Did you know that there are 4.8 million self-employed people in the UK? Whether you run your own business from home or you’ve snagged a job that allows you to work remotely, there are many benefits that you can take advantage of. Being able to work from the comfort of your own home and around other commitments are usually the most popular reasons as to why people choose to do so. However, working from home isn’t as luxurious as you may think, and here are some things you should know if you’re looking to work from home rather than in an office:

You can fall out of schedule:

Having the freedom to work around other commitments such as children and your social life is an amazing bonus of being able to work from home. However, it’s easy to put tasks off while you’re having fun and this can quickly lead to falling behind on your schedule. Things happen – yourself or your kids get sick, your laptop stops working, or your internet is down and suddenly you are officially behind on all of your deadlines.

Communication isn’t as easy:

Another problem that many people face when working from home is communication with their peers or clients. Working from home means the face to face interaction pretty much goes out of the window, and this can make it much harder to secure clients or satisfy customers.

Luckily, we live in an age where communication is easier than it’s ever been, and now with a simple click of a button, you’re able to speak to someone from across the world. There are a plethora of different methods that you could use to effectively communicate with the world around you, and the same goes for your business. Working remotely no longer has to be something that secludes you off from the world, and here are 10 ways to get the most out of remote working to read so that you’re not missing out.

You’re never ‘away’ from your work station:

You could speak to pretty much anybody who works from home and they will tell you the same thing – you’re never truly away from your office! Even though you may have finished your workload for the day, you will still have lingering thoughts when you’re near or around your work station. Unlike working in a regular office or working environment, you can’t escape as easily as simply going home, because you’re already there!

It’s important to find a way of shutting yourself off from work when you’ve finished for the day. This could perhaps be by shutting the door to your office and locking it or, if you don’t have a room dedicated to an office, switching off your computer and packing your work materials away will help let it sink in that now is the time to relax.

You could be in danger:

The last thing you’d think about when working from home is that you could be in danger. After all, you’re in your safe haven! However, running a business from home will require you to list your business address for mailing purposes and this, obviously, means listing your home address for the world to see. Exposing yourself like this can be dangerous, especially if you find a disgruntled customer that wants to confront you face to face. A great way around this dilemma is by purchasing a virtual office address. Doing this means that your mail will be redirected to your home and you won’t have to worry about exposing your home address to the world.

As you can see, there are problems that come hand in hand with working at home, but when you weigh up the pros and cons, is it really worth it? Not everyone can handle feeling secluded and out of routine. But, if you get it right, it can be one of the most rewarding choices you make for your career.

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