These days many people have to decide whether or not to use a home office or not. There’s a real trend towards telecommuting in the world of business.  Some companies will give you the choice. Other times you may be able to choose what sorts of jobs you want based on whether they will let you use a home office or not. There are obviously a lot of advantages and disadvantages to working at home through a home office, and it’s important to consider these before making any long term commitments.

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Disadvantages

Even though there are plenty of reasons to go the telecommuting route, there are definitely some downsides. Here are a few examples.

  • Social Isolation– The fact is that many people form friendships through their place of work. If you work at home by yourself, then this obvious isn’t going to happen.  Instead of just making friends naturally through work, you have to put extra effort in to make it happen. Some people will be OK with this, whereas others can find it really depressing. It ultimately comes down to personal preference. And even beyond that, if you live along it can be daunting to spend an entire day by yourself regardless of whether you have trouble meeting new people.
  • Motivation– Some people really need a boss right on hand to get them to get moving. If you’re by yourself you might not feel pressed to do anything and bad things can happen as a result. A home office might not work for people who have motivation troubles.
  • Schedule Hell– Some people find that if they don’t have to be a certain place at a certain time that their schedule gets all messed up and they have trouble sleeping and feeling OK in a day to day basis. This obviously varies based on the person, and also based on whether you need to be “logged in” at a certain time every morning anyway.

Advantages

Even with the troubles involved in telecommuting from a home office, there are a lot of aspects of the life that are unique and that some people find they can no longer live without.

  • Freedom– This can vary based on the particular situation, but if you have deadlines instead of a set schedule, you have total freedom to decide how your day will work out. This means you can respond to personal emergencies as they come instead of being stuck in an office unless your excuse is good enough. You can also take it easy getting up in the morning unless you have conference calls. You can go for coffee whenever you want, take a break at any time with no one telling you how your time has to be spent.
  • Communication Control– The ability to control exactly when you talk to other people through web conferencing, for example, can be a real boon. This is because it cuts down on random distractions from cubicle neighbors, or overhearing distracting conversations from people nearby at the water cooler.

Overall, a home office is a real benefit to many people who want lower stress in their lives. And the power of modern technology is making it more and more common these days.