Liberating though it can be, working at home isn’t all hanging out in sweats and catching up on daytime TV. Last week I presented seven drawbacks of the home-based job and readers reminded me of five more.
1. Lack of spousal support
A spouse who doesn’t respect and support what you’re doing can turn working at home into a nightmare. In a previous incarnation I had one of those. For instance, reading the papers and magazines, and now browsing the Internet is a big part of my job. But he refused to see it that way, always characterizing it as slacking around. Never mind that he was unemployed.
2. Household chores
Because you work at home, the expectation is you can do household chores, drive kids and aging parents to appointments during your down time. The reality is that down time is limited because you are on your own with no colleagues or assistants to take up the slack. Set boundaries, although it can be tough when family is involved.
3. Kids home sick
You’re home so you can just keep an eye on those sneezing, coughing, feverish kids. Then there are school holidays and snow days, which fall in the lap of the work-at-home parent.
4. Non-custodial drop off
I’ve never personally experienced this but several readers complained that their ex just drops the kids and says, “You’re at home anyway and I’ve got this big business trip so I thought you could help me out with the kids this month.” It’s a tricky situation to deal with in the absence of goodwill and strong communication.
5. Credit scarcity
Banks still look askance at the self-employed. I believe they have a secret, negative category for us. Assets, sparkling credit score and low debt to income ratio be damned, the work-at-home crowd have a tough time getting things like a business related line of credit without pledging their first born.
I’ve outlined 12 pitfalls of working at home this week and last. Even so, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
