Interesting! I think you're preaching to the choir here, but I wanted to come back with a few thoughts nonetheless.
Pro: Independence. You do what you want, when you want. No-one else > can screw up your hard work, and you don’t need to depend on anyone > but yourself. Your days of being told what to do are over. And there’s > no dress code, either! Many people who work from home admit to sitting > around in their pyjamas all day, or even working in the nude. > > Con: No Security. With independence, though, comes responsibility. > There’s nobody to carry you if you do badly one day – if you don’t > make any money for the business, then you don’t get paid. People like > certainty in their lives (that’s why they spend big bucks on > insurance) – it can be hard to live with this ultimate step into > performance-related pay. You might find yourself quickly wishing you > had a regular paycheque again. > Working from home and calling your own shots aren't necessarily the same thing. The most effective freelancers I've met are the ones that collaborate...and hard. They may be their own boss, but they still support a team. I also don't believe that having a full time job means security, nor does being independent mean a lack of security. My approach over the last year has been to break my cost of living down into smaller chunks, and find more sustainable ways to support those individual living needs. Client work isn't the only path to income, and when you can get out of that headspace, your world opens up. > Pro: Flexible Working. You decide your hours. If you want to take > Wednesday off and work Saturday instead, then no-one’s stopping you. > If you’d like to get up early and cram all your work into the mornings > so you can have the afternoons off, then hey, you’re the boss. Such > flexibility can be a massive relief after years of working nine to > five. > > Con: Work Never Ends. When you work from home, it can be tempting to > be constantly monitoring things, even when you’ve decided you’re not > working. The only person who can handle a crisis is you – and crises > have a tendency to happen in the middle of the night, or on your day > off. > I think this is something that coworking combats, and one of my primary reasons to start coworking. More often than not, my laptop stays at the office now. I choose when I leave the office and when I come in, if at all. But I've finally broken the habit of "finding work to do" when I should be balancing my life. Also, learning to delegate to other collaborators...who aren't necessarily your boss...can save your sanity. > Pro: Keeping All the Money. Everything you earn is yours to keep. It > can be truly disheartening to work somewhere where cash is being > handled, and realising that the takings for the day add up to a > hundred times more than you got paid. You know that someone’s getting > rich off your back, but it’s not you – working from home makes you the > fatcat at the top. > > Con: Doing Everything. Not all that money was profit, you know. It > goes on things like marketing, management, stock control, deliveries, > and so on. Suddenly you have to manage everything that goes on in your > business – you deal with suppliers on one end and customers on the > other, you have to do all the budgeting and spending, and you become > your own marketing department. You get to deal with all the fun tax > issues, too. > You're presupposition is that you're working in solitude, with no team or collaborators. I firmly believe that if you're independent and not collaborating, you're likely to fail. Pro: No More Commuting. Commuting is expensive, painful, and can feel > like a complete waste of time – just think of all the time and money > most people spend travelling to and from work. When you have a home > business, you just get up and you’re right next to your workplace – > isn’t that convenient? > > Con: One Less Room. Your house can feel a lot smaller when you’ve had > to set one room aside as your ‘home office’. When you’re not working, > it just sits there, useless, and meanwhile your kids are getting upset > at how small their bedrooms are. > Not much to argue with here...except that maybe you should check out a coworking space near you ;) > Pro: A Healthier Lifestyle. When you only have an hour’s lunch break > to do everything you need to do, you can end up running yourself into > the ground and not eating properly. Working from home lets you do your > errands when you want, and eat good food every day. > > Con: The Loneliness. If you’re the only one around in your house > during the day, it avoids distractions – but it can also feel very > lonely. If you’re the kind of person who likes being around other > people, you can start to get quite depressed. > This one's up for debate. I know I've gained a lot of weight and am much less healthy...but that's my fault, not my "jobs'" And that loneliness...well...I don't want to repeat myself :) > Having said all this I will admit to you right now that if you talk to > anyone who works from home, they’ll probably say to you that, for > them, the pros far outweigh the cons. Once you’re doing your own thing > and feeling great, it’s hard to go back to a salaried existence – and > remember, it’s far easier to work around your problems in a home > business than it is to deal with any problems you might have at work. I think the point here is that like retail and food service, working independently is something that everyone should try once, even if its just to see if it works for you. -Alex /ah indyhall.org coworking in philadelphia -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Coworking" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. 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