The Magic of Working from Home

You’ve heard about working from home.  You even know some people who do it. Wouldn’t it be great if you could rock the professional world, have real impact, enjoy your work and never have to leave the house?  If you could work from home and still achieve your goals?

Well if you are an introvert like me – this is a dream come true.

The Reality of Working From Home

When someone tells you they have a remote job, what’s the first thing you think of? Answering customer service calls in a funny accent for some company on the other side of the world?  Entering data on a million miles of spreadsheets for a health conglomerate? Or maybe it’s just for those tech wizards that can rule the world through their laptops…

Well, all of the above are true, except this is completely possible and doable for you as well. Clocking in at your kitchen counter doesn’t have to mean sacrificing job security, benefits, or high pay. In fact, remote jobs can offer all that and more. When you aren’t confined to an office schedule, you can tweak your situation to suit your needs.

Remote jobs can be just like your standard, established office jobs, except they are fluid, dynamic – flexible. And that means that you have to be flexible too. Getting a remote job isn’t just a matter of picking up all your current job skills and dropping them into a remote position.

What Skills Do I Need?

A remote job actually requires different, and probably more skills than the local version. But that’s only because we’re used to working in a static office, where your supervisor is right down the hall, your team is next door, and lunch is at high noon. But when you’re connected to your coworkers via Skype and you all live in different time zones, you have to learn to communicate in a new way. If a traditional job requires timeliness, attention to detail, and organization, a remote one also needs: cultural adaptability, discipline, high organizational skills, being a self-starter, accountability, flexibility, strong time management skills and mostly being good at organizing yourself and your tasks.

Think you have all the above? Great.

Until recently, remote jobs were relatively hard to find, but now the issue seems to be the opposite – there are heaps of new sites publishing remote jobs, and figuring out which site suits your needs best can be challenging.

So, let’s get started with some resources:

• We Work Remotely: the site has positions in jobs ranging from design to business execution, however – the biggest chunk of open spots is in programming.
• Skip The Drive : they pre-filters for a wide array of telecommuting, work-from-home and remote jobs.
• me is a job board for remote positions in technology. One of the categories is jobs for moms, which is a different but very much welcome approach.
• Nomand List: is a all in one resource for remote jobs for people who want to travel the world and have location free job.
• Remote Ok: The biggest collection of remote Jobs for digital nomads.
• Jobspresso: is an online platform dedicated to connecting talented people who seek remote careers with companies that offer these positions.

Work From Home or Remote Work Spells Freedom

Well there you have it. The modern fast-paced world has changed every aspect of our personal lives,  and our career should be no exception. The technology and infrastructure allow us to create the lifestyle you truly want. So get out there Ms. Career Girl (or get back in there in fact), and thrive on a well paid position you can do where ever you want.  And, if you’re so inclined, without ever changing out of your pajamas.

Images:

Home Office Sean MacEntee

Remote working Anne Worner