Can I Work at Home and Make Money?

Years ago the financial goal for the work at home business was that it generated the same income as one would expect from a well paying job. At equal pay the home business won the contest because the expense of going out to work everyday was gone. For the mechanic who set up a garage where he lived, or the craftsman, whose workshop was constructed adjacent to his home, the ability to generate lucrative profits always existed. I can even remember visiting several doctors when I was young, with offices in their homes.

With the arrival of multi-level marketing and the concept of personal distributorship, people were given even more options. Although initially this amounted to turning your home, or part of it, into a store, there was a collection of outgoing individuals who loved having people stop by their homes at all hours.

The home, and the home office, underwent a variety of looks and styles. Granddad's old den that used to have a dark, almost mysterious mixture of bookshelves, trophy cases and even a fish or wild animal on display, had received a makeover. Large desks, executive chairs and file cabinets ran their course and slowly gave way to computer desks, fax machines and coffee makers. Magazines managed to convince people that they can truly feel right at work, while they're at home.

The environment in which we work should never be underestimated. Companies go to great lengths to provide offices, conference rooms and lounges that encourage productivity. Executives are enticed by the office with a view. Privileges abound when performance improves and everyone benefits because the owners recognized that people work best in an environment, conducive to the work they're asked to do.

People that work at home and make money continually emphasize the importance of their environment. Top producers can afford modifications that aren't available to everyone, but they also know from experience that certain environments can have a negative impact on revenue performance. They also recognize that because none of us is exactly the same, the selection of a working environment is subjective to the individual.

I've experienced working in large operations centers. Massive rooms filled with consoles where people sometimes sit side by side, speaking on the phone, or using a computer, often with people looking over your shoulders.

It has also been my privilege to sit in a cubicle where people's conversations floated around the room while I was trying to concentrate. If you ever wanted to experience complete and utter distraction, try placing yourself in the company of a dozen people who were either frustrated with the people they were speaking to, or their computers, or both.

Making money in business is dependent upon productivity and productivity is either aided or hindered by the work environment. In order to work at home and make money, we need to ensure that we produce quality work on a consistent basis. I can't imagine trying to accomplish even a portion of the hyper-focused tasks on my schedule in either of the work environment examples listed above.

If you already work at home and make money, then ask yourself if a change in environment might increase productivity. If you're thinking of starting a work at home business consider what tasks you'll have to perform and map out the best possible places for them. Sometimes we concentrate better during the hours of self improvement, ongoing education or training, in a place other than our home office. If we need to work on the phone, can we focus more completely in the kitchen, the bedroom or out in the garden?

I've known most of my life that if I can't see out of a window, I can't write. Later in life, I've discovered that not all windows are created equally. If the scenery is spectacular, guess what I'm doing?

Knowing about ourselves helps us to decide where we accomplish specific tasks with the greatest efficiency. Within this framework, we can still experiment in various settings to find the best solution. Finding a good place to work is the first step in learning to work at home and make money.