I’m Working From Home. All The Myths Are True.
Web Worker Daily today published a myth busting entry on home based web workers. Except… there’s nothing myth busting in the entry. Because all the myths are true.
Lets have a closer look at the myths and their reality.
1. You’re “working” at home…nudge nudge, wink wink.
Wink, wink… just don’t tell anyone, OK, but you’re right. All I do all day long is play Desktop Tower Defence and chat with my colleagues who also work from home. To be honest, I never get anything done. When I twitter that I have to run and do some shopping, actually it means that I’m heading to the nearest Starbucks to finally have some peace from my comfortable environment at home and get things done, because at home….
Aaarrrggh! Busted again at level 84!
2. You’re wearing pajamas, or are perhaps naked from the waist down.
Of course I am naked from the waist down. And also from the waist up. And you want to know why?
Working from home I don’t have to bother about shaving, showering or wearing a nice perfume. Actually everything here is perfumed: perfumed of days without showering, a full and overloaded ash tree, not washed plates all over the office and then, then there’s the need to be naked from the waist down. Because sometimes, sometimes I just itch. And isn’t the internet about accessibility? Nothing as accessible as being naked from the waist down. To scratch of course!
3. Home-based work is great because you get to spend more time with your family.
Yes! And I’m glad I took the decision to work from home and spend more time with my PMSing partner, my kids always running the office down and telling me how they just set a new family high score for Desktop Tower Defence. Finally I can share my wife’s hours of phone fun… with the neighbor’s wife! A dream come true, quality time with the family!
4. You must get so lonely.
I truly am. Really. If it weren’t for the quality time with my family and all my pets I would be close to a mental break down. I miss my always bitching, never satisfied and perpetually complaining assistant. I miss mthe constant shouting of my exes because I didn’t reach the target I set myself and defined best all-time performance. I miss having to fire people if they don’t hit an average 8% growth based target. I miss all those people around me. It drives me nuts not to be bitched at anymore!
5. You must be involved in some kind of bleeding edge technology work to be able to work from home.
YES! I am, I am mapping a technological revolution. A revolution for workers world wide!
I am creating a system that will allow anyone to work from home, totally naked only surrounded by an office squatting family, an über-performing youth and always gossiping wife, suffering the lonely environments and mental challenges a stupid but addictive flash game poses you and hankering to leave the home office for just half an hour to finally get things done and leave your super high tech environment!
Disclaimer: I have a full time job ‘out of the home’ and run a second shift home-based. And trust me if I tell you that the home-based job is much harder. Harder because of all the ‘networking noise’, required discipline not to ‘physically degrade’ or procastinate and to have a working discipline. Resumed: harder because all those myths are totally untrue. But the freedom is enjoyable. That enjoyable I’m considering going full time, home-based! 
I know what you mean. I’ve been working at home for the last 10 years and every time people find out they always say “Cool, that must be really nice.” The truth is, last few years have been really difficult. It’s very lonely and I’ve been getting easily distracted. And I’m not even a gregarious person.
Yong said this on July 26, 2007 12:30 am