One of the benefits of working at Firetrust is being able to work from home.   Virtually all of our work is computer based and with broadband now so freely available, that allows us to take our work home with us.  As a result some of the staff here has chosen to work from home full time, others remain in the office, and there are those like me who split the time between both.     The benefits are really a success, those with younger children can be stay at home dads and we have those with older children who can work from home during school holidays  We also have those who enjoy viewing Cricket on TV during the summer can enjoy the best of both worlds.   Even seemingly small issues such as a new Air Conditioner unit being installed right above your desk ....*cough cough*....can be managed so that people aren’t put out too much.

However, working from home is not without its hazard either, as you find you can become more easily distracted depending on your environment, a poor setup at home can lead to poor productivity.    It may require a further investment into technology to deal with staff working remotely, and the whole issue over security outside of the office is also something to carefully monitor.   Most importantly though it’s communication, as even with all the technologies available to us, nothing beats face to face discussion....or arguments...

I believe one of the biggest impacts are that the day to day challenges can be much more easily managed by having this luxury, and as a result I find that the attitude within the office is much more laid back which leads to a better feel.

OK, so that’s a fairly happy story.   You can picture us all riding off on horseback into the sunset.

What has been irking me lately are internet based working from home scams, or get rich quick schemes, that often will offer huge financial reward, but not necessarily even selling a product; these schemes have many names, and feel free to read all about them on Wikipedia.   We have Ponzi schemes, Network Marketing, which though legitimate has many criticisms or Pyramid, Reverse Funnel, and Gifting schemes.

You see if we back track a little, a few months ago I was spending some time watching various message boards about finding work in New Zealand when a friend of mine was unemployed and actively looking for work.  I was startled by the number of people punting their various internet scams on these boards, and though they were often unable to provide a reasonable, sound and balanced description of what it was they actually did, or how much they earned, I was discouraged by the number of folk who bought into the hype, and bad judgement.  
I should add too, the membership on these message boards was virtually 100% New Zealand.   People’s delusion for a fast buck, and their sheer greed meant they were targeting their own neighbours, cousins, brothers....whoever it was that bought into it.    I can deal with them targeting...I dunno....say....someone from Texas, but to do it to your own.   Shame on you, you greedy, self centred SOAB.

Still, there are many legitimate jobs that can be done from home, and as our own situations change we can often find ourselves looking for actual honest work at home.  This brings me to my question...

Do you have a happy work from home story yourself ?
What is it you do and how do you find it affected your lifestyle ?

Please, no self promotion, I am not interested in folk trying to recruit here.   I’m just curious what else people do when they can *legitimately* work from home.