by Ruth Belena

Created on: March 05, 2009

It is natural to have some anxiety about deciding whether or not to work from home. Many people working from home never regret it, and would not want to return to the workplace, but there are important points to consider before you decide to work from home.

~ Discipline and Motivation

If you are the type of person who sets off early for work, and starts to work as soon as you arrive, you will do well working at home. It requires good motivation and self discipline to start work every day.

If you normally spend time at work chatting with co-workers, making private phone calls, and sending personal emails, then working at home may not be such a good idea. Not only will you miss the company of others, and the daily gossip, you will be too easily distracted from your work at home, and are less likely to be successful at making money from it.

If you are decisive and confident in your decisions, you should do well with your own home business, and will enjoy being your own boss. If you are someone who always needs to ask for a second opinion, and talk things over before making a decision, this could be a problem when you work on your own.

~ Financial Security and Accounting

You need to consider carefully whether a regular income is important to you, before starting your own enterprise or commission based work at home. If you are going to work as a freelancer, or if your earnings will be related to sales, you should be prepared for times when there is little or no money coming in.

When you are self employed, you will be responsible for reporting all your income, and expenses, for tax purposes. You will need to keep a careful record of everything you spend, and a clear account of all your earnings.

~ Family and Work Obligations

If you are part of a household, and other people will be at home when you are working, you need to ensure you have a clean and well organized workspace, away from noise and distractions. Your family should understand the importance of the time you spend working, and be persuaded not to interrupt or disturb you unnecessarily.

It will not be so easy to tell people what you do if you are self employed and have multiple streams of income. You will not have a job description and you may be advised to "find a proper job". There are some people who do not consider work at home to be "real work".

Take a professional approach to your work, and you will be more successful. It's not a good idea to work in your most casual clothing, particularly if you have meetings with clients.

Working at home allows you to choose your own hours of work. Be prepared to work flexible hours, including evenings and weekends if necessary. It is important to meet deadlines, when required. You must try not to disappoint clients by asking for extra time to complete a project, unless it is unavoidable for you to do so.

If you decide to work at home after all these considerations, you are the right person to do it. You have greater chance of success, with your determination, motivation and commitment, than someone who thinks working at home is just an easy option.

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