Is Working at Home Right For You

Working from home means you are either selling a product or service or you've found an employer who is happy to have you complete your work at home rather than in office.

One of the first questions to ponder is whether you are self disciplined. While not having a boss is very appealing, it also means you are completely on your own to complete your work and you have no one to go to if you're uncertain on how to complete something.

I know some people who are in their offices working by 5 a.m. and I know some people who are still up and working at 1 a.m. If you have a job to do, whether it's for an employer or a client, the person expecting the completed job does not want to hear you were not able to complete it.

Along with self discipline comes time management. Are you able to adequately manage your time, creating a balance between work, wife and mother? Not everyone finds it easy to tell a customer "I'm sorry today is a family day" and not every customer is ok with you saying "I'm off for the day." Working at home requires balance.

Speaking of "management" how are your money management skills? Working at home will require you to create a budget, if you are running a business or to put money away if you are being paid on a 1099 form. You are liable for taxes unless a company is withholding those taxes, so money management is very important. You have to be able to put the money away and not touch it until such time that you figure out your taxes for the year.

Another question to consider is will you be ok in isolation? When you work at home, while you'll communicate with others, you are still very much alone. I've gone hours at a time with no one to talk to and no social interaction. In an office you almost always have someone to say hello to, someone to share stories with and someone to just hang out with. At home, you have none of this. In order to have any social interaction, you'll have to preplan it and work to make it happen. When my kids were young, I took mommy and me classes, I met friends for lunch and I joined a few groups. Especially for women, we thrive on social interaction. Working at home provides none.