Challenges of Working From Home

As I get to "know" people at Wealthy Affiliate, I see on a lot of profiles the desire to be able to give up jobs outside the home and stay at home to build a successful online business.

There are definite benefits to being able to work from home. You can make your own schedule; you are your own boss; there is no time wasted commuting; you are not interrupted all the time by co-workers; and you can collaborate with people no matter where their location.

However, working from home can also present some challenges. These are some things to consider:

• you need to find a way to separate work from your personal life. For example, today, I am trying to finish a long research post, but I have been distracted by interruptions from family, which would not have happened if I were working outside the home. However, more often than not, my issue with separation of work and personal life runs the other way, where I do a poor job of stopping work to balance with personal time. Although I haven't fully resolved this for myself, one idea is to schedule activities at the end of the day so you ensure that you stop working.
• you have to be self-motivated. Being your own boss is great, but there is no one to correct you if you are frittering away time and not meeting deadlines. Some people get distracted too easily. One option to deal with that is making a daily agenda and sticking to it.
• you do not have a lot of social interaction. Some may argue that we have a great deal of social interaction at Wealthy Affiliate, or at least can choose to be social. However, some people struggle with the lack of face to face with others when they work at home, as communication with others is mostly asynchronous.

Although I don't have it all in balance yet, and some days am more successful than others, I think being able to run a business from home is a true blessing. I look forward to building my online business, so that it is something I can do full-time, as it seems that the benefits definitely outweigh the challenges and the challenges can be managed when you are aware of them.