It's been a busy week at work. Problems, deadlines, projects. You have fallen behind on the paperwork so you throw it in your briefcase and take it home to work on after dinner. This is what is considered taking your work home. Unless you have a formal arrangement this is basically work done without further compensation.
In May 2004, 20.7 million persons usually did some work at home as part of their primary job, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Among the most likely to work at home, from an industry perspective, are those employed in the professional, business, financial, educational, and health services. Nearly two-thirds of persons who usually worked at home were employed in these occupations as opposed to only 3% of workers in production, transportation, and material handling. About 1 in 5 sales workers usually worked from home.
What does this mean for you? If you are determined to find a way to work from home you might need to consider a shift in the industry you currently work in. It can be scary to not only try to work from home but also start out in a new field. Great care and consideration will need to go into such a decision.
Let's take this a bit further. About one-third of persons who usually worked at home in May 2004 were self-employed. Of the 7.0 million self-employed persons who worked at home, two-thirds had a home-based business. About 45% of those were in management, professional, and sales related occupations with 18% being employed in the construction industry.
The demographics show that women and men were about equally likely to work at home in 2004 and those with bachelor's degree or higher were more than 6 times more likely to work at home as those without a high school diploma. Of course this goes hand in hand with the occupations that are available to those with degrees.
Again, if you are determined to work from home you will want to engage in a plan to prepare yourself to be able to do so. Look into furthering your education, adding to your skills set, changing careers, or starting your own business.
Don't just dream about the possibility of working from home. Prepare yourself. Make plans. Network. Improve your skills. Even if you don't get immediately rewarded with a great work-from-home opportunity you will be ready when one does come along.
Marta, I'd love to learn more about the kinds of plans you think a person should make in preparation for a work-from-home job. I know firsthand there's a big difference between taking your work home and working from home. With a computer and Web connection at home, I can work for Know More Media without leaving my house. But that doesn't mean it's easy to "come home" from work all the time - even though my family is right there in the room with me, I still have to say, "Okay, that's it - I'm done for the day. Work hat off, hubby/daddy hat on."
Five ways people can prepare to work from home:
1 - Practice using the Web, cell phones, and other devices that make working from home possible or easier
2 - Read constantly (from sites like yours!) about what kinds of opportunities are available
3 - Actively look for jobs offering work from home opportunities
4 - Continually think of things you can do on your own to work from home
5 - Talk to people who work from home. Hey you've got quite a few friends at Know More Media who could tell you all about it.
Hope these ideas fuel more thoughts for ya. You da momma!
Posted by: Easton Ellsworth | January 10, 2006 8:29 AM | Permalink to Comment