10 Reasons to Work From Home

Recently, I lost my largest bread-and-butter publishing job due to a lack of revenue stream at the publishing house employing me. For me, this required me either to drum up some serious new business and fast, or look for a more, well, conventional job. Now, I love freelance editing and writing. I love when a mother of five sends me the manuscript it took her ten years to write and hires me to copyedit it for her. I love when I land a writing gig that allows me to research and write about a topic of interest to me, like food. But freelance is hard, and sometimes scary. I don’t get to sit back and wait for work, nor do I have the security of a consistent and regular paycheck. When the bottom drops out of a big contract, the responsibility is mine to find a new source of income. So the other day, after losing my big contract, I needed to make a list of the reasons I love working at home. I needed to remind myself just how lucky I am to have skills that translate well to a home office.

Since we live in a piss-poor economy right now, I suspect others of you may be in need of these reminders, too. Or a good laugh. And nothing is funnier than what a freelancer does at home alone all day.

1. Every day is pants-optional.
2. Homemade breakfast and lunch is par for the course, and money-saving!
3. Every day is makeup-optional. ‘Cuz, who are you trying to impress?
4. Sleeping until 10 a.m. and working until 1 a.m. is an option.
5. If the craving for brownies or fresh-baked bread strikes, no problem!
6. Talking to yourself is not a sign of madness if no one’s around to hear.
7. Going for a walk in the sun does not require prior permission (unless you live in my scary neighborhood!).
8. No commuting costs or stresses.
9. No office politics, just occasional bad (and temporary) clients.
10. If I dun wanna, I dun hafta. Nobody can force me to take a contract that requires, say, writing 20000 words on getting big booby plastic surgery to keep a husband interested.

See, this may be a short list, but for me, it’s everything. I may, and have lately, worked 12 and 16 hour days, but I’m happy. I don’t have to deal with an unpleasant or incompetent boss (in fact, I’ve been particularly lucky in that respect: I’ve had GREAT bosses!), I don’t have to fight the Seattle traffic every morning and evening. I don’t have to pack my lunch the night before or spend $8 a day on it. And, why lie about it, my favorite advantage is probably going pants-free most the days of the week.

Do you work from home or want to work from home? If so, what additional advantages have I missed?