Let’s face it…I love to tell people that I work from home. The looks are priceless. You can see the envy in their eyes. What I don’t love, or even like for that matter, is people who don’t understand what working from home means. Therefore, I’ve come up with the top 5 misconceptions about working from home. (I could go on and on, but 5 filled up my space!)

1. I Do Not Work in My Pajamas

WRONG! How productive are you when you are in your pajamas all day? You would never know that I work from home if you followed my morning routine. I get up and get the kids off to school. I get in the shower, get dressed and head to work. I just happen to walk into the next room instead of getting in the car to go to the office. The only thing I do differently now from when I worked in the office is that my attire consists of jeans and a sweatshirt and I don’t wear shoes.

2. I Cannot Volunteer at the School Every Time They Need Someone

I’m going to admit that one of the reasons I was excited about working from home was so that I could volunteer more at the kids’ school. I’ve always wanted to be more involved but working in an office didn’t allow me to do that.

Yesterday, I received a phone call from the volunteer coordinator asking me if I could come in today and help out because someone cancelled. I replied that I couldn’t because I was working and she said “but you work from home.” What part of the “work from home” did you not get? I WORK from home. I’m not available at the drop of the hat to go and volunteer. Give me some notice and let me schedule it in. I would be more than happy to help.

3. I Cannot Take Time Off Whenever I Want To

Well, I could. And I could also stand in line at the soup kitchen with my kids because I don’t have money to put food on the table. I’m a business owner. I don’t get paid holidays, vacation days or sick days. Basically what that means is, if I don’t work, I don’t make money.

That’s not to say that I don’t take time off because I do. But I take the time off when I can afford to take time off and not just because my best friend wants to drive to the outlets two hours away and make a day out of it.

4. My House Is Not Clean

Ha! Ok, I’ll admit to this one. When I decided to leave my full time job and work from home one of the arguments I made to the family is that the house would be cleaner and I would put better dinners on the table.

The reality of it is. I am working. That doesn’t mean that I can’t pick up after myself as I go about my day, however, this house does not look like a museum, nor will it ever. (For one, I have too many things working against me – 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a boyfriend.) I still have to find time to clean just like I did when I was working outside the home. I would say it was probably easier when I did work outside of the home. I knew that the only time I could clean was from 6pm until I went to bed. Now, it’s a free for all and when your to-do list is a mile long to begin with, fitting the laundry and the dishes in there somewhere is tough!

5. I Do Not Play On the Internet All Day

Oh, this is my favorite. A comment was made shortly after I began working from home that went something like this: “She’s at the computer, but that doesn’t mean she’s working.”

Rarely do I even turn my instant messenger on anymore. I used to have it on and just make myself invisible, but I found myself still chatting online and not getting much done.

Yes, I am infront of the computer most of the day. Yes, I do take breaks to chat, email, and surf the ‘net but most of what I do is work.

There you have it! The top 5 things that people think about working at home that tick me off. Working from home is not as easy or as glamorous as people think it is, however the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks – for me anyway.
About the Author:

Heather Jacobson is a the owner of Valley Virtual Assistants and the author of Making Dollars out of Cents: 101 Tips for the Frugal Marketer. For more infomration, please visit http://www.heatherjacobson.com