Why You Should Work Online From Home

An average of 5.4 million people are unemployed in America as at February 2012^A. Businesses are closing their doors, workers are becoming redundant, and employees have no choice but to take a cut in their pay. I was working at a finance company until late last year when the business had to close its doors because of the slow turnover of its finances. I have been working online before I had even started that job and I had continued working online while I had that job. (Business was slow so I had plenty of time to write.) When the offices had closed, I easily transitioned into working online full time as a freelance writer.

For most people it was not that easy. There is still a stigma attached to working online in a few places. Some people still believe that it cannot be possible or profitable. Then there are those who are fascinated by the idea of it and are longing to find out more about it and start to work online from home.

Like anything else, there are pros and cons to working from home. The advantages of working online from home however far outweigh the disadvantages. The following are reasons why you should work online from home.

All of us can name at least one thing we did not, or do not, like about our bosses. That is OK; after all, they are humans as well. However, can you imagine not having to be told what to do, when to do it, how to do it? Do you want to be able to take control of how you want to work? By being your own boss, you can decide what tasks to do and how best to do the task.

When you work online, you no longer need to worry about how you will tell your boss that you had made a mistake on the last file. You can save that time and energy and go fix it yourself. There will not be a boss hovering and watching your every move and speculating everything you say and do.

OK, I admit that sounded bad for bosses but it is the truth. When you work online and become your own boss, there is also a down side. There will no longer be an employer to depend on to decide what needs to be done. He will not be there to tell you what the client wants and how. That will now be your job. If you are ready and able to do that, you are half-way there.

I had to wake up at the first stroke of day in order to beat the traffic and get to work on time. There were no set repercussions for me being late. In some businesses, there is a policy where an employee will face suspension after continuous tardiness. Some businesses close their doors to employees who come long after they were supposed to be there.

Now I wake up when everybody is still asleep and work then go back to sleep whenever I want to. If I do not feel like getting up, I can sleep in and start working when I am ready.

That is the beauty of working from home. You can set your own work hours. You decide when you want to start working and for how long. If you are new to working online, I would suggest you set a specific time-frame in which to work. This will help you to devote the time and effort needed to be successful. I still use a timetable to work and there is a time scheduled for each of the different jobs that I do online and offline.

When you work online from home, you no longer have to worry about catching the bus or beating the traffic to get to work. You will not need to worry about filling up the car with gas every day. By staying at home while you work, you are able to save money on gas, bus and taxi fares, tolls, and all the traveling expenses that used to filch your salary.

Not only do you save money on traveling expenses, you save money on clothing as well. If you wore a uniform, dressed casually, semi-casually, or formally to work, you will save money when you work from home. That is because you will be able to work in whatever clothes you already have. You can work in bed in your pajamas or you can wear a simple dress and flip-flops. You can even work naked if you want to. It is up to you. Either way, you will not have to buy clothes to go to work. You can dress as comfortably as you like.

When I started working at home, I realized I needed more clothes to wear in the house. I was hardly at home before so I had not realized how hot the house became in the days. Outside is even worse. They do not call it the Sunshine City for nothing. If you end up in this same predicament, it does not mean you have to splurge on clothes. What I did was make my own clothes.

There are a few stores that sell brand new clothes that were not made well enough for regular stores. They sell clothes that have not been sewn the way the manufacturer wanted, clothes that have outdated and unsellable designs, or clothes that have been damaged during manufacturing but can still be worn. Because of the conditions of these clothing, you can buy them at probably 30% of what they would have been sold for.

When you work online from home you have the option of working as little or as much as you want to. Of course, you need to be aware that the results you get and how successful you are, depends on how devoted you are to what you are doing. It is illogical to put in two hours of work and expect to get the same results as people who have been working for years to perfect their work. You are also not going to get rich overnight. If you find an online job that offers that, it most likely a scam. You might end up paying three times what you make. With the type of jobs available on the internet, you can decide if you want to work full time or part time.

Whether you are going to be working online full time or part time, you can have a sense of control over your finances. You are responsible for how much money you make or do not make. As I said before, you will get what you put in. This money can complement your regular salary if you are still going to be working at your day job.

If your employer does not deduct payments from your salary for things such as health insurance, retirement, certain taxes, or savings, you can do so yourself. Some employers do not deduct this money because of the small amount of the remaining balance or they cannot be bothered. When you have a supplementary income, you can set this money aside for savings or anything else you choose. Start a vacation savings, open a retirement savings account, put it towards your education or your children's education, and get better health insurance. The possibilities are endless.

You are working at home so you save time on traveling and waiting in the long line at the restaurants and food trucks. You no longer spend two hours in peak traffic on your way home. Think of all the time you saved by working at home. Now instead of pumping all that time back into working, take some time to enjoy yourself, to enjoy your family. Your children will really appreciate this and so will your partner. No matter what you do, do not forget to go out and socialize with other people or hang out with family. If you will be staring at a computer screen all day you will come to appreciate, talking to someone you can see and touch.

If you like meeting new people and learning about the many different cultures of the world, you can do just that without the expenses of traveling all over the world. Here on HubPages, there are writers from all over the world who have made friends, some from countries that they have never heard of. Most online job sites have a forum, where the online workers can communicate with each other. Writers visit the HubPages Forum every day to talk about things they love or what is happening around them. It is filled with information that you may never get anywhere else.

If you are using a desktop computer that may be easier said than done, but you CAN move around to work. You do not even have to have your own computer to work online. When I started working online, I did not have my own computer. I used to work on the desktop in my office (yes, my boss knew about it and he thought it was pretty cool). Even after I bought my computer, I continued to work online from my office computer, that way I did not have to travel with my laptop every day.

If you do not have your own computer, you can work on a friend's computer or at an internet café. Think twice before you use the one at work, some companies have policies against that.

With all the money and time you are saving by working at home, you will be able to participate more in things that give you pleasure. Join the community basketball or football team, Visit a local tourist area or hotspot. Spend more time on your hobby. Who knows you can probably make money from your hobby if you want to.

There are so many legitimate online jobs that there are too many to list. I will list a few of them. With all these choices, you can 'pick, chose, and refuse', what type of jobs you want to do. On the other hand, you can choose to do more than one.

If you do have your own laptop then you can take it with you wherever you go. My entire family usually gets together during the holidays. Last Christmas we all decided to go to our childhood home in the country. While everyone had to wait for the weekend or until the public holiday to head down there, I packed my laptop in my suitcase and headed out. Not only did I get there before everyone else (and was able to spend more time there) I was able to avoid the holiday traffic that everyone else had to bear out.

You can work from anywhere if you have access to a computer and the internet.