Finally my dream to have a home office ay nag-materialize na. It’s not big and I think I’ll do more tweaks later, but I am very thankful that it did happen.   I pursue it despite of financial difficulties. You know Work from Home entails some arrangements  para ka maging productive, survivor, and successful.

Next to my claim of being a freelancer is my being home based employee and solopreneur.  Would you believe that I managed to do everything and spent my workdays at one corner of my room before?  If you are one of my friends, you know how hot and small my room is.  Nevertheless,  I coped and had training (meaningful experiences charrot) when I  was still working there – nobody knew when I was down, crying, laughing, watching Korean series, and even playing Kitchen Scramble.

• You sing “All By My Self” or “Alone.”  When I decided to work from home, alam ko na “alone in a corner” ang magiging peg ko. Pero even if I spent years in working with diverse people in the field or office, I bet I can survive naman teh at koyah. That’s because my personality type is ambivert.   However, I don’t deny the fact that   there are moments that I still miss my office-mates/friends or overall, mingling with people. On the brighter side, I guess it makes me appreciate bonding time with my friends, attending events or seminars, and   travelling.

So working from home is not only about career and       money, it also about your initiative and stamina to work on your own.

• You can’t tell if it’s time to work or to rest.    It came to a point that I only sleep four to five hours a day then  pag tulog ako I still dreamed about my work. How cruel was that?

So  yung claim ng iba na work-life balance and relax lang ito, that’s not easy to attain. It’s possible if you’re good in time management and self-control .

•   You’re overworked compare to office-based employees.   When you are in the office you log in at 9am and clock out at 5pm, then if sumobra that’s overtime.    In working from home, either you tend to slack because your boss is not physically there or you forget the time.  I experienced these two scenarios and I guess it boiled down to
  1. not working smart
  2. wrong estimate of time or work load
  3. I mixed pleasure and work ( social media,  checking other sites,chatting etcetera )
  4. wrong view about flexibility ( don’t tolerate on call works)

• You can be easily distracted.   I’m not a mom yet, but hey it’s not easy to shoo away your handsome nephews and bubbly nieces when they knock on your door.  But that’s only a cute part of the package, because some distractions you may encounter are
  1. Someone will knock to ask for something  even if he or she knows you are working
  2. You can’t totally tell  everyone  (including dogs, roasters, cats and  doves) to shut up
  3. You can’t concentrate if there’s tension going on
  4. if you’re room is oh so messy
  5. Interesting videos or links pops up  sa screen mo
  6. may text!
  7. Over na over na break

• You feel paralyzed when your internet connection is not good.  I think my major concern and actually, all work from home Filipinos/ Foreigners in the Philippines is the unreliable internet connection.   It’s very rare that I complain about electricity because in our place it either dysfunctional transformers or typhoons kaya brownout.

I hope broadband companies and government will do effort to make Internet connection in the Philippines better.  It’s not only about us who are working from home, but also for ecommerce and digital marketing industry.  Most of time, I feel that I don’t get what I deserve as a customer who pay high fee and on time.

Next post:

5 awesome Perks of being a telecommuter  😉