Those of you who work at home, what do you do??

So I'm burned out at work. I'm a mechanic and have been for 5 years now. With the economy the way it is, work has been slow. So slow that it has given me a lot of time to think. I'm 29 years old and my whole body has aches and pains now that I didn't have 5 years ago. This career is wearing me out. I would love a stay at home job, but have no idea what kind of opportunities are out there. My wife is pregnant with our first child and I think the ability to stay home and work would be very beneficial with a newborn around. I know quite a few of you work at home. What are some of the pros and cons of doing so? And exactly what kind of job do you have?? Just looking for some ideas to toss around. Thanks in advance for any replies.

I work from home most of the time. I'm a software engineer working for a California company. With a cable Internet connection, a nice PC with 2 20" monitors, and a kegerator close by I don't miss the office much.

As for disadvantages, I do miss going into the office and hanging out with co-workers, especially the beer socials. When I come into the office for the company I work for now it's a field office mostly with sales people I don't work with, and they don't do anything social.

I sometimes work from home. My employer supplies me with a laptop, so its easy to connect to company resources from home. I do health policy analysis for a large not-for-profit, which involves desk-job type stuff that can be done from almost anywhere with a fast internet connection.

The only disadvantage with working from home is that I interact with several people throughout the day, and most of the time face-to-face communication is more effective than email.

Up at 9:30. Look at pron. Send an email. More pron. Cup o joe. Nap at 10:00 beer at 11:00. pron again. Woot Off! another email.

By then the day is done.

Log time in as 8 hours with 30 minute lunch and 30 minutes OT.

I design and maintain networks/vmware installations. Pays well, 95% work from home.

Pro's: Time gained by eliminating commute. Close to kids in case of emergency.

Cons: Can get rather boring with limited personal interaction. Everyone (wife included) seems to think your schedule is clear anytime. Can be unpopular with deskbound co-workers.

I'm an account manager for a stock photography supplier, and nearly all of my business is conducted via phone or email. In my case, I find I am far more productive in this situation vs. the goings-on of the office.

Company VPN, computer, phone and fax. I'm golden.

I think the OP (and ME) was wondering...any of you guys have a hookup for a better job for those of us that work at the office full time?

I don't work at home right now but I did, small civil engineering projects. The jobs were so small that I rarely had to deal with others in my office, and thats what got me into a bit of trouble. I fell down on keeping the boss up on what I was doing.

It takes a very discplined person to effectively work at home, there are a lot of distractions; kids, TV, laundry, quick trip to the store, etc. Works best if you are not "on the clock" but rather results oriented.

Best of luck if you decide to try and find a suitable position.

Rick

I run our county's Lifeline program. I have to see elderly clients in their homes, but the rest of the time I'm at my desk in my home office. I have a fax, computer, dedicated phone line (if you call a hospital extension, it rings at my desk at home), and some storage space for my equipment.

It's convenient for me, but it is only part time. You still don't have as much free time as you think, though- I mean, if I had a baby around, I'd get a lot less work done! I've been very productive at home, and actually work a few less hours than when I went to the office. No coworkers showing wedding pictures, no coffee chat, etc, to interupt my work.

There is a lot of flexibility in doing this, though. If I have a doctor's appointment, I just work later in the day to make it up. It also is harder in some ways. That's right- turn off the Today Show and get to work! It's easy to procrastinate if you're not terribly self-motivated.

GilaMinumBeer said:

Up at 9:30. Look at pron. Send an email. More pron. Cup o joe. Nap at 10:00 beer at 11:00. pron again. Woot Off! another email.

By then the day is done.

Log time in as 8 hours with 30 minute lunch and 30 minutes OT.

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i have a feeling i would be great at this! How's the pay???:cross:

I feel like I am in need of a career change and that i am young enough now to do so. If i decide to go that route though, i want to make sure it is something that i wont get burned out on again in a few short years. I have my bachelors degree in rangeland ecology and management, but that degree is kind of hard to find a job in while living in a big city like I am. I'm really good with my hands and can build just about anything from wood or steel. I'm flirting with the idea of a handyman type job, but expendable income is really sparse nowadays so i'm not sure what kind of demand there may be. basically i'm just looking for some ideas.

jct9335 said:

i have a feeling i would be great at this! How's the pay???:cross:

I feel like I am in need of a career change and that i am young enough now to do so. If i decide to go that route though, i want to make sure it is something that i wont get burned out on again in a few short years. I have my bachelors degree in rangeland ecology and management, but that degree is kind of hard to find a job in while living in a big city like I am. I'm really good with my hands and can build just about anything from wood or steel. I'm flirting with the idea of a handyman type job, but expendable income is really sparse nowadays so i'm not sure what kind of demand there may be. basically i'm just looking for some ideas.

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I farm now, but was a Mechanical Engineer. I work from all over the world. You can design crap anywhere with a fast connection. I still do some custom design work from home in the slow farming season. If you are good building crap I have no doubt you can swing a Engineering or CAD degree. Then learn software like ProE or SolidWorks and design away. With a little experience you can even pick up freelance engineering work off of sites like guru.com

pldoolittle said:

Everyone (wife included) seems to think your schedule is clear anytime.

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Forgot about that one. Very annoying.

jct9335 said:

i have a feeling i would be great at this! How's the pay???:cross:

I feel like I am in need of a career change and that i am young enough now to do so. If i decide to go that route though, i want to make sure it is something that i wont get burned out on again in a few short years. I have my bachelors degree in rangeland ecology and management, but that degree is kind of hard to find a job in while living in a big city like I am. I'm really good with my hands and can build just about anything from wood or steel. I'm flirting with the idea of a handyman type job, but expendable income is really sparse nowadays so i'm not sure what kind of demand there may be. basically i'm just looking for some ideas.

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When I did work from home my day was spent making contacts and proposing "solutions".

But the girls would never return my....

Sorry, back on topic. I spent hours on the phone, writing proposals, and engineering solutionsonly to find that I was too late for my BP to succeed. I loved the work, the pay sucked. That why I took a jobby job wit duh gubermint.

To post on forums and look at proxy porn.

My mom is a Wound ostomy continance nurse and I have been teaching myself vba as I have been making a patient monitoring system for her. Upon looking at the screenshopts and options her friends and people going to school with her want it too, now I am just working on that... I think my next project will be my own brew software

I'm a computer geek. I do IT helpdesk from home. I'm the only one on my team that works from home. They set me up to connect from home when my congestive heart failure got bad enough that I couldn't make it to the office any more. Not the greatest reason to be working from home, but its nice I can still make a living.

jct9335 said:

So I'm burned out at work. I'm a mechanic and have been for 5 years now. With the economy the way it is, work has been slow. So slow that it has given me a lot of time to think. I'm 29 years old and my whole body has aches and pains now that I didn't have 5 years ago. This career is wearing me out.

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You actually have a job in this economy - don't knock it too hard, Dad-to-be - momma's gotta eat, and baby will too. New jobs can be hard to come by, and most ads for "work at home jobs" are scams of some sort.

The aches and pains have more to do with 5 more years and no warranty on your body than with the job you have, sad to say, and it only gets worse. I remember when my knees didn't hurt, but I probably won't ever be there again. Getting old sucks, but it does beat the alternative.

The usual way to get a real work at home job is to get a job, and then see if it morphs well into work at home. Unless you have the capital to open your own shop, that may be hard to manage with your skill-set, and it can be hard to transition to a new skill-set - particularly in a troubled economy. Even if you have the capital, there's a world of difference between working for someone else (who has to worry about "the business") and working for yourself (you get to do that worrying, and all the work to offset it as well, usually).

edit - add this link to required reading before you quit your job:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f19/so-whos-been-laid-off-87162/

I work from home as a graphic designer when not working as a paramedic. It's good work, I can relax, no one breathing down my back, the schedule rocks, and hell, I can drink and have sex on the clock!

I'm slammed half the time with jobs, I work from my laptop, have an e-fax and talk with the co-workers/bosses via AIM. The other half the time when it's slow my schedule is roughly...

Wake up at 9:30, stumble across the hall into my office, turn on AIM and say good morning.
Try and not fall down the stairs, have some cheerios, make some coffee/tea, take the dogs out and feed them, wander back upstairs when I'm somewhat awake ~10:15-10:30.
Bosses sent me list and priority of jobs, surf the net, HBT, PB forums, lust after brew equipment. Fly through a job, send it off to client, browse net. Rinse, wash, repeat, 'till lunch time. Make wonderful lunch. Drink beer. Work and surf net. Drink more beer. Make wonderful designs. Clock out.

Raaambleleeeee

I work at home and it is the F*cking hardest job I have ever had but I would not trade it for any sh!te job I have to go to.

I am a dad. Pay sucks (monetarily) but the payoff is great if not frustrating at times. I have a 3.75 year old son and an 18 mo. daughter.

Before kids I was a for a short time full time artist/printmaker. Previously I worked wherever/whatever I could. That is on hold until they are older. I always kind of planned it would be that way. My wife has a "career", I usually just had "jobs". Meaning, she enjoys what she does, and I worked outside the house to make money (jobs other than my art).

Regardless, I will agree that the hardest thing is being motivated and staying on task. I easily get sidetracked by my own things. Carving blocks, brewing, HBT, drinking...

But you cannot when you are entrusted with 2 curious little people! :rockin:


oh, speaking of which... gotta go!!!

jct9335 said:

I'm really good with my hands and can build just about anything from wood or steel. I'm flirting with the idea of a handyman type job, but expendable income is really sparse nowadays so i'm not sure what kind of demand there may be. basically i'm just looking for some ideas.

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Passing you a good idea.
Build custom keezers and kegerators.
Sell them on Craigslist and ebay.


I'll take my payment in trade

I work from home about 65 percent of the time, I would guess. I'm a sports writer for a newspaper and my beat is football and men's hoops at a major school (which you could probably figure out from my locale). It's not all it's cracked up to be. Until last year, I had two kids at home with me all morning until they went to daycare. Very difficult to steal minutes to do work, especially for a job that has very odd hours. When they weren't around, I found it hard to focus.

In the office, even harder to focus. TVs, police and fire scanners, 100 people milling around, not real good for concentration's sake. I find I get a lot of work done when I'm on the road. Not much else to do but work.

Lots of info for no advice. A job is a job no matter where you do it or what you do. Working from home requires excellent organization and high levels of self motivation.