With new ways of working comes a new way to live your life. A home and work life balance is vital in order to be happy, healthy, and basically to be able to fit everything into your schedule, without missing out on the good stuff! Many employers are wising upon flexible working options, and one which more and more people are choosing is the idea of working from home.

Now, before we get into the nitty gritty, we should mention that whilst working from home might sound like an idyllic situation, there are some rather surprising downsides too! Nothing is perfect, and just as working from and office has plus points and down points, so does having a home office. The biggest advantage has to be freedom and the lack of commuting, as well as being able to work from your PJs if you really want to, but the major downside is having to motivate yourself to actually work! It’s harder than you might think!

If you think you want to give home working at try, how can you go about it? Having a chat with your employer is the first option. See if they will allow you to either work from home on a full basis, or whether you will have to spend a set number of days in the office per week too. Check the policies of your workplace before you head in there, because that way you will know your rights and your options. Every employer has a responsibility to consider flexible working arrangements for their employees, but at the end of the day, it has to make sense for the workplace too. If that’s a no no, then how about freelancing?

Yes, working for yourself! Scary, true, but very rewarding, and very flexible. There are many things you can freelance in, either the type of job you’re doing now, or something else completely. Whilst it might take a while to build up a portfolio of clients, you can do your freelancing at evenings and weekends for the time being, before you get to a point where you can possibly quit your full time job and move into your new, flexible working role. Exciting times!

To give you a quick overview, the advantages and disadvantages of working from home are:

Advantages of Home Working

• Freedom to arrange your work around your other duties, e.g. appointments, picking the kids up from school
• No need to drive or commute to work, which actually saves you money and time
• The option of working for yourself or working as a remote worker for your existing company
• No need to go outside in the terrible weather!
• You don’t even have to get dressed for work if you don’t want to!

Disadvantages of Home Working

• It can be difficult to avoid distractions, which stop you from working
• You need to be very motivated; if you work for yourself, e.g. freelance, you have to work in order to get paid
• If your Internet isn’t very strong or you have problems, e.g. a power outage, you can’t work
• Those close to you may find it difficult to realise that you’re working, and that could lead to conflict
• Your home office needs to be somewhere separate from your regular space, e.g. bedroom or living room, otherwise you’ll never feel you’re away from work

Working from home isn’t a new thing, but it is something which is becoming more and more common, thanks to huge leaps forward in technology. If you think it’s something you’d like to try, what’s stopping you?