Is it actually possible?!?

[Booo]

I wanna work from home... Is this actually possible? Are there jobs out there for working at home? Can I live on the money? Any advice?

TIA BOOoooo

[Booo]

Any information at all?

[InSaneOne]

i am yet to find something that i can do too. so far the only thing i do ok is making nappies. ds has 30 so far and that increases by 1 or 2 a day - plus i have been making some for friends.

[mim1]

Working from home sounds so wonderful - being at home with the kids, working around them, not missing out on anything.

The reality is very different I'm afraid. Children are not predictable and often don't sleep when you want or for as long as you want, especially when you have a lot to do. The other thing is that working from home is not always as profitable as work out of the home on an hourly basis. So, you might be better to do 2 six hour shifts somewhere outside the home, than to do 12 hours of work a week from home. If you need a steady, good income stream then working from home this is hard to achieve.

I find that when I try & work at home I get constant interuptions and I can only work for a few minutes at a time when my ds is awake ... and that can lead to resentment of his interuptions, but all he wants to do is play. Then when he doesn't sleep in the afternoon I get very upset. For me I struggle to work in the evenings, so working at 8:30pm (or 9:30pm as happened last night) after he goes to sleep is not really an option.

[Booo]

Thanks Mim! :) I like a different point of view

[CJJHRA]

I have just started working from home with a thing online... its going to take a few month probably to earn money, but I have faith its NOT a scam, and I know it does work, just to what extent really. we (me and partner) have dabbled in it previously, and its simple enough, and have made a few $$ but we didnt put the time and effort in that was needed in the start. But this time round I know its going to work.

[Boobycino]

I get the occasional data entr/y/typing job through a friend who's a business manager and knows I need the money - which I really appreciate!

The flexibility of being a home is great, but the first day I was doing it I was shocked by how many people called me during the day, I had someone drop in unannounced, I tried working while Jasper was awake an playing, but every 5-10 minutes he'd need me for something. I did it while he was asleep and in the evenings and it was so exhausting! And all I was doing was typing?

The hourly rate I was getting was great for at-home work, I get paid per job, but I have a stopwatch at my desk and clock in and out with each interuption and in the end it worked out to being just under $20 an hour. I know the more I do the faster I'll get, so I can see myself being able to lift my hourly rate through completely the tasts quicker. ALTHOUGH I'm set up through a close friend who isn't going to try to rip me off, she want to help out a bit, so maybe that makes a difference.

I do think if I get more frequent work through them I'll need to have a plan so not to get burned out - and also turn the phones off and ignore the front door! Because I'd absolutely end up wrecked without some kind of structure to my days.

Goodluck!

[zenifa]

When I broke my ankle in mid Feb, I was supposed to be doing some work 1 day/week but luckily my boss was flexible and said I could work from home, doing a project - just involved doing stuff on the computer, editing etc.

I had a student nanny to help me and I found that it took me two days at home to do a full day of work, as with the kids knowing I'm at home, they did still interrupt me often, plus sometimes the nanny needed my help. I also had my mIL help out at times. I could only do 2hrs at a time - each in the morning and afternoon (so 4hrs total), as I didn't want to do it at night when DH is home (our alone time together is rare and precious).
I found that the reality of work from home was not as I had imagined it. I was a bit torn and frustrated, as I understood that my kids wanted me home and to play with them, not locked away in my study working. But then I felt the pressure of trying to get the work done. I also had meetings at my hosue with my bosses and had to organise someone (usually my mum) to look after the kids. I did it for 8 weeks.

It was more hassle for me, and now its easier back in the office 1 day/week, with MIL doing childcare at my house. So that when I'm home, the girls know they can have my attention.

I know it can work for some, but not for me, maybe when the girls are at school, it could work.

[Booo]

Thanks for your inmput girls! Loving the responses

[Baby Girl]

I worked at home for 2 years for our family business. Just doing admin stuff mostly. It suited me because DP used to work shifts and be home by 11am. So I'd have the girls in the morning, when he got home we'd do lunch and hang out a bit then he would take them for a few hours in the afternoon and cook dinner then we'd both do bath and bed have an hour or so just us before he had to go to bed and I had work to do to keep me occupied until I was ready to go to bed. It never took me that long but the option was there iykwim. I used to do about 6 hours a day including phone calls (being it was usually family I was talking to, I was lucky that the kids in the background was rarely an issue :laughing:).

I have looked for other WAH stuff and haven't found anything promising yet :( and that was over 2 years ago that I did that and I have been kind of keeping an eye out for something else I could do from home since.

I loved it and I would love to do it again, even though I am now a single mummy, both kids will be at school next year...