Advantages of telecommuting, and a few disadvantages too

Telecommuting can be the answer to the prayers of a busy working mom. The ability to walk your child to the bus, or take care of them during the day rather than send them to daycare truly is the best of both worlds. The freedom to schedule your work time when you’re most productive and to not have to take a day off when a family member is ill takes a tremendous amount of pressure off of the day to day life mothers around the world deal with.

Telecommuting gives you both the freedom to work independently from the comfort of your home and the security of a regular paycheck and benefits from your employer. For the parent that doesn’t want to or cannot assume the risk of starting their own business, telecommuting is the ideal solution.

There are of course some challenges to telecommuting.

It is the Murphy ’s Law of work at home moms that when a large project is due, your child will be sick. It’s just the way it goes. This is one of the key reasons procrastinators have a difficult time telecommuting. When you’re proactive, those large projects will be easier to handle than if you’ve saved it for the last possible moment because then your child will be REALLY sick.

Working an eight hour schedule around a child’s, sleeping, eating, playing schedule is a trick that even the best magicians struggle with. It can be done. Many telecommuters make it happen each and every day. It takes patience, devotion, and a commitment to organization and a structured routine.

Those anticipated extra hours in the day will be filled faster than you can say ‘no commute’ and you’ll still be looking for more hours in the day. Yes, removing your commute from your day will add a bit of extra time to your day, however the tendency to work more when you’re at home to prove yourself to your employer will quickly eat them up. Additionally, if you start taking on extra work you’ll be working more than you used to.

The pay off is that you’ll be working in large part, on your own terms. Yes, you still have an employer to satisfy, however your schedule is yours. If you want to work for three hours in the morning and then take a walk outside with your child you can. The majority of the challenges of working from home are balanced by the tremendous benefits. That being said, there are some disadvantages to telecommuting that need to be addressed.

So what are the disadvantages of telecommuting?
The largest disadvantage to telecommuting is the lack of social interaction. For some this is a deal breaker. Many people, even people who do not enjoy their job, enjoy the workplace environment and the social interaction. When you telecommute, the majority of the social interaction is gone. Yes, phone calls and emails are still a part of your day however if you look forward to the water cooler chat about American Idol or the last Lost episode then telecommuting may not be for you.

Another potential disadvantage is that structure and motivation are yours to create. If structure isn’t something you excel at then telecommuting may be more of a challenge than you’d like.

All things considered telecommuting is a fantastic solution to parents who want or need to continue working and want to be home with their families. It is a growing trend in the workplace and employers are really beginning to recognize the value of productive and happy employees. To your success!