3 things no one told you about working from home
Written by ForeignExchange Translations on Friday, March 26, 2010
This guest post is contributed by Ashley M. Jones, who writes on the topic of pharmacy technician certification. She welcomes your comments at her email id: ashleym.jones643@gmail.com.
If you want to become a medical translator or transcriptionist, you are probably going to be working from home because it's the most convenient thing to do. It makes financial sense for you and your employer and is a great option if you're a woman with young children who need your care.
But even though working from home has a ton of perks, there are a few things you need to be aware of before you choose this professional option, things that no one will tell you because they want you to believe that work-at-home jobs are a bed of roses:
- You require tremendous will power: When you work with little or no supervision, you tend to get distracted easily, especially with the easy access to the television and the Internet. So you require tremendous will power to be able to push aside these diversions from work and concentrate on the task at hand so that you do justice to your job. The best way to do this is to set a routine (even though your schedule is flexible) and stick to it every day, no matter what. Just pretend your work space is the office and work as if you were being supervised.
- People may not take you seriously: When you tend to spend the whole day in your pajamas or in casual clothes because you don't have to get dressed to go to work (and you want to be as comfortable as possible), people don't consider what you do as "a job". They look at you and think you're having a wonderful time, waking up late, working when you please, and not having someone look over your shoulder when you work or having to answer to a boss. They don't realize that your job is just as demanding as the one they do, if not more. So if you're ready to work at home, be ready to disregard this perception as well.
- Your social life suffers: And finally, unless you make it a point to get out and meet friends and family members once every few days, you'll find that working from home kills your social life. You don't get to meet or interact with other professionals in your field too because you're cooped up at home. And when all your communication is online, you slowly lose your people skills and become a sort of hermit. So ensure that you set aside the weekends to meet and socialize with your friends, family members, and others who work in your profession (so that you can broaden your horizons and improve your knowledge).
9 Comments:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tremendous will power? That's what I needed not to strangle coworkers who were rude enough to wander into my office with lit cigarettes. Left alone I can concentrate so well on tasks that I become unaware of the environment beyond my scree, book or sheet of vellum.
People may not take me seriously? That's cool. Turnabout is fair play ;-)
Suffering social life? That's a fair description of life cooped up in an office full of involuntary associations. Now as a freelancer I choose the time and place of my encounters and enjoy them very much most of the time!
As for people taking me seriously, well, in my previous career I was a freelance musician, so for me, translation was a huge boost in credibility.
Where your post hits closest to home for me is with my social life. It's very easy to get cabin fever, especially in the winter. So I try and make a point of getting out of the house every chance I get. I'm not a social butterfly by any means, but I do OK. On the professional side of things, Twitter has been a huge boon in connecting with other translators.
I find the way you explain your work situation has much to do with what people perceive. "Telecommuting" or "working offsite" are much more professional sounding then "working from home", which I take care not to say.
I love working offsite and generally save important projects that need super concentration for those days.
For me, the only problem I have is knowing when to stop working. My family has become very adept at making me aware of the time.
"Mom! When's dinner?!" ;)