A couple of weeks ago, I talked about all of the positives of working from home. I honestly cannot wait, and I think about my self-employment switch date all the time.
Even though I think about my switch date all the time, and I’m very excited, I do know that working for yourself is hard work. It will not be wonderful every single day, but I do think it will be much better than working for someone else in a job that I do not enjoy at all.
I will have more time to enjoy life.
Since I will be able to make my own schedule, I will have more time to enjoy life. Life won’t only exist on the weekend. I can go for a bike ride in the middle of the day on a Tuesday if I wanted to.
I will have more time to spend with family. For so long I have been working a long, or working and going to school at the same time. I will have more time to see W and everyone else that I care about. I can see my friends more also instead of just every once in a while.
No more stress from my stressful job.
Most of you know exactly what I do, but to keep it short, I am a financial analyst/investment banker. Not exactly the most fun job on earth. I deal with lawyers, taxes, and most of my clients have millions upon millions in the bank, along with $50 million houses. I get to see 5 year olds who have a net worth of 500 or 1,000 times what I have. It’s all very depressing, haha!
I won’t have to worry about going to court, talking to lawyers every day, and messing with numbers that I don’t care about. I won’t have to read and analyze legal agreements and financial statements all day either.
More time to travel.
A big positive of freelancing and blogging is that I can work from wherever I want to work. I can travel to everywhere that I want to travel, without being bound by how many vacation days that I have left.
I do have to think about the dogs and our house, and would need someone reliable to help out since my sister works and goes to school, and because she is also thinking about moving to Chicago. I could never get rid of my dogs, so we would need a reliable house and dog sitter for whenever we go on a trip.
More time to grow my business.
Right now I work around 50 hours a week at my day job, with around 10 hours a week of commuting and getting ready related to it. I will get to take these 60 hours per week and devote it to improving my freelancing, expanding and enjoying life.
Yes, I will most likely just work more in my freelancing, nut it will be stuff that I enjoy instead of forcing myself out of bed every day.
Time to volunteer.
Even though I have limited time right now, I should be volunteering. I feel bad that I use my lack-of-time reasoning as an excuse to not volunteer and help others.
I would like to volunteer somewhere like being a Big Sister, or something animal related. I’ve also thought about helping children who have been in the same spot as me, such as helping kids who have found out that their parents or a close loved one has cancer. Or maybe just volunteering with the American Cancer Society directly.
What is your dream job? Do you think you have a good work-life balance?
Those commute times can really add up. 10 hrs a week is over 500 hrs a year that can be put to better use, not to mention the money on gas you will save 😎 I’m happy to be in the field I work in. I moved closer to work a few years ago so I’m only on the road 30 minutes a day 😀 Hope to still see your monthly extra income updates, although I suppose it wouldn’t be “side” income anymore 😉
Yes the commute sucks! And now that schools are back in session, there is an accident every single day and it takes me twice as long to get to work and to get home. AHH!
I don’t know if I have a dream job anymore. My work life balance is okay for now, but I really just want more time to do whatever I want. Volunteer a bit, do more yoga, exercise more.
Same here! 🙂
My work-life balance kinda sucks at the moment. As a real estate agent and part time freelancer, there are no set hours, so I always feel like I should be working to pay off my debt. Even when I try to relax sometimes, I feel guilty. I make myself go out and then I don’t worry about it, but laying down for a 20 min. nap is tough sometimes.
I guess my dream job would be to be able to live off my online income and be able to travel while working on it. I would still like to keep my real estate business, but not have it dictate my life!
Yes that would be tough! And that sounds like a great dream job.
I don’t know what my dream job would be but I am very happy where I am right now. As you listed off your reasons why you didn’t like your job I ticked off how much I am grateful for my job.
I enjoy the actual tasks of my job, I like my team, I love working 9am-5pm daily (plus summer fridays!), the 30 min. commute is great, I’m rarely stressed at work.
Since all of my friends also have day jobs, sitting around the house all day sounds like a drag. I would definitely look into a co-working space (but then you’d still have a commute I’m guessing) to at least be in a productive/professional environment.
That’s great that you enjoy your job! I work from around 8 am to 5:30 pm everyday, so that is one drag. My job is extremely stressful and pretty much has no meaning.
A lot of my friends have varying schedules, such as nurses, psych careers, sales and so on, so their schedules are different from mine.
I have a horrible work-life balance right now. It’s more like all life and no work. Just struggling to find ANY work and I’m not exactly worried about a dream job at this point. I have no idea what my dream job would be. I’d love to one day be successful working from home…gotta find something that works!
I hope you find something soon Kasey!
The thing that kills me most is the commute. I too spend ~10 hours commuting each week. It is a terrible wast of resources and time!
I had to quit a job before because of the same reason. I could’ve used the hours spent doing something for my job.
Yup, 10 hours sucks!
Hi Michelle!
From quitting my own day job almost seven months ago to go full-time writer/freelancer/blogger, I can say that it’s mostly been enjoyable. Work-life balance is definitely better, as I have started taking weekends off (I previously worked every weekend for the last four and a half years!). Also, I like to take a run several times a week in the middle of the morning (bonus!).
Some downsides I have experienced include floundering sometimes about how to move forward (it’s all you, all the time), your significant other/husband not being as free as you so feeling a bit guilty about it and not being able to travel lots with them, and getting overwhelmed sometimes.
There is nothing like it, and I hope to continue growing my business in order to continue this way. So far, so good!
This is great to hear Amanda! These are all things that I think about a lot.
I commute about 10 hours/week, too and I absolutely hate it! I hate thinking about how much time I’m wasting each week on the commute alone.
Not too sure what my dream job is, but I just want to be able to have the freedom to say “hmm… I’m not going in to work today because I feel like it” without any negative consequences.
Yup! Commuting is never fun.
Life not existing only on the weekends is a huge reason why I’d love to work from home. Having more of a work-life balance would be great as well. I probably work close to 50 hours a week as well, and I would like more time to do things I enjoy. Traveling is definitely one of them! I am at least hoping to find a job that allows for more vacation time, where they don’t give you grief for wanting a break once in a while. We get one week a year and our bosses are strict with it, but it’s okay for them to go all over for a week and a half every few months.
More vacation time is always a plus.
One week a year? That is not enough at all!
ahh, everything you just listed is a dream of mine. I’m a web designer, and I currently work for a stuffy corporate office. I want so badly to quit and pursue my dream, but I’m buried in bills, student loans, etc. I need to build up my freelance and blogging business before I quit, but my job keeps me from building up my freelance business and blogging to that potential.
I don’t have a good work-life balance. Just traveling here (40-60 minutes to and from) and being here exhausts me, because I do not enjoy it at all.
I’ll keep working toward my goal but it’s definitely a struggle.
Definitely sounds like you need to pursue your dream! What are you doing to pay down your bills?
Yep Michelle, I think about the difference I could make if I were to work in a freelance capacity, and it is my motivation. It will have to wait a little while though, gotta get to a point where I have built up my contacts and my side hustles, then it’s freedom from the 9 to 5!
I can’t wait until you can make the switch!
Those are just some of the many benefits one can get from working from home, Michelle. Good luck with that!
Thanks Marissa!
When I first quit 5 years ago, I was expecting something similar, but I actually found out that working for me I used to spend even more time in front of the computer working. It took me a couple of years to cut down the hours and get where I am today when I’m really trying to stick to a 4 hour per day schedule, although being a workaholic, it’s hard to stick to it :))
However, if you don’t get drawn into a ton of projects, you can really make self employment and especially blogging/freelancing a truly amazing experience. And I am sure you will do!
Thank you! I hope I will enjoy it 🙂
Congratulations on making the move! I quit my day job in May and I am LOVING working from home. I was a teacher and, contrary to popular belief, teaching is a VERY stressful job and becoming more so with every passing year. I had been doing freelance writing/editing for several years, but nowhere near enough to pay the bills.
I finally got ballsy enough this year to take the plunge. I’m a single mom with debt, so it was a huge leap of faith for me. But I’ve found and retained some great clients and I’ve never been happier. The best part is that I can go to PTA meetings at my daughter’s school, be at home when she’s home, and see her off every morning. So far my income has not suffered at all and I have a debt-free plan.
Be prepared to have clients bail on you, to work more than you ever have before so you have a safety net, and to have to take on projects you’re not totally excited about because you need to pay the bills. I’ve done all of this already. But as I watched my teacher-friends go back to school about a month ago, I was giddy that I wasn’t there with them. 🙂
Thanks Abby!
And congrats on quitting your job in May. I’m glad that you are commenting because I LOVE to hear from those who made the switch. Makes it seem more possible for me.
Great new site Michelle! I am very excited for you. It rocks!
Thanks Tony!
SO excited for you, Michelle, that you’re getting out of the rut into a job that you love. I was just thinking the other day that I do indeed have my dream job now: writing, and doing it from home so that I can be with the kiddos. It rocks!
Good for you Laurie 🙂 Makes me happy to hear that.
From my perspective, the “no more stress from my stressful job” is the biggest benefit you’ve listed. Stress stinks. Yes, there will be new stress from being on your own, but it’s not the same as being worn down in a corporate world job. I’m jealous just thinking about it!
Yes, stress does stink!
Hey Michelle. I truly feel for you. It sounds like you need to get out and soon. Once you do leave your job, you’ll see how life slows down and you’ll appreciate the smaller things way more 🙂 The problem with all that is, it’s hard to leave. There’s so many unanswered questions and sometimes, even though you know what you want to do, you might not know how to do it where everybody feels ok with your decision! This is one of those moments where you will need to be selfish for you and only you. Good luck and all the best.
Take care.
Lyle
Thank you Lyle. I definitely need to leave soon.
$50 million house wow I’d love to see what that buys you in the Midwest 🙂
It buys a lot! Most of them have mansions all over the world.
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