While some of us thrive on the hustle and bustle of the 9 to 5-- including the water-cooler talk, lunch with co-workers (aka: other adults), commutes, a reason to get up, get dressed and get out of the house....there are more and more people who are looking to work from home. There is an infinite number of reasons for this shift: high costs of daycare, downsizing of companies, longer commute times as our cities continue to grow, etc...But regardless of your personal reasons, the big questions remains:
TO WORK or NOT TO WORK (from home)
This is certainly not an easy decision, nor is it one anyone else can make for you. We are all wired differently and what excites and motivates one person may be another person's worst nightmare! A great book, by one of my favorite motivational speakers, Tamara Lowe, explains Motivational DNA and helps you figure out your own personal Motivational make-up, as well as those of the people around you (kids, husband, co-workers, etc....) You can find it online anywhere--it's a very informational, yet easy read!
Another thing to consider about working from home--What to do?! There are so many options, but they boil down to just a couple main categories:
Work for Someone Else (Virtual Assistant, Data Entry, Telemarketer, Transcriptionist, etc....)
OR
Work for Yourself (Independent Distributor for a retail company, Freelance work, or starting your own business (online or brick-&-mortar, in your field--whatever that is...), etc.How to do you decide which option is best for you? Where can you get honest information about legitimate opportunities? How will the current economic instability affect your career choice? What will be the effects on your family life--good and bad? What is the first step? And the second?
There really is a lot to think about...so for those of you looking for online resources to investigate, I will post some of the sites, information, and experience I found most useful as I waded through the world wide web to find what is now my personal Dream Job.