I’m fortunate in the fact that I get to work from home. But the reality of working from home is that there is some good and bad aspect of it. Here, let me share with you 10 good and bad things about working from home.

There was a point in my life when I was really depressed that I thought I would never work from home, and instead, I will just keep being depressed and I will be stuck in my dead in job for the rest of my life. Working from home was just a dream, and it was never going to happen to me.

But then, don’t ask me how (as it a long story and we would be here all day) – I soon was able to work from home and in fact, I have now been working from home for going on 5 years!

I still pinch myself as I feel incredibly lucky to be able to work from home. That wish I made to myself at a low point in my life came true.

Recently I have been in a reflective mood about me working from home primarily as a neighbour got made redundant and was asking me for advice on it.

Here are 10 good and bad things about working from home. These are my experiences and there both positive and negative aspect of it.

Good: I can wake up/get out of bed at any time. I don’t sleep very well so I often go to bed at 10-11pm and I will be wide awake by 3 am (it’s always 3 am which is spooky!). Then I spend the next few hours tossing and turning, being a complete restless freak trying to get back to sleep. It drives me mad! So it handy that when the alarm goes off (7 am every single morning – it was my husband decision, not mine!), I can just go back to sleep.

Bad: Unexpected days out. I can often have a full day of work behind me, and I really need to crack on – but then a person would expect me to drop everything and have a day out and I cannot stress how much this irritates me. When someone knows you are working from home, they expect you to drop everything and go out for the day. I don’t mind if it planned advance, but if they ring up that morning telling me I need a day away from the computer and they are going to come round to pick me, then that does understandably annoy me as I got my own schedule and I do need to work.

Good: I can go swimming at whatever time suit me best. I have taken up swimming this year, and it has been brilliant to go back in the water. I can go when the pool is near enough empty, and I take full advances of that as I can float about to my heart content.

Bad: The distraction. I’m pretty good at being focus on my work, but I do get distracted from time to time. YouTube is a good source of distraction – so is Twitter. But it a mind over matter situation and you need to set your mind back onto the work.

Good: Creating my own personal environment. I can play music while working, and I can also put on my aromatherapy diffuser if the air a little stale. If I’m cold, I can put on my fan heater with no complaint from anyone. I can eat at my desk. I pretty much can do whatever I want.

Bad: The block. Sometimes being at home 24/7 can give you the block. This is when your mind and no idea is a formulation, and you’re just staring at a blank screen wondering what to do. But usually, when that happens, you can go out for some air and clear the cobweb.

Good: working in your comfy clothes. Working from home does enable you to work in your pyjammy. But in recent time I have been putting my on sweatpants and a causal jumper when I’m working. I don’t have to worry about work uniform or what anyone will think of my style choices. It doesn’t even matter if I get ketchup stain on my clothes.

Bad: You still tend to miss parcel being delivered. You would think being at home; you can guarantee that you are here to pick up your parcel – nope that is not the case. Maybe because I keep getting crap delivery drivers, but I still get the ‘sorry we missed you’ coming through my letterbox. I then spend an afternoon or evening trying to chase it up.

Good: No social/evening out. I’m sure I said this before, but I’m awkward in a social situation. So I use to hate work-related evening out. In one place I use to work in, it was mandatory that everyone would go to the AGM and I use to dread it. Do I get lonely now I work from home? Nope. I still talk to people such as my husband, my neighbour, the coffee shop lady and anyone I happen to meet while I’m out. I just like being my own person.

Bad: Relaying on your own equipment. So it up to you if the computer is working correctly if the internet isn’t going to go down and all the software is up to date. If anything break or something happen, it up to you to fix it. There no technical support.

Those were my 10 good and bad things about working from home. Let me know if you have positive or negative about working from home.