This article is part of an exclusive month-long program on CAREEREALISM to help readers break free of The Golden Handcuff Effect. Click HERE to learn more about the Professional Emancipation Project, a.k.a. The P.E.P. Talk.
The freedom to work from home under your own terms has enormous value and many of us crave the freedom this type of work brings. Perhaps at a minimum, we'd like to talk our boss into allowing us to work from our home desk at least part-time.
Watch your expenses for child care, gas, car maintenance, clothing, and lunches go down drastically - or even disappear. You could take a pay cut and still come out ahead financially when you work from home. It doesn't matter if you are working as an employee for a company or as an entrepreneur, more family time and control over your own schedule carries enormous value for your sense of well being.
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Paths To Work From Home Careers
How do you create the lifestyle that gives you the freedom you crave? There are several paths you can take to get there. What part of your 9-5 job do you like the most and what part do you dislike? Is it just the commute that bothers you or is the rigid time schedule encroaching on other things you would like to do? Each person will answer the questions differently but all of the answers have the potential to put you on the path to working from home.1. Make Your Current Job A Work From Home Job
If you love the work you do but dislike the office environment and commute, you could ask your employer to to allow you to work remotely 2-3 days per week. This is the easiest way to satisfy your need to work at home without a major upheaval in your life. If there are several duties that could easily be done from home, save those tasks for your work from home days. Once your employer realizes you can competently do the job from home, you can reason your way into a full-time work from home job. Just like that, you've got a remote job you enjoy.2. Get Hired By A Company That Employs Home Workers In Your Field
You love the work you do but you don't enjoy the commute, company or boss you work for. A change of situation is in order. You could leave your current commuting job and get hired on with a company that specifically hires home workers in your specialty. The time frame for this change is variable as you could be hired quickly or it could take months to land a new job in your field. In my book, Make Money Online - 97 Real Companies That Pay You To Work In Your Pajamas, I detail the types of jobs and companies that will hire you to work from home as an employee with benefits. More and more companies are realizing the effectiveness and cost savings of a work from home workforce and the company list is growing each month.3. Change Your Career To One That Allows You To Work Remotely
You don't really enjoy the work you do and you would like a career change that allows you to work from home. Start building a business on the side in a career field you love. The amazing thing about this scenario is that you won't miss a paycheck. You can work from home as an entrepreneur and when your home business income can replace your commuter job income, you quit your job. This scenario takes more time but owning your own business that you can run from anywhere in the world takes the phrase work freedom to another level. These changes don't happen all at once but if you visualize yourself sitting at your comfortable desk at home rather than your commuter cubicle, it's easy to see a much healthier, happier version of yourself.The P.E.P. Talk
This article is part of our P.E.P. Talk Series. Over the next month, some of the brightest and best authors, business professionals, and coaches are coming together to share their valuable advice for breaking free of "The Golden Handcuff Effect" so you can take full ownership of your careers and experience Professional Emancipation.
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