"What in the world do you DO all day?" If you work at home, you may have faced this question more than once.
Many people believe that those who work at home don't really work.
Their lives are seen as endless holidays; enjoyable joyrides envied by those who are forced to labor every day.
It's true, working at home does allow for a flexible schedule.
Those working at home do not have to punch a clock or report at a certain time, and won't be docked for sick days or holiday time.
No one will jump all over an independent contractor for coming back late from lunch, taking a nap at work, or for working in his/her pajamas.
Still, a stay at home contractor is a real worker.
To make a decent wage, the home business person has to complete his work assignments, meticulously and quickly.
They face time constraints and workloads, just as everyone does; if they take too much time away from their other work, then they won't succeed in their professional goals.
Additionally, at people who work at home often spend less time on holiday than their office working counterparts.
Those who work in-house for major companies earn holiday time; which means that, eventually, they can take off for one- or two-week periods, with no need to report to the office or finish any job assignments during that time.
Home professionals, however, work continuously throughout the year, bringing their computer and pda with them wherever they go.
It takes a great deal of focused time and effort to make a home business succeed.
And, as home professionals maintain their offices inside their places of residence, they're really never away from the office.
A client or employer could call or e-mail anytime, day or night, and projects sometimes cannot be finished within a standard, nine-to-five period.
A home author might get a flash of inspiration at 5 a.
m.
, taking them directly from their bed to their computer desk.
A small business owner who operates an online business might get a rush product order at 4 a.
m.
Saturday morning, a time when many corporate professionals are sound asleep.
A work at home chief might get a call to prepare a big meal for that evening.
In addition, home workers face a vast variety of distractions not encountered during a standard workday.
While an office employee might take a break to get a cup of joe at work, a work-at-home professional might take a break to change the diaper of his/her small child, go pick an older child up from school or daycare, talk to a visiting repair person about repairs needed in the home, deal with a family emergency, or cook dinner for the family.
Friends call (working under the assumption that a person at home has all the time in the world to converse), dogs bark and bills come in the mail.
All in all, working at home is a fun, pleasurable experience.
In the end, though, professionals working at home labor just as hard as their friends at the office.