Work From Home

Freedom to travel and flexibility in my daily schedule are the two biggest benefits of working from home. While I loved being a teacher, I love being a private tutor, business owner, and resource creator even more! Working from home has been a life-changer for me! We each have reasons and roadblocks when it comes to working from home or changing careers.

Not everyone can or would benefit from working at home. But have you ever considered the possibility? Or have you ever considered working for yourself? Have you ever wished you could do your job a little differently but your boss isn’t on the same page? Working for myself and working from home has allowed me the freedom to individualize instruction for my tutoring clients. I get a chance to tailor a session to the needs of my client. I love it when I can see the lightbulb come on for a student, where learning and confidence meet. These are things that were possibly inside the classroom but not as individualized or as often as I wanted them to be.

The health needs of my aging parents and grandfather ultimately pushed my roadblocks out of the way. The flexibility of arranging my own daily schedule was a huge need at the time. Over the years, I’ve had to ability to rearrange my day if a doctor appointment was needed or to pop a casserole in the oven in the 5 minutes I have between clients or change out an IV. Working from home has been a huge blessing for me.

Previously I worked with tutoring clients in person but had always wanted to take my business online. The Covid pandemic provided the opportunity to make that switch and it was so successful that I have continued working with clients over Zoom calls and shared documents. As this post is being published, I’m across the world working for a few days in Strasbourg, France after I ran a youth retreat for third culture kids in Tirana, Albania. This never would have been possible before I started working from home. Now I can travel AND work! With my first grandchild is arriving next month, I will be able to help out and take my work with me. The reasons to work from home certainly outweigh the roadblocks!

I worked from home in some seasons of life when my kids were young and we laid ground rules to times I would work and times they would not interrupt my work. Sure it was more challenging when there were kids in the house but the benefits outweighed the roadblocks and we set up consistent routines to help our family manage. My husband has been working from home for more than 15 years. It was a huge blessing to have him home when the kids got off the bus and needed to chat for a few minutes or a bike tire needed air.

While not everyone or every job is conducive to working from home, if you are on the fence about it, write out a list of reasons and roadblocks. Talk to friends and coworkers. Make the leap if at all possible. Try it out. If your physical home is not conducive, look into a coworking station or an alternative location. I’m so thankful for the freedom and flexibility I have in working from home!

Considering starting your own tutoring, teaching, or coaching business? Check out this course I wrote to help people start their own businesses. It’s got tips and checklists that would be helpful for any business start-up, besides just a tutoring business. Know a friend who is thinking of starting a business? Send them this link! https://tailorjoy.com/business-basics/

Table Talk: If you could work remotely, where would you happily work? What are your roadblocks to working from home? What are your best reasons for working from home?