Most people, when I tell them what I do for a living and that I work from a home office, think its awesome. They think I work when I want to and can put my butt in front of the TV or go to some coffee shop and work there everyday.
Well… in short… no, it’s not the wonderful world of sleeping late or working till lunch time you might think it is.
Working from home is probably the biggest challenge I ever faced in my life. It requires a form of dedication I had not yet attempted and I had to make a lot of adjustments over the past few years to keep my head focused. Remember that when you work from home you are responsible for 100% everything that you deliver, 100% of the time.You no longer have anyone above you who takes flak for your mistakes. You are not allowed to sleep late… ever, and if you need to work an extra 12 hours and cancel that family dinner or funeral or night out with friends to be sure that a certain project will be complete then you do it with a (somewhat forced) smile. There are more late nights, early mornings, stress and coffee infused binge coding session you can possible imagine.
You still have a boss.
The other point I would like to make is, everybody thinks that if you work for yourself you no longer have to answer to anyone. Well here is the shocker, every single one of your clients is your boss now. You, unfortunately, only have say over the things you do, what they want is still what they want and simply saying ‘NO’ won`t work.
You are now the same as an internet service provider or hosting provider, you provide a service, plain and simple. And just like those other service providers, if you no longer can provide the service you are supposed to you can easily be replaced by others who are more than willing to take your place. So you have to be meticulous with your product delivery. Dot your I’s and cross your T’s.
But… and its a big one
It is SO worth it (when you make it), the feeling of accomplishment when you finally finish that first project, having already lined up the next one, and the clients are giving you compliments on your job well done. You feel completely content, a feeling that I cannot explain to any person who isn’t in the same position. Its the same feeling you would get upon reaching the summit of K9 or finally getting that girl to kiss you that you liked for years or landing that huge fish you where searching for, and (for me anyways) the feeling comes back every time you finish a new project.
And don’t get me started about the independence, if your methods work, then you do things your way. I was forced to work in an office with no windows, barely any conversation, diplomacy issues and behind the most annoying office firewall known to man (couln’t even do proper research) for so many years. Now, at home, I have music on so loud it feels like a live concert, I smoke in my office, I can properly research, I Skype people I want/need to talk to, my productivity has gone up, I’m happier and I never have to worry about anything besides my work, so yeah.
In closing, working from home is no holiday, it takes more hard work and determination than I thought I could handle. The clients have their ups and downs just like any boss and you never work less than 60 hours in any week. But the rewards are 1000 times more than that, and I have to say, working from home has turned me into a better developer, better at working with clients, taking responsibility, finding my niche, documentation, time management and so many things. So if you are willing to give up your social responsibilities for a while and work so hard your finger tips fall off, then you will make it, and be a better person for it.
But hey, I could be wrong here. This is just my personal opinions and it is just an account of my experience as a work-from-home developer. You might enjoy the office environment, socializing with colleagues around the coffee machine, having lunches together and the end of year shindigs. To each their own.