Does Anyone Here Work From Home?

[romantico]

I was just curious if anyone here works from their home. If so,can you tell me how you found your work and how you enjoy it? I've been unemployed for about 3 months and money is really starting to get tight. I would love to be able to work from my home.I think I could put in more hours if I was able to work from home. Just curious if anyone can offer any advice or share their experiences with home employment.Many thanks!

[Chan790]

1. I do some.

The simplest way, if you live in a biggish city or major suburb, is to simply figure out what you know how to do and hang out a shingle/post a $10 ad on Craigslist.

I tutor writers...people who want to write better for work, students trying to improve performance or college essays, people who simply want to pleasure-writer better.

$50/week for 2-hours and an invite to my weekly writer's circle. 3 clients is enough to cover my rent on my apartment and I work out of Starbucks or out-call. DC-Metro only, public-transit accessible. (I do prep-work/review on the bus.)

[romantico]

2. Thanks!

Thanks. I was thinking more of something to do on the internet. I use to work with a lady who worked for either ebay or Amazon. She worked from home and answered questions in customer support.She picked her hours and made decent money. I lost contact with her but would like to look into something like that. Thanks again.

[Catlover827]

3. I used to do medical transcription from home

I don't really know how that business is now - I think there's a lot of outsourcing to India, etc. It worked out really well, though.

I actually still work from home now, but am an attorney.

[mike_c]

4. I work from home just about as much as I work from the office...

...but my circumstances won't be of much use to you, most likely. "How I did it" was five years of grad school, a one-year post-doctoral research gig, and two national job searches for tenure track university faculty work, followed by eight years of pre-tenure nose grinding. Now, as long as I show up on campus for meetings, classes, and office hrs, WHERE I do the rest-- which is 10-12 hrs a day, 6-7 days a week during the academic year-- is pretty much up to me. Not counting DU time, of course! :evilgrin:

[applegrove]

5. You mean Skinner isn't just 7 years late with my pay? What! I'm not getting paid for my work on the

DU!

[seaglass]

6. I work ft from home. This is my second job that I've had that was home based.

I was a project manager for Amex in my first at home job. I lucked into my 2nd at home job by first temping and then becoming a ft employee (PM) for a small company that already had a lot of home based employees.

I have pretty much worked out of my home since the mid 90's (excluding a 3 yr period of unemployment).

What is your work background? I feel like call-center type positions can really work for at home. I worked in travel for a number of years and I know right now there are companies out there looking for travel agents to work out of their homes - normally supporting corporate customers and often off-hours (not 1st shift). I have to believe there are a number of other industries especially those offering after hours service that would have home based positions or possibly east coast companies that want to support customers after 5pm EST. So there is some direction.

If you have any specific questions I'd be happy to answer for you if I can.

[Shagbark Hickory]

7. I work from home but it but it's really not the type of business that lends itself to a residential

location.

took a lot of ingenuity to get my operation to work in a residential setting. It never ceases to amaze people that see it although it does require a great deal of space. And I'm coming to the realization I will soon need more space than I started out with in a commercial location as the business has grown quite a bit over the past 9 or so years that it's been operating from a residential location.

On a personal level, you have the opportunity to be more productive (or not). The flip side is you may end up becoming a workoholic and get burned out quickly if you don't stick to a more or less similar work schedule that you would have if you didn't work from home.

It can be a little awkward if you need have employees. More awkward for them.

I still have to drive more than I'd like but for most people that work at home this is not an issue.
Shipping is a big factor. Since 100% has to be delivered in person or shipped, that accounts for a huge portion of the expenses. People want to come pick stuff up constantly and have to be persuaded to wait for delivery. There's also the issue of freight deliveries and large shipments.

To think it all started with an argument with the landlord over a bush. A bush that was cut in the rear of the building so that deliveries could be made without have a branch shoved up everyones ass. The landlord was an a-hole. At the time commercial rents in the area were sky high. The most affordable rent I could find was in an old house on a busy intersection. The lease terms were not favorable so I said what the hell, I'll try it from home. If it can work in that old house then why not.

[Throd]

8. Been working from home for 8 years now.

The daily commute from Long Beach to Anaheim was the catalyst. I left part of my soul on the 91.

Now my commute is walking downstairs, grabbing a cup of coffee, and disappearing into the office where I work as a designer in the signage industry. I can wear an old t-shirt and ratty jeans and listen to whatever I want on the radio. The downside is that I am never truly away from work and get phones calls anywhere from 5 am to 8 pm.

Working this way has its risks, but I have been fortunate to have steady work all the while. Cash flow can be a problem. Right now I have about $6000 out there in billing but only 5 bucks in my wallet.

Give it a shot!

[csziggy]

9. Here is an old thread about working from home possibilities

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=213&topic_id=7297&mesg_id=7297

[ohheckyeah]

11. Thanks for posting this...

it saved me the trouble of finding it or redoing the whole thing. Livework has gone out of business but Leapforce, Butler Hill and Workforce Logic are very much like Lionbridge.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

10. I'm a Japanese-English translator, not a job open to everyone, admittedly

but I've been working out of a home office for 18 years now.

[romantico]

12. WOW!

WOW! Thanks for all the helpful responses! I worked in food prep so I am basically looking for something new/different. I'm a pretty fast typist and was hoping to find something like data processing or writing reports or something. I know some people who think working from home would be great for all the wrong reasons.Work in your pajamas.Save on gas. Not having to go out in a snow blizzard or heavy rain storm,etc. With me I think I would actually be more willing to work longer hours from my home vs. commuting to and from work. As I get older I've noticed concentration is harder. I work better alone and when it is quiet. I like to write stories and have even written a couple screenplays. I find it relaxing but found I work best when it is totally quiet. I sometimes even have to disconnect my phone and turn my cell phone off to make sure I am not disturbed.Kind of like Jack Nicholson in THE SHINNING I guess,just less intense.(LOL)

I'll be sure to read that older post over and if anyone else has any other suggestions or other experiences they wish to share,please feel free.Thanks again for the replies!

[romantico]

13. Bump

Shameless bump for the evening!

[riderinthestorm]

18. Farmer/boarding horse barn owner/trainer so I'm home working 24/7

That said, a thriving side business can be made growing artisanal food for restaurants. Not sure how much space you have but many people have made a fair bit of cash from a backyard garden growing fresh herbs or even flowers and plants (thinking along the lines of hostas that are split annually, repotted and sold for $3/pot). If you were into food prep than you know that cooks are always looking for high quality produce. Farmer's markets or even going door to door can easily net you some extra cash. We grow veggies for my sister's organic restaurant/catering business, and sell the rest at our local green market. It's a "side business" to our horse business but still, every bit helps. If you have a green thumb, you can even do it in containers on a patio.

My work with the horses is pretty fairly lucrative but we've been into it for 25 years now and own a 40 horse barn on the outskirts of Chicago. Pretty hard to 'break into", and very labor intensive.

Good luck!

[mreilly]

14. I do occasionally

... I'm an IT guy who is more of a project planner/manager than a fix-it Help Desk guy (thank God) and so I can do 90% of my job from home (although as it turns out I generally work from home one day per month or less). In fact, I've set up my home office and cubicle at work so they're almost exactly the same; dual screens, fast PC, headset and webcam for conferencing, etc. I am completely paperless and think I could do most of my work anywhere.

That being said, there are times I'm more productive at home (especially when focusing on a project and avoiding the interruptions - the Godforsaken, miserable, unending interruptions) but usually the office is a better place for me to be if I really want to crank out the work. It just seems more disciplined there, and when I'm home I'm a bit more distracted because, hey, nobody can see me goof off for fifteen minutes playing Scrabble online, or reorganizing my multimedia files. At home I'm bothered sometimes by seeing a cobweb that needs cleaning up, or I go upstairs to get coffee and have a lengthy conversation with the wife. Worst of all, I work in a basement office with a fridge in the other room, and the fridge has beer which calls to me from 3 to 5 pm. Et cetera. I admit I could be a lot tougher about self-discipline - that's what you really need to make it in a home office - but since I do the work from home rarely I would say I haven't had much time to develop that skill. I hope to do so in the future, as I would also like to be able to be productive working from home 1-3 days per week.

[kwiland]

15. Does Anyone Here Work From Home?

I've worked at home for a little over a year now. I absolutely love it. But it's not for everyone, and working at home has its downside, too. That said, I'd never want to have to work in an office again.

If you are a people person, and enjoy having friendships at work, and feeling part of a team, work at home is not for you. At times you can feel isolated and alone. This can be overcome if your team or co-workers use things like IMs, chat, etc to keep in touch.

You might not get a lot of 'face time' with management. Depending on how your company works, this may hinder you in chances for promotion and advancement. You'll mostly be judged by numbers, and what you produce. My employer does work at home very well, so I don't feel like my chances for advancement are hindered by working at home.

Keeping home/work separate can be hard. If you have a job where you need to be focused, intent, and highly productive, working at home can present issues. Do you have dogs that bark? What about kids? Can you have a space where you close the door and not be bothered? What if you have repairs or renovations in your home? Will they distract you? When I first started working at home, I felt obligated to do "home things", like cleaning, chores, cooking dinner, etc. My productivity suffered until I was able to tell myself that if I was in the office, I'd not be cleaning and cooking, so I don't really need to be doing those things during work hours. But it's hard when you think "I'm already home, I might as well do this".

With that said, I absolutely love working at home, and I'd never, ever want to go back to working in an office. The obvious perks are that I have no commute, pay less for gas, don't need as many work clothes, and don't need to have my daughter in after-school day care. It saves me a lot of money. I also can eat lunch at home, which saves a lot. Having the extra time with my family is important to me. I also can work more hours because I don't have to commute. I am, now, able to keep work/home separate, and I'm highly productive. And being able to work in my jammies is reward enough!

So, think about it carefully. You might absolutely hate it. Or, you might love it as much as I do.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

16. For me, a key factor in making work at home possible is having some other place to go

within easy walking distance when the walls of my apartment start to close in on me.

In my neighborhood, I can pack up the laptop and walk one block west to an outpost of a locally-owned coffee chain that has free Wi-Fi, or, on really beautiful days, walk one block south to a locally-owned ice cream shop that has an outdoor courtyard with free Wi-Fi.

I think it would be really hard to work at home if I lived in the typical suburban subdivision and had to drive to find other human beings during the day.

Also, since I have no onsite workmates to socialize with (and depending on the workplace, that perk is overrated), I have to make an effort to find social outlets. I sing in a church choir, volunteer for various things, and take water aerobics classes in real life and network with fellow translators online.

[raccoon]

22. IMO and IME, that perk is overrated MOST of the time.

"onsite workmates to socialize with (and depending on the workplace, that perk is overrated),"

[Auggie]

17. Since 1996

Freelance advertising creative and design

[romantico]

19. I

I think I will check out some of the names from the other DU post tomorrow. Thanks again to everyone who replied.

[abbeyco]

20. I have been since 2005 and love it!

I work for a consulting firm and our work model is the virtual employee - they provide our computers, pay for internet, phone & mobile phone and I do 90% of my work from my home office. Daily I host Webex meetings and client conference calls and travel to my client sites when required.

I do tend to work more hours but I also have a huge degree of freedom, too. I get up and have a morning routine just like when I was an office worker, the only difference is my commute is down the stairs to my office instead of by highway 10 miles away.

If it's something you can get into, I highly recommend working from home - it really rocks!

[sfpcjock]

21. You could use a niche of what you know uniquely (or rarely) how to do

I sold specialized programming software on Ebay to start with years ago. I was able to add in MS Office special editions because I had a detailed knowledge those two products. I stumbled onto a corporate license for it and put it on laptops which added value to them.

Later I rehabbed old Sony super-light laptops when I figured out how to pry the tops off the chassis's and service the parts. Everything inside them was fairly standard, and people wanted the light laptops instead of so-called "wonder bricks".

The margins are best in software because it is technically a form of publishing. Anything in publishing would be good.

Now you could probably use cheaper ads on Craig's List as someone said.