Working from home has always sounded fantastic to those who slave away at the daily grind of a 9-5 at a brick and mortar company. However, there are a whole new set of obstacles and potential issues that you need to be aware of so they don’t hinder your production should you at some point decide to make the leap to working at home full time.
Unlike a job where you can clock in and clock out of, you’re not guaranteed to produce the financial equivalent of what you normally make should you have been paid by the hour at your last job. There will be days you may work 10 hours or more and not make a dime, but there can also be days that you work 60 minutes and make more than you would have over the course of an entire month. There is no true schedule and there is nothing set in stone on either side of it. The bottom line is there is nothing guaranteed financially for how many hours you put in like there is if you were an employee at a brick and mortar company.
Distractions are everywhere when you work at home. Someone comes to the door and the next thing you know you’re in a 20 minute conversation. The phone can ring multiple times an hour which can lead to hours of wasted time. The constant need to check your email, scroll social media or make comments on posts can lead to hours of wasted time. This doesn’t take into account if you have children, as anyone who does knows there can be an interruption at any second when they are home. If people know you are working from home, there is a much greater chance they will ask you to come help them with something or think that your time isn’t as “hands off” as it would be if you were at “work”. You wouldn’t get your neighbor showing up at your work office and ask you to help them move some furniture. These are all things that can and will happen once you make the jump to full time online income.
Due to the fact that almost all of your time will be spent in front of a computer, this can bring on some potential health risks should you not make a few adjustments. You can be sitting for hours at a time daily. There’s plenty of studies out there that show this just isn’t good for your body, even at a “day” job where you’re confined to a desk for most of the day. You have to make it a point to get up once every 50 minutes or so and walk around. Many people choose to work behind what are called “standing desks.” This keeps you from sitting down at all, however standing in one place for too long isn’t good either. You want to make sure you’re moving around some throughout the day and varying your movements similar to what you would be doing if you were walking down the street. You’d move a little, then stop, look at something, move again, turn in a different direction, etc.
Back pain is another obstacle that many face when they sit down for long periods of time. Sitting for extended time periods puts a lot of stress on the spine and tailbone and also tends to cause people to develop poor posture.
Overworking is a massive issue when having a home based business. There is no “punch in” and “punch out” time, so it’s extremely easy to work for 10-15 hours or more. At times you can feel like if you just put in another few hours, it’ll get you so much further. That’s not always the case. You’ll find that there’s ALWAYS something else you could do or could be doing. One of the best things you can do is put yourself on a schedule like you would be on as if you were an employee. You start at a certain time and you finish at a certain time and stick to it! It’s easier said than done, but it can make things much easier for you because you tend to focus more “during hours”. This is a major one for most people as it’s so easy to just keep working.
Which leads us to sleep. This may be the most overlooked one as well as the one with the most potential of causing health issues. It is so easy to forget about sleep because you can simply work when you want to. You see it all the time with people talking how they were up until 4am working on something yet at 8am they’re right back online again. You can and will run yourself into the ground like this at some point and it’s well documented that lack of sleep over extended periods of time leads to health issues.
Bottom line is working from home is a fantastic way to make a living. The benefits can far outweigh the risks, but you have to be aware of the potential issues that come with it and be prepared to set up a plan to mitigate them.
