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Where You are is not Important Anymore
With today’s state of technology, it does not matter where in the world you are to do many types of work. If you work in non-manufacturing, then you have a better than 60% chance that it can be done remotely and the current research indicates that you will be more productive than your office-bound counterpart and you will be a happier employee. Your employer benefits also by lower his costs of providing workspace and perks that come with offices for you.
Telecommuting Considerations
There are some real things you have to be aware of when deciding where you want to work from before you land there.
- Time zones -If the rest of your team is several time zones away it can mean that you are working at times the rest of your world is relaxing or sleeping. So make sure you can live with the adjustments you will have to make.
- WorkSpace -You still need to be in places where you can focus and engage with others in a quiet environment. Sometimes working from home is not ideal when there is no go to space that you can slip into for need calls and concentrate work times. Some people have found Co-Work locations provide the environment and also the social context that they need to work effectively.
- Social -Some of us just need to have people around us for some reason to help product at work. Being a telecommuter means you are not with your work colleagues for a coffee or break together. You need to build these relationships by making special efforts on your part, and by finding groups locally, that can be a substitute for them. Many people use MeetUp meeting as one way to find the face to face connection that they need in their work lives.
- Location -Not all towns roll out the welcome mat for you. Many small towns that do not have a lot of people turn over are not as open to newcomers. If you want to move to a small town or the country, try it out for a month or two before you make a longer-term commitment to the area. It is one the advantage of your job is where you work doesn’t matter. In fact, if you want to be one of those people that have a couple of places to live throughout the year than telecommuting is a perfect answer for you.
- Transportation -If you have to go to the office or visit clients than you need to consider how far away you can be. Some job that indicates telecommuting is just home-based work that needs to be nearby. So is it a short car ride, an airplane trip or a day-long trek to get to where you need to be and how often do you need to do it? Can you accept the challenges of doing it? Also if you need to ship things back and forth not all locations have next day services. So know what your options are before committing to a place
- Broadband -Without you can not do the telecommuting thing period. It is the general availability of broadband that has truly enabled the remote work location for workers. SO know for sure whether it is available and is it the highest enough performance for you to do your work from that location. It also is a good idea to make sure that there is more than one provider just in case something changes.
What is your telecommuting story? Tell us by leaving comments below.
