Working at Home 

What do we mean by "working from home"? 

Working from home may be with a new or an existing employer where you work all or part of your time at home.
However working from home can also mean being self-employed with many parents attracted by the potential to earn an income around their home lives.
One of the most popular options is direct selling for popular brands such as Usborne Books and Pampered Chef.

Working from home for an employer 

With faster and more reliable communications more employers are open to the concept of working from home for their staff, at least part of the time.
If your employer does not currently support working from home, it is useful to approach it as you would if you were making a request for flexible working.
Many of the issues with flexible working will also arise for an employee who wants to work from home.

What are the benefits to you? 

Most may seem self-evident;

 

Sounds ideal, it would be great to be able to collect the children from school or perhaps hold a telephone conference while in your pyjamas!  

 

But before you jump in read on.... 

Flexible working or home working? 

The question employers will ask is are you actually looking for both. Your employer may be happy for you to work at home but still expect you to
login 9 'til 5!

This is work and This is home 

Can you keep your work space separate from your family. Ideally you will have a home office/study where you can work without interuption.

What about the children? 

If your children are not yet at school or nursery, how much work will you realistically get done?

Is anybody there? 

Working from home can be a very isolating experience; you may find that you actually need the buzz of the office to keep you going.
Even if you have the motivation to work alone for the majority of the time, you may find it problematic; unless it has already been tried and tested by your employer you may also encounter practical difficulties - can you access all the systems/resources you need to do your job?

Keep to your routine 

Those who work at home stress the need to have a rigorous routine. Many manage time by working up to 6 hours during the day and then finish off a few things for an hour or so in the evening. This method may give you the time duing the day to be with your family but how late do you want to work at night to "catch-up"?

You time 

Most homeworkers have done so to spend more time with their families, but it is important to remember that you are doing a full time job and some aspect of family life may suffer.
Without support from your family you may find yourself with no time for yourself.

Why do it then? 

Working from home can be the ideal way to get back to work without all the pressures of school runs, arranging childcare etc but it is vitally important that the full impact on you and your family is considered. If you are going back to work anyway, it might be worth seeing if your employer is willing to let you work from home for a trial period.

Working from Home - Direct Selling or Working from Home for a new employer 

This topic is covered in full in the 'You're the Boss! section