I Wanna Work from Home!!

Who Works from Home? Smart People, That's Who.

2013-03-06T13:49:00.000-06:00

Who works from home? Is it just stay-at-home moms, people with authority problems or social phobias… or that fat guy that just doesn't like to leave his mother's basement?

Nope.

A survey of 20,000 companies by FlexJobs, a business that provides legitimate telecommuting jobs to qualified applicants, has shown that this notion is rather inaccurate.

According to the results, a large majority of work from home employees are well-seasoned professionals who have reached a point where their main goal is to attain full creativity and control in their careers while keeping the other aspects of their life in balance. In other words, smart people who have figured out killing themselves with an "all or nothing" attitude just doesn't pay off.

The average work from home employee is actually 30-60 years of age and is extremely well-educated in his or her field. While the vast majority has at least a college degree (80%), a small percentage even has graduate degrees (35%). In addition, many work from home while working other jobs. Talk about work ethic!

And while working from home is a good way to keep commuting and daycare costs low, most choose to work from home because there is less stress which keeps them healthier and happier in the long run. A good practice that keeps life from being a hassled and harried race that makes one day to the next indistinguishable.

Also according to the survey, work from home employees are the type who prefer to keep busy, not less. Most noted that they found workplace interaction to be distracting and often disliked the way it often interrupted the opportunity to be productive. They are often more interested in the sense of satisfaction that not only comes with getting to use their skills and completing a job or task thoroughly but creating quality work.

While working from home is not a good fit for everyone, 87% reported that they favor working from home fulltime and would be disappointed if, for some reason, they had to go back to working at an onsite location.

It has been said that there is a profound satisfaction in independence. Seems that working from home is one place where that saying applies rather aptly.

Work from Home Tips: How to Get Around a Slow Internet Connection

2013-02-27T10:15:00.000-06:00

One of the benefits of working from home is being able to work from just about anywhere—and that's all thanks to the internet, something most work from home employees depend on greatly to get through their workload. But what about those times and situations you won't have the reliable or fast connection you're used to? (Like traveling to rural locations or staying with relatives who have yet to find the need for high-speed internet?) The following tips can help you make the most of a slow internet connection so you don't get slowed down yourself.

Divide and conquer! First, figure out which of your online duties require a heavy bandwidth and a light bandwidth and separate them into those two categories. Some tasks can be done even with a slow connection; however some will require a faster speed. If the majority of your work requires high bandwidth, the most responsible thing to do is either delegate them out to someone else, get them done before you leave or put them on the backburner until you get a better connection. (The first two are a much better idea if you're on a deadline.)

Change browsers. Some browsers are built for speed, so change to one that has options for low speed connections. Opera is a good choice for this. (Opera Turbo to be exact.) So that you won't be sitting there collecting cobwebs as pages upload, disable images, enlarge the cache, disable automatic updates, use fewer extensions, block ads and other Flash content and go with the HTML versions of websites. Otherwise, all you're going to do is eat up your bandwidth waiting for images and other add-ons you really don't need to upload.

Don't traumatize your browser. While it's convenient to blog or type emails from internet-based dashboards when you have high bandwidth, it will be better for you to stay away from those things and instead do your work on Microsoft Word or Notepad and transfer them over. Also, don't open more than one tab if you don't have to.

Opt for mobile sites. Some sites allow you to view a page as a mobile version. When you have the option, take it. It won't have the bells and whistles of a normal webpage but you'll still be able to get to the material you need and it won't suck down your bandwidth.

These tips can be very helpful for staying productive until you get back to civilization-- or find a place or location that offers a better connection, such as a free wi-fi spot. Hotels, coffee shops and fast food joints are good places to look for free wi-fi as well as libraries and airports if you have the option.

Examining the Work from Home Conundrum

2013-02-19T20:08:00.000-06:00

So the debate rages on.

Is it better to work from home or keep employees in the office? It may be a little bit of both.

It's no secret that businesses can save money letting employees work from home (up to $8000 a year!) and studies have shown that there is an increase in productivity from employees that have the option. However, let's not leave out that working from home is not for everyone and there are some individuals that prefer having workplace interaction with fellow co-workers.

Some feel giving employees the option to decide is a much better solution than an "either/or" stance when it comes to working from home. When an employee is given the opportunity to decide for him or herself which choice suits their working style best, there is a sense of empowerment that makes that employee feel more dedicated to their job and their employer.

There is no doubt that telecommuting is used in many forms in the modern workplace already. It's just a matter of taking it further and waiting for old styles of management to evolve and catch up with the lightning fast technology of today. Those who feel that the problems everyone else sees with working at home as conquerable are typically those who are already in the game— and have been for decades. If they could find a way to make it work even in the days before Skype, IM and high-speed internet, shouldn't a company be able to devise a management strategy that allows employees to work from home?

There is a likelihood of telecommuting becoming more common, even if the adaptation is slow in coming. Still, it kind of makes it fun to muse on what the "modern" workplace will be like 50 years from now.