Telecommute: The Benefits of Working Almost Anywhere

What does it mean to telecommute? There is a difference between telecommuting and working from home as a contractor. Telecommuting is when you work for someone else, but you take your job home and work from there. However, being self-employed or being a contractor means you work from home for yourself with no boss. When you work from home as an independent contractor, you can enjoy the benefits of being your own boss.

Not only are there benefits of being your own boss, but there are benefits of telecommuting jobs as well. Although the two terms are different, they are almost the same since you are working from home. The difference is, when you telecommute, you still have a boss to answer to. However, when you are self-employed, you only respond to yourself.

Telecommute Can Work for Anyone

If you decide to telecommute, you can make it work for you. One thing is for sure though; you will need your own office space. Preferably one where you can close and lock the door. If you have a husband or wife and children and even pets, you will need to let them know that when you are home to work, you are not to be bothered. Working from home isn’t as easy as anyone thinks. It isn’t the same as going to an outside of the home job where no one will bother you because they know when your office door is shut and may be locked, you are to be left alone. It should be this way when you are telecommuting. Especially when you have to take a call from someone you work with, or even your boss at the office.

Not only do you need your own office space to be able to get your work done privately, but you will need office equipment as well. This includes a computer with the Internet, perhaps for research, phone for calls with your boss or a conference call with everyone you work with, a four-in-one printer that comes with a fax machine, a scanner, a copier, and of course, the printer.

Is working from home for you?

Think about everything that goes with the joys of working from home. You can hopefully enjoy a pleasant, quiet working environment. You can stay home and be with your family. Although there are many benefits of working from home, bringing your work to home, or telecommuting, there are also disadvantages to it.

Pros and Cons of Working from Home

There are many pros and cons of working from home. Let’s first discuss the good things you can take from it.

Pros of Working From Home

• Stay at home with your family and spend more time with them, after work though
• Work in your pajamas if you want. No one says you have to get dressed for the office.
• Take breaks when you want to.
• Eat when you want, even at your desk, but it isn’t recommended.
• Walk the dogs when they need to go outside. Just don’t take too long because, after all, you are working from home now. That still means you have to work.

Cons of Working From Home

• Getting interrupted by friends and family
• Or getting interrupted by the phone. It is suggested to turn it down or off until you need to use it.
• Procrastination is right there with you at all times. You have the Internet and the freedom to take breaks when you want. Don’t do it!
• Get interrupted by your pets wanting your attention constantly.

The main problem with working from home is that it is too easy to procrastinate as well as get interrupted by anything and everything. This is why you need to put your foot down and let everyone know that during business hours, the hours you choose, you are not available to spend time with them or do things for them.

Related: How to Stay Productive while Working from Home

Different Jobs That You Can Do from Home

Working from home has become very popular within that last many years. Many people are either telecommuting or becoming self-employed. There are a few different jobs you can do from home either telecommuting or becoming your own boss.

Professional Writer

If you have the talent and like to write different things, you can make pretty good money being a professional writer. Although you will have to start out taking low paying jobs at first, unless you are great or know someone in the industry who can move you up faster, it is worth it when you start making more money. If you find the right companies or private clients to work with, you can even pay your bills with it and live comfortably. All it takes is writing talent and joy for writing, and you are off to the races making good money.

Transcription

If you can type the words, you hear from a recording, and if you can type fast, you can make good money doing transcription. Many companies will hire new transcriptionists. They will even train you to get better at it. Once you get really good doing this type of job, you can pay your bills and live comfortably with this income as well.

Telemarketing

How about making money by talking on the phone? Does this sound like a dream job to you? This one you can either telecommute or create your own business. Either way, you can make good money if you are good at talking on the phone. However, this job isn’t for everyone so be prepared to be cursed at and hung up on. Especially if you are calling these people for a bill collector or you are trying to sell them something. Some of them may not be happy that you called while others will be nice. Like mentioned, this job isn’t for those who don’t like talking on the phone or for those who can’t take criticism.

Proofreader/Editor

You can be a proofreader/editor while writing professionally or you can do it without writing. If you do it while also writing, you will make better money. However, depending on the companies or clients you work with, you can still make money just being a proofreader and an editor. Proofreading is when you go through a document and check for errors like spelling and grammar. Editing is a little bit different because you are checking format, structure, sentence flow, and more. However, either one can be a good money maker.

Pet Sitter

Being a pet sitter is fun, especially if you are a huge animal lover. You can pet sit at your own home, or you can go to other people’s homes and watch their animals. People pay good money for someone to keep their dogs and cats for them while they are at work, school, or even on vacation. You can go through a company, or you can advertise your pet sitting services on your own and find private clients to pet sit for. This is such a fun job for those who enjoy being around animals.

Virtual Assistant

As a virtual assistant, you perform all of the services of a regular administrative assistant without having to dress up and head to the office every day. This job can pay well too. It consists of answering and making phone calls, booking appointments or flights, answering and sending emails, and much more.

Website Tester

Companies will pay you pretty well to test their websites for them. The reason why they want their site examined is to make sure it works right, loads fast enough, and is easy on the eyes. They also want to make sure it can be navigated quickly enough without having to search for everything. If none of these things are right or some of them aren’t working right, the owners want to know because if their website is working as it should, they can expect the traffic they want and hope visitors stay longer to look around. Many companies will hire someone like you to test their website for them.

Although there are more work from home and telecommute jobs available, these are enough to get you started working your dream job from home.

 

Featured image CC by 2.0, by David Mulder, via Flickr

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