Working from home – driver or drainer infographic
Infographic – working from home
Last week I was bemoaning the hackneyed views about working from home that tend to be regularly trotted out in the media. I’ve just stumbled on this infographic from the US that does admittedly contain what I always refer to as the pyjama myth (I’ve never come across anyone so far who admits to working in pyjamas) but also some thought-provoking factoids.
And I think all the productivity tips at the bottom are sound ones. Just click on the image to open up a bigger and more easily readable version.
Do you work longer hours than before the credit crunch? Are your biggest distractions the same ones mentioned here? I’d be glad to get your views so we can try to move the old working from home debate on a bit.
“I’ve never come across anyone so far who admits to working in pyjamas.” Really? Wow.
I originally began working from home as a self-employed person in about ’99. This stint started 7 or so years ago. I don’t actually own pyjamas, but I regularly work in a bathrobe, or that kind of thing.
And I know DOZENS of people who ‘admit’ to doing it. Can’t see anything wrong with it. I’ll head out for a run or bike ride later. I’ll shower – and maybe dress 🙂 – after that.
I guess there’s a big difference between working at home as an employed person and a self-employed person – it is a totally different mindset. The drive and motivation and discipline come from different places. Perhaps that’s why PJs or their equivalent work for me, whereas those productivity tips seem stale and a bit irrelevant to me.
Gosh – I sound really negative. I guess I just want to let others know that there is no right or wrong way to work from home. Do what works for YOU. And do be prepared to discover that what may work for one type of ‘job’ or ‘task’, may not work for another.
Happy homeworking 🙂
It’s nice to hear from you, Claire, and interesting to hear that people do indeed work in pyjamas! Readers are probably sick of me banging on about there being no rules to home working and that the secret is in finding the way that works for you, not what a journalist or blogger tells you.
That may be why the occasional home worker finds it tough – they have no time to find their feet and so are constantly aware of the challenges and not the rewards.
I’m always glad to hear from a happy home worker, no matter when, where or how they work 😉
Yeah what you wear seems unimportant to me, it is all about the work that you get done. Whether your in pyjamass or a pin-stripe suit you must motivate yourself, put in the hours that need to be put in, do what it takes to make your business a success.
Should be you’re of course. Terrible, a spelling mistake!
We know that’s what you meant – sometimes a home worker’s brain works much quicker than their typing hands 🙂
Seconded, or maybe thirded!
I think there may be a difference between the employed home worker and the self-employed home worker/business owner. Motivation is much easier to find when your head is the one on the block if you slack off, and when you’re doing something you love in the first place. The infographic is about ‘telecommuting’ and – I may be wrong – but I suspect that most readers of this blog are not telecommuting, but running a business which happens to be based at home. I see a big difference between those two things.
You’re right, Liz. According to the survey I ran on the site last year, 81% of readers are self-employed or run their own business, 15% are employees who work from home.