if you live alone can be quite lonely. The camaraderie you would get from an office setup is missing and you really need to make effort to make connections with people to make up for this.

Pro: You have a great work-life balance

Working from home especially if you have a family can be quite beneficial as you’re able to have a little more time with family since you are in control of your working hours and don’t have to deal with daily commutes.

Con: Your home loses some of its hominess

Your home doubling up as your office can make it a less relaxing space for you. It’s important to make sure you put up your work space in its own particular area if you can. Avoid putting your work desk in your bedroom because it’ll make it difficult to unwind. Also avoid working from inside your bed or on the sofa. Get a work desk, put it up in its own room or corner and only work from there.

Pro: Learning is on your terms

You can set out time to expand your learning in different areas and do it at your pace. You can also experiment to test your skill levels without having to go through bureaucratic processes to get approval. If you’re self-diven and open, you can easily become an expert in different areas.

Con: There’s no ad hoc learning

One of the great things about working in an office setup is that you can learn a lot from your colleagues and supervisors. Working on your own means that you take longer to learn some things and miss out on some important lessons. You should probably go out of your way to attend networking events and have a mentor to make up for this.

Whichever way you decide to go in your career, make sure it’s in a direction that excites and challenges you. The world is full of amazing opportunities and as traditional ways of doing things are being constantly challenged, it’s a good idea to expand your horizons and see what works for you.