By Sue DiFranco
Copyright © 2001 Sue DiFranco/Fun Facts Publishing

1.      Healthy skin and hair. Now who has time to juggle hair deep conditioning and facial masks with a 40+-hour-a-week job? I mean, please. Luckily, when you work from home there’s plenty of time to let that moisturizing treatment sink in as you’re tapping on the computer (or creating products, making calls, or pretty much anything else that involves a staff of just you). The downside? Sure, I’ve got healthy hair now, but who’s going to notice it? The guy at the post office? The cashier at Staples? I better take a photo so I’ll remember these days, in case Colonel Full-Time Job yanks me back into his ranks.

2.      The house is cleaner. Huh? How’s that supposed to work when you’re supposed to be, well, working? Very simply. Do I need to tell you the exhausted horror of coming home after a looong day at work followed by a (seemingly equally long) commute, only to discover a house/apartment that hasn’t been cleaned in forever? Who wants to tackle the disposal of the leaning tower of pizza boxes, or delegate themselves to de-dirt the dishes? (I don’t care if Dawn takes the grease out of my way; I’m still the one doing the scrubbing.) Well, for some reason, being away from the mess for half the day is enough to take your mind off of it. When you’re home, like, constantly, there is no room for productivity if your environment is in disarray. (Hence the inclusion of after-hours custodial engineers at most work sites.) Somehow, cleaning is a pleasure – well, maybe not quite that enjoyable, but it’s certainly something I have more energy and incentive to do on a regular basis.

3.      Setting your own hours. I have always believed that enforced "9 to 5" type rules are simply ridiculous. (As you can imagine, this won a lot of support from my superiors.) But really now – some people are morning people, and some are night people. If you are going to insist I get to work at 9AM, I will not be mentally awake for AT LEAST two more hours and therefore will not be as productive as you would like, thus causing you to lose money. Wouldn’t it make much more sense to let people choose their own hours to better enhance productivity?  Of course it would. That’s why most people in managerial positions have never thought of it. However, in working from home, you’re allowed to (more or less) set your own hours. So you’re a morning person, eh? Well, obviously dawn is your time to clock in. I, however, will be vamping out with my laptop until the little hand gets on the 3. And no, don’t you dare ask what time I get up.

4.      Increased Energy. Now, this could have something to do with the whole setting- your-own-hours thing, but think about it: when and if you worked a fulltime job, weren’t you just exhausted? I mean, this mouth was stretched into an eternal yawn/grimace while I was Dilbert-ing my life away. Now that I’m doing what I want when I want, and best yet, am so passionate about it, I feel like someone keeps shooting me up with continual shots of Starbucks.

5.      Increased productivity. Well, duh. There’s nothing like working for yourself to really get you motivated. I mean, sure, I was pretty diligent about being productive at all of my “regular” jobs, but there was always the knowledge that my hard work and productivity was ultimately only helping the Big Guy make more dough. Yeah, yeah, I know – raises and promotions and better jobs and all that. But until you actually own your own company, you will always be the pawn of the man or woman at the top.  When you’re solely responsible for the success of your own biz, well, let’s just say your productivity tends to expand.

Read Reasons 6 through 10