Do you work from home?

This is usually how the conversation flows, whenever I am asked about my work.

X: Do you work?

Me: Yes I do.

X: Which company?

Me: I have my own business. I am a freelance content writer and an essay editor.

X: Do you work from home? 

Me: Yes.

X: Wow, You are so lucky. It must be so good to work from your own home and not go out and work. No tension and no commute. 

Photo courtesy: Forbes.com

If I know the person well, I do go into a long winded explanation but usually I just say, it is not all luck, but involves tons of hard work.

Well for all of you who are sailing in the same boat like me, let me say this, I know exactly how it feels when people say you are lucky, because you work from home. Most of us have given up our well paying jobs to raise children, to provide a stable home, because we have health issues that do not allow us to take full time jobs or like me who had to give up countless jobs because Hubs constantly keeps moving from one city to another. I finally got fed up of hunting for work every time we moved and we have moved houses nearly 14 times in the past 13 years. I started my own content writing firm two years back.

I get upset when people think it is all fun when you work from home.

Though I agree working from home does have it upsides too:

• I don't have to get dressed, I work in my Pajamas.
• I don't have to rush in the morning to reach my work place on time.
• I don't have to bear farty bosses and rude colleagues.
• I can work when I want.
• I can work with music blaring loudly.
• I can have a snack any time I want.
• I was able to discover my passion for writing and now get paid for what I love to do.

It does have it downsides too, which most people don't bother think about. When you work from home:

• People don't take your work seriously.
• They think you are doing it for pocket money and do not consider your career choice to be a serious one.
• You never get bonus for achieving your targets and most times not even a pat on the back for a  job done well.
• It can get quite lonely when you work alone. No buddies who can perk you up when you are having a bad day. There are no birthday parties or office parties where you can let your hair down
• You don't get to dress up and go to work where your colleagues compliment you on your outfit.
• You never get to gossip with anyone in your "Chai" break
• Your work gets interrupted because you keep getting up to answer the countless number of times the doorbell rings.
• People who otherwise would not have thought of dropping in for a holiday, if you were working away from home, end up making visits because they know you are at home. You end up entertaining people on their break, when actually you should be looking for more work.
• Getting assignments is tough, you have to keep looking for work all the time. 
• If the client is rotten, you don't even get paid.
• The line between your home life and work life gets blurred.
• You get sucked up into doing household chores because they are right there in front of your eyes all the time.
• There are times when you have no work and days when it is pouring and you don't even have time to breathe.

There, I have now said it out loud and I feel much better after ranting about it. I hope that next time you meet someone, who works from home, you will think twice before you call them lucky. Cause baby, luck has got nothing to do with it, it is all hard work, sweat and tears.

Photo Courtesy: Dudelol

Do you work from home? What has been your experience?