With the work from home trend gaining wider acceptance, it is no longer regarded as a ‘soft’ option.  If you hate starting your Monday morning stuck in a bumper to bumper traffic jam, dreading the company of annoying co-workers, this option may work out perfectly for you. However, like everything that sounds too good to be true, this too comes with some fine print conditions. Before making up your mind to quit your full-time job to work from home, make sure you have assessed the pros and cons in detail. Over the next two posts, we introduce you to some reasons why work from home may be the best option for you, and some reasons as to why it may not work for you. Happy reading!

1. More Flexibility: You will be able to work at your own pace, more or less. If you have kids or pets to look after this may be a great option for you. You can tend to your household chores in your self-awarded work breaks, and will be able to spend more time with your family. You may work in your jammies if you feel like it, no one will ask you not to. You can even binge eat while you work (maybe not such a great idea!). Essentially, you will have a lot more freedom in planning and executing your schedule.

2. No Commuting: This may be nothing short of a blessing for many of us who detest wasting hours of our precious time amidst blaring horns and toxic air. Working from home would mean saving those hours wasted stuck on the road. In other words, your life decisions will not have to be planned according to the “rush hours”.

3. Family Time: If you’ve always felt like you are constantly having to cut down on your family time because of your crazy work hours, you will now have more time to spend with your family. Work can get very stressful when your mind is constantly on what is happening back home, if your kids or your aging parents are fine and safe. This way, you will know for sure they are fine, can keep an eye on them and still get your work done.

 4. Economical: Working from home can help you save a lot of cash. You will save on transport expense, wardrobe expenses, food and unnecessary expenses because of workplace obligations (lunches, birthdays of people you don’t even know). Moreover, if you happen to be the founder of your own start up, working from home will also mean not having to pay the cost/rent for a whole separate establishment. You can manage your company or team remotely with as much ease or even more.

 5. Privacy: Once again, a lot of us simply long for this to become a reality for us. In a previous post, we mentioned how being “cubicled” is a “professional reality”. Working from home could be a boost for your productivity since you will not have to entertain or deal with annoying and nosy co-workers who keep inhibiting your progress through their nagging presence! You can work peacefully at your desk (or your own favourite work zone) and in an environment, familiar to you.

Hold on before you make the decision already, wait for our next post on maybe why quitting your full time job to work from home may not be that great an idea after all!