Working from Home

You ever see those advertisements selling work at home packets, guaranteeing that you can live a life of leisure so long as you have a computer. Well, I don't know about all that, but you can certainly work from home and make a decent living. Actually, you can make a lot of money if you are disciplined and have a bit of knowledge - either in medical terminology or medical billing. I know this because I have been working from home for over seven years now.

There are pros and cons to working from home. Everyone thinks it is a paradise - the perfect situation. It's not. You really have to be disciplined. You must make yourself work for a certain number of hours or until a certain amount of work is complete. You must do this day after day. You do not interact with other co-workers. My interaction with co-workers has consisted primarily of e-mails and a few phone calls. I once went up for a training at one company I was doing work for and that was really great - seeing all those nice people. You do really miss people. Also, for some reason, some people have this notion that you don't have a "real job." Funny, because I get paid "real money." I had an aunt ask me just this past January if I had a "real job" yet. I'm the first in the family to get a Master's and I guess having my own business just isn't good enough for someone with my level of education to them. Sucks being them, because this suits me just fine.

Okay, now the pluses ... I've owned businesses since I was 23. Working at home is the best because you can do little things like take a break and throw in a load of laundry (which I just did!). I can work unshowered and in my pajamas, if I am so inclined. I pay no money to commute to work. I love the challenge of working faster and more efficiently because I get paid not by the hour, but by how much I produce.

Working from home just isn't for everyone. If you have children who aren't in school yet or daycare, this isn't going to work. If you aren't someone who can resist the temptations of your home to make yourself work consistently everyday, you're out too. But, I do think that working from home is definitely an option for a lot of educated people unsure of what to do for a career.