As of lately I have really been struggling with some of the benefits and drawbacks to working from home. Primarily, I enjoy the freedom of working at home. I can come and go as I want and make my own hours. Now, I am a driven and fairly focused person so this works for me. I don't often procrastinate. Being a self-motivator it works well for me to create my own hours and schedule. But one thing I have struggled with the most lately is how lonely it can be. I wake up, get ready for the day, and can often go for days on end without any meaningful work conversation with anyone. And being a people person that makes me quite lonely and I fear could begin to affect my work and creativity. And that's why last week I wrote about joining the Chamber of Commerce. I have eagerly been looking for ways to get myself out, talk to other motivators and creators in the community, and expand my business name all at the same time. Today, I am glad to say I have joined the local Chamber of Commerce. I am pretty excited about the opportunities this will bring and am eagerly anticipating where this takes me and my business.

But to go back to the focus of this blog post, I wanted to go over some points I discovered when reflecting on the pro's and con's to working from home, and potential ways to get over some of the "roadblocks" working from home can present. 

And here is a list I found (from forbes.com). 
Pros: 
1- Flexibility: you can be anywhere and everywhere! And with the Internet this is becoming easier and more convenient for us everyday.
2- The option of a flexible "roaming retail" option. This allows you to give people a face at Trade Shows, etc. when they crave it without having to worry about someone "taking care of shop" back home.
3- You'll save money. You don't have to commute to work every day (which is also a great time saver!) and you don't have to pay rent for both a place to live and work.

Cons: 
1- You'll miss out on foot traffic. You aren't going to get that person who just pops in because they saw you while walking down the street. 
2- You're more anonymous. This could create concerns of accessibility, trust and safety from clients.
3- It's harder to seperate your private life from business life. *and this is the biggest one for me* 
"This is largely about making your work space more professional for your clients (or at least professional-looking), but it could also boost your productivity. It can also be a personal issue, as most people view the separation of work and play as a good thing. A physical seperation from your work can provide a mental or emotional separation. When spending long stretches at home without business trips, it's our first inclination to spend every waking hour working. It can be hard to take a break and impose structured hours on ourselves, but sometimes the only way to relieve stress is to get out of the apartment." 

Ultimately, there are pro's and con's to working from home and it's something that I don't think people can fully comprehend until they have tried it. As with everything that's new, it takes some getting used to. But you just take the good with the bad and embrace most of the freedom it can provide :)