Today we're talking about the pros and cons of working from home. I worked from
home for 10 years. And definitely have some experience on what are the pros and
cons. I'm experiencing one of the pros right now. I mean check this out.
So, I'm here on a small remote island that I had to access by boat. And I've
been here for many days all by myself. Now, there's a couple that are preparing
my meals and they're here to fix anything if it breaks. But all the other...
There's three bungalows the other 2 are empty.
It's just me. I've been solo for many days. And I've got today, I've got
tomorrow. I'm so excited. This place is... In fact, you know this place has been
life-changing for me. Okay. So, I've worked from home for 10
years. I've got 14 employees in the Philippines that all work from their
home. And I have two videographers, filming assistants that they work from
their homes. So, I've got a lot of experience myself. And I'm going to share
some perspectives and include my team and have them share with you some of the
pros and cons of working from home. -Working from home gives me more time
with my family. -I get to have like control of my time. -The best thing about
outsourcing is you get to manage your time very well. -You have a lot of time
and flexible. Decide that you spend time with your family. You also have some time
for yourself as well. -You get to manage to your schedule ahead of time.
-Working from home gives me the opportunity to take care of my dogs. -So,
the biggest pro is freedom of time. That's one that I think of right off the
bat is I get to control my schedule. I didn't have to ask to get 9 days off
of work well that would include weekends. But I took a nine day trip to come here
to the Philippines. And I just picked the time of the year that I wanted to come.
Definitely a huge blessing that I appreciate it the entire time I've been
self-employed is the freedom of time. Now, the contrast that, let me share a con of
kind of working from home. Out of the last 10 years, the first 8 were a
financial rollercoaster. I mean significantly. There were times
that I remember sitting in the Walmart parking lot and being in tears wondering
how am I going to buy diapers for my daughter. Knowing that our
was in the negative. And my plan that I came up with as well I will write a
check. Because back then checks... You could buy things with checks
and then they'd go to the bank and then they would you know either be rejected
then or put her kick-out more in the negative.
I also remember going to my mom one time and asking for money. It meant... It doesn't
seem like that was that long ago. And she says, "Nate,
why don't you get a job?" You know... And that that really hurt because I love
entrepreneurship. I feel that I'm growing and learning and I believe I'm creating
something. And I was really painful and and that's really a con. So, you don't
have... You don't have job security or income security. It can be a real
financial struggle. Now, to talk about the blessings. I have to say the last couple
years, things have totally turned around. I'm making more revenue and income now
than I could have ever made as a dentist. That was my original plan. So, you know,
the financial side of it can be a plus and a negative. So, to talk about a pro
again. I love that I don't have to commute. You know, traffic in Utah can get
bad during rush hour if they're somewhere that I need to be and I have
to drive during rush hour. It's pretty lame. It can double or triple the length
of time to get somewhere. Compared to what my team has to endure in traffic in
Manila area. It's a... Manila's traffic can be crazy. I mean it
can take a 20 minute drive and turn it into 2 hours. Let me have them share
the benefits of not having a commute. -Outsourcing is a good thing especially
when it comes to No More commutes. -No traffic, no tax and
big income. -Save time. Because here in the Philippines, there's a lot of traffic. -Okay, to
talk about another con... And this is something that I've only considered a
con in the last couple of years. And that is that it's hard to separate work when
you work from home. Now, I've lived in a couple different houses over the last
10 years. And in one house, my office was down in the basement. Then we had her
sister-in-law move in. And I moved my desk in my office up to the master
bedroom. So, it was bedroom and office. And our new
home. I had a separate room for my office but for a while I didn't have a door
well as having a custom barn door built. Anyway, all different types of scenarios
and I've actually come to a point where I'm getting an office outside of the
home. So, now after 10 years, a few days before it came here to the Philippines, I
actually got the keys and I've got a really nice office space. It's a
10-minute Drive. There's not traffic if I don't have to drive on the freeway to
get to it. So, I won't really have a commute. So, where I'm at right now, I want
to be a better husband and I want to be a better father. And when I'm home, I want
to be home. I don't want to be at work. And what I found because of my workplace
and my home have been the same space, it's been hard for me to turn off work
mode. I mean, always thinking about work I'm always checking emails or wanting to
respond to team communication. So now, in getting a new office space. I'm going to be
able to go to work. Do my work. Focus. Not be distracted and then when I'm done
I'll go home. And I'll be able to be at home with my family. Alright. My team
talked about the privilege of not having to commute. But they also talked about
some other pros and cons of working from home. -The best thing about working from
home as I can work... I can go to work wearing my boxers.
What I don't like about it is I'm always alone. -Yeah. You get to work at the
comfort of your home. But your home becomes your workplace. So, you just
have trouble mixing those. -Working from home is very convenient because you are
able to support and earn money without the need to leave your families. -I get to
spend more time with my family. -It helps me to spend more time with my family.
-Actually convenient but then that also means that you have no physical
breakbeat. -And what I don't like about it as I get
goes... It gets lonely sometimes. -The disadvantage also is when you have
do chores at home. -It's also exhausting because you have to do everything all in
one time and all at the same place. -But the downside is that I have to work
alone so I miss a lot of team building. -And to go out sometimes and enjoy social
interactions with other people. -You don't get to build relationships with your
co-workers as much as when you work in offices. -So, that's why I came here to the
Philippines. So, we can have a team-building activity. We just did 2
breakout rooms. We went to lunch. Last night we went to dinner. Got to be here
with my team. Okay, I want to talk about another angle of kind of the freedom of
time. Really I'll call it the freedom of choice. But I really get to do what I
want when on my own boss. I love that. And it can backfire, right? I love my ideas. I
feel I'm very creative. I feel that I have good input and opinions. And I want
to implement. And I want to be the one to create. And I get to do that. Being
self-employed. But sometimes, I haven't been very strict with my schedule or my
plan. And I don't set an alarm and so I woken up in the morning like "Hmmm, what
do I want to do today?" And weeks or months go by... And I'm not near as
productive as I would have liked to have been. I'm in a space where that's fine.
Meaning I'm not suffering because of it. But on the other hand, I've got some very
lofty goals. And I realized I've really got to step things up to be able to
achieve these goals. And so that's why I've gotten the office space now outside.
So, this place really is cool. Let me show you. That's the beach and that's my
footprints from when I last went down into the ocean. Went kayaking out that
direction yesterday. Found some amazing hidden beaches. It was just...
This place is great. So, I hope you found this video helpful and just introducing
some of the major pros and cons of working from home. Okay, I've got 2
things for it. We're going to do a poll and get some comments from people who do
work from home. So, the poll above is do you work from home or not. And then for
those of you that do work from home, please add to this discussion. Go ahead
and comment below and share some of the pros and cons that you found. Because I
only discussed a couple of them here. And while you're here on YouTube, I've got a
great video teaching you why I hire people in the Philippines that's the
next great step for you to be able to really work from home. So, go ahead and
watch that video next.