Making The Work at Home Decision

What We’re All About

Agents who work at home (or W@HA) are a growing population of the working world. As more and more people want to spend time with their children AND need to bring in an income, there has been a boom in the work at home industry. Making the decision to work at home is not always an easy one. Before you decide that being a W@HA is right for you, you need to take a few things into account.

You’ll need to decide if being a W@HA is right for you and your family. There are many benefits to working out of the home. You can set your own hours, you don’t have to commute to work and you can be there for your kids when they need you. However, there are some downsides as well. The isolation of working at home can be an issue for some folks. There are also challenges related to juggling work time and family time.  

You’ll also have to look at the impact that working from home will have on your family’s financial situation. If you are moving from a high-paying full time job to working part time from home while you care for your children, there will definitely be some financial adjustments needed. However, whatever your cut in pay will be, you have to weigh that versus the costs of putting your children into daycare full time. Although it may seem like your work at home pay will be minimal compared to your full time out of the home job, you need to consider how much it will cost for daycare. If you can make an equal amount of money or more by working part time from home and taking care of your child yourself, it is well worth it financially to stay at home.

However, some people see that raising their child without the use of daycare, whether or not they make a significant income, is the real benefit of being a W@HA. The perks of raising your own child, while still bringing in money for the family, are many. Children are only young once, and being able to stay at home with them is one of the top reasons that folks choose a work at home career.

There are also several qualities that make a W@HA successful. Before you start working at home, evaluate whether you have these qualities or can develop them.

Working at home normally fits into two different categories. You can either work for a company or you can work for yourself. Either way, you are going to have more control of your own schedule. You’ll need to be extremely self-motivated and work well without having a supervisory presence in your work environment. Even those who choose to work for a company are responsible for scheduling their own time and meeting deadlines without a lot of input from supervisors.

Another important skill to have as a W@HA is time management. When you work out of your home, you are confronted with two sets of challenges each day. You’ll be faced with the work you need to get done, but you’ll also be in the midst of your household, where there are always things that need to be done. If you focus too much on your work, your house will get out of control, and vice versa. Having good time management skills will help you tackle the diverse challenges of being a W@HA.

Making the decision to become a W@HA requires a lot of thought and consideration. If you are thinking about working from home because you are having a baby, or because you are tired of sending your children to daycare, take some time to write down the pros and cons of becoming a W@HA. Talk things over with your family to ensure that you are making the right decision for the family unit. There are plenty of resources here at The Work@Home Academy for people who are looking to find out more about the realities of working at home. Once you have researched working from home and the types of businesses you can start, you can make an informed decision.