When even a raise, promotion and corner office cannot compete with the sweet possibility of working from home in your favorite fluffy slippers, you’ve got the telecommuting bug – and honey, you’ve got it bad! But don’t tear up your time card before considering these make or break factors about working from home.
Is Working from Home Right For You?
As cushy telecommuting seems, it is in fact a lifestyle choice which is fettered with hidden challenges and definitely not for everyone.
Here are a few critical factors to consider before taking the leap.
1. Lack of Structure & Team Dynamic
Without a nit-picking boss, peering over your shoulder, a team that’s depending on you or the blind ambition of the new recruits who’s making an open play for your job, would you be able to stay on your game?
Most of us would reconsider here already when we realize that our sense of urgency and attention to detail is primarily fueled by that very claustrophobic environment in which we’ve managed to excel for the last few years.
2. Organization & Motivation:
Are you organized and self-motivated or do you need the occasional push from your manager or an incentive to get you going?
Without these sort of motivators, some of us would happily float around the office exchanging gossip and hair stylists numbers without getting a stitch done.
3. Distraction Resistance (A.K.A: Self-Discipline)
Are you self-disciplined and able to resist the urge to waste away valuable production time to making unnecessary personal calls, surf the net for holiday destinations and watch every YouTube link that lands in your inbox?
You’ll have to man up to the truth if you’re short in this department, because lets face it, if you haven’t really cracked this under the watchful eye of a supervisor, or with the threat of being passed over for promotion always looming over your head, chances are slim that things are going to change when all these things are out of the equation. In other words, you’ll go hungry – don’t quit your job!
4. I’m In My PJ’s but Really I’m At Work!
How supportive, sensitive or savvy are your friends and family with regards to you working from home and how much of a sucker are you for people who steal time?
Arguably the most critical factor since you can be certain that you’ll face a landslide of stubbornly ignorant visitors who just don’t get that you’re actually working.
5. Tools, Utilities & Contingency
You’ll no longer have the luxury of company provided, serviced and repaired equipment and utilities and no support staff fairies to call on when things need trouble shooting.
No IT help-desk, PC/printer technician and more access to pricey corporate software that made you productivity whizz in your company. Even if you’ve got all your need, make sure you have a contingency plan in place if things go wrong in a crisis.