Among freelances, the inability to market oneself sufficiently to keep busy (which is tough and requires a particular personality) is one recurring problem that I’ve seen among these acquaintances.

In my other workplace research, I also ran across numerous stories of people whose companies allow them to work from anywhere including home, but for a variety of reasons these people found that working from home didn’t suit them or their role other than occasionally. Some quickly felt out of touch with company direction and priorities if they were not in regularly; others missed the collaboration opportunities with others as well as the social scene.

I work flex hours, so some time at an office building and some time at home, usually after the kids are in bed. Because my office-building-office is quiet with a good computer and phone system, as well as great coffee and knowledgeable colleagues, I find it as efficient to work there as from home. The spontaneous conversations I have with others there spark the best ideas for reports or solutions to problems.

The one thing that is more efficient to do at home is to envision or outline a large research report’s structure once much of the research is done, or a envision and prepare a (powerpoint) presentation. At these times I need no interruptions (except when I choose) fresh air, and natural light as well as the ability to pace around and talk to myself without worrying about what others will think.

Working at home is a mental game. You know just how much effort you put into something, yet you can at times feel like you need to sit at that desk til the wee hours of the morning just to prove that you’re working hard (prove to whom I’m not sure, maybe it’s that never-ending Catholic guilt…). It can be a vicious cycle if you are not disciplined enough to cut yourself some slack and accept that putting in 50 hours a week is more than enough.

The biggest advantage of working from home – as a freelancer like me, at any rate – is that you don’t have to work from nine to five. You can work from one to four… or seven to noon… or not at all one day and 10 hours the next. Flexibility is a blessing and a curse, so it’s up to each individual to find the plan that works for them – whether that means they follow a schedule or leave it all up in the air. To be productive, I personally need to sit down at my desk by a certain time every day, allow myself a lunch break, and then not feel bad when I sign off at a reasonable hour.

This is the only job I have ever had where the mantra truly is: “It doesn’t matter when or how you do it, just get it done by the deadline.” That’s the kind of job I’ve always wanted and I don’t plan to give it up anytime soon if I can help it.