Freelance Myth #6: Working at Home isn’t Productive
A fellow freelancer quit her day job and started working at home, pursuing a freelance writing career. She was immediately accused of being a bum, doing nothing all day except staying in front of the computer. A very distressing assumption, especially when you consider that she regularly earns enough to support a family of four comfortably. People just couldn’t see that even if she was working at home, she was still accomplishing something.
This is a freelance myth I desperately want to debunk. Granted, my friend doesn’t follow my advice of dressing up for work, thus providing a mental cue for herself and others that it’s time to do important things. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t getting anything done, especially if she followed the other tips I discussed in the Avoiding the Temptations of Home series.
Eventually, this fellow freelancer’s haters saw the light. But only after they realized that she had money to spend and saw the offline opportunities her online freelance writing career created. Wouldn’t it have been better if they considered work done at home and the office equally important? At the very least, there would’ve been less emotional burden on this freelancer, and she would’ve been able to accomplish more in less time.
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POSTED IN: Freelance Myths
4 opinions for Freelance Myth #6: Working at Home isn’t Productive
V. Neely
Jul 16, 2007 at 8:10 pm
Oh, man, and I hate those kind of assumptions: It’s not a REAL job unless you get dressed up and go to an office every day. Otherwise you must be goofing off– ooh, wait, is that real money…?
Rico
Jul 16, 2007 at 8:15 pm
Haha, you’ve pretty much summarized what I was saying in one humorous sentence!
At least they recognized the results when they saw it. I mean, nothing’s more obvious than earning moolah. :)
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