The Dangers Of Working From Home

Posted on 23. Jul, 2008 by DeanHunt in Self Improvement

I have been working from home for almost five years now, and there are many benefits… but there are also many unseen dangers, today I am going to shed some light on a few of them.

Always Being At Work

The main problem with working from home is that you are technically always at work. It becomes very hard for your mind to seperate your leisure time and your work time, and this can result in Internet addiction, checking emails every 10 mins, and using the computer during non-working hours.

Physical Fitness

Sitting on your ass for 8+ hours per day is never a good recipe for physical fitness… if you do work from home, then aim to take up a sport as a hobby. Golf, tennis, running,  swimming or football are all ideal options.

Also, aim to do a 20 min walk in the morning, and 20 mins in the evening, this will not only help keep you fit, but it will reset and help your mind.

Motivation and Procrastination

This is an area I used to struggle with quite a lot… when you are on your own, working from home, it can be easy to slip into procrastination mode.

I beat this by setting attainable weekly goals, and breaking them down into small chunks.

Also, aim to just get started, as starting is often the hardest part.

Distractions

This is especially a worry if you have children. I know many entrepreneurs who could no longer work from home once they had a child…. afterall, little Timmy won’t understand that you can’t play with him because you are trying to lower your Google Quality Score.

If you do work from home and have a baby or young child, I strongly suggest you look at getting an office instead.

Other distractions come in the form of phone calls, the front door, the mail man etc…

Not Real Work

Despite working from home being more popular than ever before, a lot of people still don’t see it as “real work”, afterall, if you don’t have blisters on your feet and an aching back, then surely it can’t be work?!?

The problem with this is that people will call you, and ask favours, as though you are not working…

For example, I was once asked to drop someone off at the airport, despite the fact that I was working that afternoon… we suggested another family member to do it instead, and got the reply “he can’t do it, he is at work”.

To other people, working from home means you have a license to do what you want, when you want… so be very careful.

Rise and Shine

Nobody likes getting up at 7am, but most of us have to do it, or we get sacked… but working from home will often give you some degree of flexibility… be careful that you don’t take advantage of this too much, as waking up at 10:am+ can easily be done.

I recently fixed this by being accountable to someone else at 8am each morning… so arrange a chat or meeting with someone, and you will have to get up on time.

Alternatively, you can work late into the night like I normally do, thus giving you license to start a little later.

Getting To Sleep

Again, the fact that you are always at work means it becomes hard to shut down… and often I will go to bd just 2 mins after reading emails… this means that I am in bed thinking of work, and this prevents me from getting to sleep on time.

To avoid this, make sure you don’t use your PC within an hour of getting ready for bed. the Internet will still be here in the morning.

Summary

I love working from home, but it is not the paradise that many people presume it is. Avoid these dangers, and you too can enjoy working from home for many years to come.