Things you need to know if you work from home

WORKING from home offers a lot of advantages, but it’s not for everyone. Here are some things you need to know when working from home:

It can be lonely

When you work from home, you never bump into a co-worker over the coffee maker. it’s possible to replace some of that interaction over messaging systems such as Slack, but for many people eager to share a story or talk about the big game, or last night’s episode of Game of Thrones, it’s not quite the same.

It takes discipline

In an office, distractions are somewhat limited. At home, all of your stuff is there. How big a problem this is depends a lot on the nature of your job. If you, for example, have defined hours doing something that requires you to be at your desk, this is less of a problem. For those who have flexibility, however, the lure of your television, video-game console, or anything else can be strong. In addition, if you live with other people or have kids, they can also affect your ability to focus on work.

It’s hard to create boundaries

One of the advantages of going someplace to work is that at some point you leave and the workday ends. When I worked for a large technology company as the sole East Coast person on a West Coast team, that lack of separation tended to extend my workday.

I started at 7 a.m. and, in theory, got off at 3 p.m. In practice, I was always somewhat on call simply because I was home. In addition, there were often meetings held after my hours ended that I could opt to skip, but probably shouldn’t. I wasn’t always working, but I was never quite off either at least until about 9 p.m., when my West Coast bosses went home for the day. Source: Daniel B. Kline/The Motley Fool/msn.com