I have been thinking a lot lately about the benefits of working from home versus going to a traditional office everyday. I have done both and I have to say I definitely prefer working from home.

A lot of people I know think working from home would either be A) incredibly lonely or B) incredibly challenging as you have no one to light a fire under you or keep an eye on you, etc. I don’t find either to be true. Obviously it takes a disciplined and focused person to be able to successfully work from home as you are on your own all the time and have to motivate yourself. As for being lonely, I have never found that to be true.  For example, how many people who work in a traditional office setting really enjoy each and every person they work with equally? Not many of you I assume. So aside from the few you might be friends with out of the office, how many of those co-workers would you genuinely miss? Again, probably not many.

Working from home allows an uninterrupted environment (well for the most part - not counting your kids, pets, etc). Unlike working in an office, you don’t have to worry about the obsessive whistler distracting you, being grossed out by a stinky brown bag lunch being left in your trash can by God knows who or any of the other myriad of distractions and annoyances that go on during a normal work day.

I remember a time at a former job when someone went into the communcal fridge, took out my lunch bag with my name written in large letters on the front, removed and ate my sandwich and put back my beverage and snack. Of course no one ever fessed up to it. To eat food that no one has claimed is one thing, but to eat food that is clearly labeled and was supposed to be someone’s lunch that day is pretty strange if you ask me. Yet another reason I do not miss the office environment. That is not to say I would never go back. The office isn’t all bad in and of itself, but boy does working from home in your sweat pants have its advantages!

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