The concept of working from home and therefore working online brings with it a whole host of misconceptions from those who don’t do it. How often do you log into social media and see friends moaning that they wished they worked at home? For many, working online might seem like a very cushy option, but is this really the case?
We’ve outlined several of the common misconceptions about working online and the reality of the situation.
- It’s the easy option – working online isn’t about sitting in your pyjamas on the sofa all day, those who regularly work from home will tell you that in order to make it work, you have to treat home as an office. After all, you’re doing real work – you need a real working environment to be as productive as possible.
- You can work at home with your young kids around – this image of a mum working with her two kids is typical of a misconception that work at home mums can combine work and childcare. It is not realistic. Kid’s deserve attention and work needs 100% focus, so the two don’t mix. Certainly working at home may make it easier to arrange day care or other flexible support mechanisms, but combining work and childcare at the same time is not a viable option for professional work at home mothers.
- You can get away with doing the bare minimum – again, not true. It’s a job, just like any other role you may have worked in before. Just because you’re at home doesn’t mean you’ll get away with doing less, if anything, your distance means that productivity and results will be measured even more carefully than working in an office. Technology has advanced a lot in recent years and now almost everything you do on the computer can be logged by your employer if they choose – that means there’ll be no invoicing for an extended Wikipedia session.
- Online work is not legitimate – there are plenty of adverts on the internet inviting you to “make money from your armchair” and yes, there are plenty of scams. This doesn’t mean that all online work is illegitimate; by signing up with a reputable company like Boldly, you can be safe in the knowledge that your work will be paid and recognised in the same way as it would be if you were sat in an office.
- You never have to leave the house again – as we’ve outlined in previous posts, leaving the house is essential to keeping your productivity up. It’s very easy to get cabin fever when you live and work in the same building, don’t forget to socialise every now and then!
Still interested in working online? Boldly is the leading provider of virtual assistant services – find out more about online VA work at: https://Boldly.com
