10 Good Things And Misconceptions About Working From Home

The world has changed a lot since the new millennium and the introduction of the world wide web. Some people have a hard time adjusting and believing that things are not the same, and some embrace it with open arms and make light of the change. One of the biggest changes is that people now have the freedom to work from home. Working from home has its perks, but it also has its ups and downs.

A good thing about working from home is that daycare becomes obsolete. You no longer have to worry about paying high day care costs. You will no longer have to worry about having to find someone to watch the children while you pick up an extra shift. You also don't have to worry about wondering if your child is in safe hands or not. The whole worry of childcare is wiped away. That in itself is a wonderful feeling, and it is one of the best parts about working at home.

Another good thing is that you wake up when you want, and work when you want. Hey, I work in my pajamas, everyday and I love it!  But you must be careful with that. You wake up when you want, so you will start to go, "Well I don't have to work now, I will work later." Sometimes later will turn into even later, and even later than that. Yeah, I think you get the picture. Discipline is the key. If you really want to be a success, then you should wake up like you have to go to work. Wake up, take your shower,  have your coffee, breakfast, read your paper, and get your day started. I have had days where I have sat in one spot all day, and not taken care of everything I should because I work at home. I didn't have to go anywhere, I had everything I needed inside my home. My phone, my laptop, internet connection, food, and water. So why leave?

The best part of working at home is no boss, set your own hours. This is just perfect right? No boss breathing down your back, and you work at your own pace. If you want to work at night, then work at night. If you want to work in the daytime, then do that. If you want to take a lunch break, go right ahead. If the kids have a doctors appointment, you don't need a doctor's note. You most definitely do not have to check with yourself to see if its ok to not work right now. I am so in love this part of working at home! If you just want to have yourself an off day you are free to do that! It is all at the discretion of you. If you have errands to run, then run them. The day is yours, your schedule and your time is yours to use it how you choose.

A good thing is that you get to spend more time with the family. This is the most important part of working and having a family life. This is one of the things that many people crave and aren't able to do because they are too busy, but there are also some people that have the luxury of spending time with their family but don't crave it. They are not grateful that they have that freedom or either don't care. So they shower their children in gifts, which is not what family time is all about. My motivation for starting work at home was to be close to my children, besides the fact that I had just had twins. It is a wonderful feeling to know that you can stop your work whenever you feel like it to show your kids some love, or just spend some time with them. Some people are so creative that they find a way to collaborate quality time and their work. Now that in itself is priceless.

Now....

This is the real kicker that a lot of people think they can get away with.

They believe that they  can start a home based business with no investment, put no work into it, but become a success. UMMM, on what planet?  Second of all, how can anyone become a success off of doing nothing? So you think all these great ideas will fall into your lap, then someone will run up, read your mind, but not steal your idea for themselves because they like you so much. Then BOOM instant millionaire and success! How about no, no, and try again! The craziest part is when you tell them how much they should invest, then they start screaming, "SCAM." But let me tell you that you invest in everything, nothing is free. Have you ever gotten a job, and they make you pay for your own pants? Have you ever went to college? Have you ever applied for a job that required a special license or taken a test that you by the way have to pay for? But the biggest investment of them all that you sacrifice that you will never get back, the one that is the most precious, is your TIME! If you work a job for someone else realize that you are making them rich, and they basically tell you how much you will make hourly and monthly wise, and they dare you to protest. But they don't worry about it even if someone decides to because either they live in fear of losing your job, or if they get the guts they will just simply replace them. That's just how important people are to them.

A downside to working at home is that you have to have discipline. In other words learn to manage your  time wisely. If you do not have a note pad or a work board that you pin your daily tasks to then you should. It is the best way to stay organized, and to make sure that when you do decide to work that you are not swamped in your work.(Link 6) You can also have it balanced out so that you meet your deadline for what you want to have accomplished in a days, week, or months time. If you do not write down your ideas and plans there is a good chance that you will forget them. Believe me when you start working from home you will get ideas all through out the day, even your dreams are not exempt to your creativity. You will be shopping, playing with the kids, and watching television. Ideas will just start to flood in, especially if you leave your mind open to them. But that in itself is a totally different subject.

The next downside is that you have to learn to balance work, kids, housework, husband/significant other, and other errands. I have found this to be the most challenging part of working from home. Every time I think about balancing my home and life work at the same time, I think of this picture I have seen online. It was a woman with about 8-10 arms. She had something in each hand, squiggles coming from her head and a look like please help! It can be quite overwhelming until you find a way to balance it all. You will find that being Superwoman or Superman is challenging, but not impossible! In fact, nothing is impossible! (Link 7) That is the mindset you have to presume to have when working inside of your home. I found it easier to try to get my work done when my kids are preoccupied with something else such as television, or when they are taking a nap. I try to do as much as possible while my husband is away at work. I have found that the housework has to come last. I feel that it does not make me a bad wife, I just get around to it when I can. But If I have any down time and I'm not dealing with the children, spending time with my husband, or working, then I will do some cleaning. I normally do this late at night. I'm not saying this is how you should do it, because you might find a more effective way to do it that complements you. But just throwing my way out there to help anyone that can use it.

Another misconception of people that work at home is that people that work at home are instant millionaires or become rich quick. Again, there is no such thing. Bill Gates... wait he may have became an instant millionaire let me check. (LINK 8) Yes, ok you got me there some people can become instant millionaires, but that all depends on your genius. Bill gates came up with a product that everybody basically needed. Supply and demand, but either way it goes he still worked his way to his success. It did not just come as easily as people might want to believe. He had to map his idea out, sell it, and wait for his profits. But the whole point is that just because we work at home does not mean we are rich, or have some secret formula in a bottle somewhere locked in a safe to help you get rich quick!

It really grinds my gears when I hear, "All work at home jobs are scams." This is one of the funniest parts to me, especially if you are in MLM. The one thing that you will hear people say when you approach them with the business is that "Oh, that's a pyramid scheme. I don't want to have anything to do with that scam." My response that I really want to say is, "Oh ok, well you should probably just give up and live in a box somewhere. Because if you work a job you are in a classic pyramid scheme." Actually if you look at the world and the way any and everything works there is always someone at the very top, people in the middle even if you realize it or not, and people at the very bottom. Some people just believe everything is a scam because they haven't caught up with technology, and the rest of the world yet. Even though there are still a lot of scams out there, I highly doubt that a lot of people will be involved in a scam but still receiving paychecks or direct deposits. (LINK 9) A scam is when you do not receive anything but you give something, and that is where the biggest misconception of a scam is. As long as you are provided with some service or product the company is not scamming you.

AHH, and last but not least. People that work at home do not work and are lazy. That is the farthest thing from the truth. We work just like everyone else, different settings if we choose. But it's just simply not fair to call us lazy. We just found a different way to do what others do. We have found a way to work smarter, not harder. You do not have to work hard to make money, and just because you don't sweat and break your back does not mean that you are lazy, and making easy money. One thing I realized about people is that they are quick to judge what they don't understand. Instead of getting a better understanding they would rather ridicule or tear something down. Humans fear the unknown. (LINK 10) But don't worry no need to fear. This is something I don't understand myself. When something I know nothing about presents itself I simply become intrigued and research it.


Link 6: http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/08/16/how-to-succeed-at-working-from-home/
Link 7: http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/blogs/balancing-work-and-family
Link 8: http://books.google.com/books?id=ubYgIB0TgUYC&pg=PA46&lpg=PA46&dq=bill+gates+instant+millionaire&source=bl&ots=9TBee2RWVv&sig=5m2xFLoJKeeG58O0Twk2njyzHsE&hl=en&sa=X&ei=s0TaU_3fEePS8AGG9IGQBA&ved=0CB0Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=bill%20gates%20instant%20millionaire&f=false
Link 9: http://www.bbb.org/blog/2013/06/10-ways-to-spot-work-at-home-scams/
Link 10: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3181681/