Does anyone work from home?

So, I am thinking about changing career paths.  I have enrolled in a community college to get certified in Medical Transcription.  Reason being...I want to work form home.  I have worked as an apartment manager for so long and I hate it....the money is good along with benifits, vacation, etc....but I am so sick of people.  Plus, KJ is still in school working on her PA degree.

Does anyone work from home?  What do you do and do you like it?

Hi Sommer,

I've worked from home about 4 years now. I am a computer tech, I install and support Point of Sale (cash register) systems. Well I should say when I am not traveling and working onsite at a customer, I work from home. I travel at least 50% of the time.

Like anything, it has it's pluses and minuses...of course you are in charge of your time. I am actually one of 12 people across the country who do what I do, we all work from home. Our manager is located in Denver (I'm in Ohio). I usually only see my boss in person about 2-3 times a year. That part can be VERY nice LOL. It is nice on a cold or nasty winter day when I just have to walk 20 feet down the hall and not have to worry about driving somewhere.

The minuses are that it is sometimes hard to knock off and quit work. You really have to discipline yourself to do that. It helps if you can devote a room entirely to just your work, and at 5 shut the door and not go back to it again.

You do have to be careful with time management. It can be easy to start doing housework or laundry and kind of get too far away from work and what you are doing.

Don't know if this helps or not, kinda feel like I am rambling LOL

I am an Insurance Agent and work from home.  I love it.  However I have low expenses and that allows me to keep a small clientele, that is not too demanding and doesnt require much overhead such as a seperate office.  I highly recommend it especially if you have a partner that works outside of the home and can provide benefits for you and your family.  You will be uninsurable now that you have had your surgery and that is a BIG consideration!

I have an office at the plant that I work at but I am also hooked up to work from home. This was very handy when I was laid up after my knee surgeries, I worked from home so I wasn't on disability for the entire time I was recouperating (plus it kept me busy so I wasn't going nuts with nothing to do). I also work from home sometimes at night when I can't stay late at work, or when I have pre-arranged with my boss to stay home for the day. It is great because I can come and go when I please without restriction. I also find I get a  lot more work done at home because I don't have people coming in and out of my office all day long, but I tend to work lots more hours at home as time gets away from me. It does have its advantages but the downside is that you don't have any human interaction. This didn't bother me so much at first, but after working from home for a few months, I started to miss interacting with my coworkers in person rather than through e-mails and teleconferences. I prefer to work from home 2-3 days a week and go into the office the other days.

I am the Oracle support person for the quality dept. at my work.

Are you sure that med transcription is a field that will endure? Most of us are having to go to the Electronic health records and I know that our transcription department will be closed within a year. The hospitals around here are closing theirs too. I would hate for you to spend time preparing for a job that technology will put out of business soon.

I worked by myself in a counseling office for a few years and then when I went to the medical school I realized how much I missed being around people.

Connie 

It is actually one of the ten top growing fields in NC..we are always WAY behind everyone...strange since we are such a huge "medical" city.  I told my wife last night it may be the fact I have been in the house for two weeks and I have grown custom to it.  I guess I am ready for something different.  I am still going to persue the certification.  It may lead to medical billing or office admin, etc.

We just bought a house in the country specifically  to get away from people and the hustle of the city.  We could not be happier.  We used to be the type of couple that ALWAYS had someone at our home or knocking on the door at all hours, going out and socializing, etc.  I have no doubt in my mind that I will not miss people, LOL.  I have worked with only two people in my office for the past 7 years...and that was two too many in my book, LOL!!  I am one of those people that are happiest around my animals.