Six years ago, Jeremy Anderson began working from his home office. Here are the three biggest benefits of his set up.
No commute
Ditching my daily 90-minute commute is always at the top. The freedom I have experienced by gaining that time back everyday is immeasurable. Having this extra time has enabled me to pursue my own fitness goals on my schedule. I’ve been able to coach my daughters’ softball team, when other parents are stuck in traffic trying to get home from the office. I’ve been able to put in extra hours working to complete an important project and not let time spent with my family suffer. I’ve also taken one car off of the road and have not contributed to the gridlock that sometimes grips our city.
Home from school
Also at the top of my list, is being home when my kids get home from school and over the summer. My kids are older now, my son is 19 and my daughter is 14, but working from my home office and being present during the day is important for kids at any age. When they were younger I could help them with making lunches, getting them to play dates and helping to resolve arguments. Now that they are older, my role has changed from ‘parenting’ during the day to more of a ‘consulting’ role. They are more self sufficient now, but I’m still around to discuss with my son his plans for the evening or take my daughter and her friends to the mall. I’ve found that it does get easier working from home as your kids get older.
Fewer distractions
Another benefit that always comes to mind when I think about the freedom of working from home is the lack of office distractions. We’ve all had the co-worker who just happens to stroll by our cubicle and ends up spending a half an hour telling us about their weekend plans, or how much work they have to do. Office politics can also become a major distraction in a traditional office setting. This is not to say that a home office is free from distractions. Having a dedicated office space with a door is a must. Also, setting up ground rules if you have kids in the house is also paramount.
I’ve experience a better quality of life and a more productive and higher quality of my work since I have the freedom to work from my home office. Here comes that co-worker I mentioned earlier, however, this co-worker (my trusty beagle!) just wants to take a short walk around the block, then it’s back to work!
—photo by audreyjm529/flickr