Lessons Learned & PROS & CONS
Having worked from home for the past 20+ years, I have learned a few things. Helping many solo entrepreneur clients who work from home has shown me even more. During all the years I had to deal with rush hour traffic, I constantly mumbled how “Someday I will do something that won’t include white knuckle driving.” Fast forwarding a decade finds me working as a realtor in the suburbs. I enjoyed so many advantages of being a young mother of two active sons while being able to be at every teacher conference, holiday party and even be the room mom. One thing that suffered was personal attention to myself. In those days I never had a day off. As a realtor when the phone rang I went. Weekends were for clients and open houses.
I felt ‘off’ when I didn’t have time to put myself together — from my hair and make-up to my clothes. My self-confidence would be zapped. It took me a while to realize what it was, but once I did figure it out, I made a commitment to myself. A streamlined daily routine was the key.
It’s easy to think, “Well I don’t need to see a client today, so I won’t bother with dressing in anything nice. Instead I’ll wear gym clothes and skip hair and makeup. But those days can become more and more frequent until you figure it is fine to go out and run errands that way. Once that happens, your personal presence unravels in a way you didn’t intend.
I even have retired clients that have gotten lost after not having to dress for work any longer. One particular client called after seeing my article in Boomer & Beyond Magazine telling me she found herself changing three to five times before going to a car show with her husband. She no longer had her professional wardrobe to cling to and wanted support in figuring out her retirement style. She was adamant about not wanting to look frumpy or give up style. We have different needs at every stage of our lives — that is why I named my book: Mastering Your Evolving Style because we are always evolving.
Let me expand on these lessons.
Lesson #1: Create a Daily Dressing Routine and Stick to it NO MATTER WHAT.
Lesson #2: Create a Clutter-Free environment. Clutter Demands Constant Attention and Distracts You.
Lesson #3: Set a Timer for EVERYTHING Even Your Lunch Break!
Lesson #4: Teach those around you, kids and adults, to HONOR your Work hours — No Interruptions!
Lesson #5: Create systems so the unexpected doesn’t throw you off course — not even sick kids, client hiccups or snowstorms. Life happens, but it doesn’t have to take you off track.
There are so many PROS of working from home if you can make it happen, and it is what you dream of doing someday. A few friends shared these PROS & CONS.
- COMFORT of controlling the temperature, clothing, and atmosphere
- WEATHER stress and TRAFFIC are gone as well as traveling expenses.
- Less exposure to sick co-workers.
- SAVE Money for both employee and employer.
- FEWER Interruptions, office gossip and distractions
- MORE flexibility for appointments and errands
- Improved work-life balance.
- More time with family.
The CONS of working from home.
- Lack of personal work relationships could affect growth opportunities
- Requires the ability to be self-motivated
- Easy to misinterpret emails
- Hard to separate work and family time
- Miss out on some work-related conversations that could be insightful.
- Some resources not available (unless you purchased yourself such as a printer, faster internet, scanners, etc.)
- Often viewed as less valuable since people can’t always ‘see’ what you’re doing.
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