Working at Home : The Dream and the Reality
----------------------------------------------------------
Permission is granted for the below article to forward, reprint,
distribute, use for ezine, newsletter, website, offer as free
bonus or part of a product for sale as long as no changes are
made and the byline, copyright, and the resource box below is
included.
----------------------------------------------------------
Working at Home : The Dream and the Reality
By Stephen Bucaro
Everyone dreams of working at home. No sitting in traffic
breathing car exhaust. Wake up and start work when ever you
choose. Work in your pajamas. Do only interesting tasks that you
enjoy. Take a break whenever you feel like it. Sounds too good
to be true.
The reality is that the first thing many people who work at home
want is to earn enough money to rent an office away from home.
Why? Because when you work at home, you are always at work. Your
work hours may end at 5:00, but your computer, your desk, and
all those uncompleted tasks are always there. Your home becomes
the focal point of the problems and stress of work.
Your boss is not there to hover over you, but guess what? You
now have an even more stern taskmaster lording over your every
moment - yourself. To be successful working at home you have to
have self discipline, make your own schedule, and stay focused.
Although you can dress loose and casual, you probably don't want
to work in your pajamas. In fact, a morning ritual where you
"get dressed for work" may be just what you need to motivate
yourself to begin work.
Have your own business? Every business has some tasks that are
challenging and interesting, and some that are boring and
tedious. If you work at home alone in your own business, guess
who has to do the boring and tedious tasks.
Are you a telecommuter? When you work at the company's office,
everyone can see and understand why you where unable to
accomplish much. It's the result of normal organizational
disorganization and disruption. But when you work at home, your
boss and coworkers think everything goes smoothly. If you don't
complete tasks on time, it's not because you had to work through
complications and problems, it's because you spent the day
watching soap operas on TV.
Although you may attend some of the meetings at work, everyone
knows the real organizational communications happens at water
cooler gossip sessions. And guess who's getting blamed for all
the departments screw-ups and for the work being behind
schedule. The person who's not there to defend themself.
It's not only your boss and coworkers that think you're not
working, but your family and friends too. If you are at home,
you are not really working, so you have plenty of time to do
chores, run errands, babysit, and chat with visitors.
Although you might have some flexibility in work hours, you will
find that maintaining a regular schedule and routine is very
important for your productivity. It provides predictability to
your friends and family so they understand when you can be
approached and when you may not be interrupted.
Everyone dreams of working at home, but a large percentage of
those who try don't succeed. Why do they fail? Because working
at home requires a job suited for working at home, a home suited
for working in, a worker with strong self discipline, and a boss
who knows how to manage telecommuting employees effectively.
Unfortunately, this is a rare combination.
----------------------------------------------------------
Resource Box: Copyright(C)2003 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to
maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a
Website and make money on the Web visit bucarotechelp.com To
subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to
subscribe@bucarotechelp.com
----------------------------------------------------------