PARENTS AND CARERS DREAM OF WORKING FROM HOME
Working from home can be a dream. No commuting, no fighting traffic, no expensive lunches, no petty office politics and no racing to climb the corporate ladder. And you could put in a pretty good day’s work without constant interruptions from colleagues’ phone chatter and funny emails, and of course, the always present, office gossip.
A staggering ‘one in seven’ mothers work flexible hours with 12 percent of them using a ‘Term Time’ working arrangement. According to the Office for National Statistics there are a growing number of women-owned businesses in the UK, almost one million, with around half a million women working from home. Home working franchises and online businesses are particularly popular because they allow Mums to pursue a career and maintain an income with the opportunity to work from home.
A newly launched online recruitment service, www.remoteemployment.com, specialising in connecting Employers with remote working Job Seekers and Freelancers offers great opportunities for work from home businesses and office-home jobs with main stream companies. The website is unique in that the concept of remote working has been around for some time, but there hasn’t been dedicated recruitment service that connects remote jobs in reputable companies with individuals.
Remote working is perfect for Mums (and Dads) with an dependent child or young family, single parents with teens, as well as people caring for sick or elderly family members. People all across the UK from all backgrounds are fitting work around families and home life and doing it with confidence and style. They find working in their own home the best way to juggle a career and their other responsibilities. Whether this is freelancing for a company, running their own business, working with companies that promote office-home job combinations, positions that cater for field travels or others that can easily be done away from the office, the freedom and independence to control working hours is everyone’s cup of tea.
For many people, the ideal working environment is their own home. Some work from another remote location such as a partner’s office, friend’s small business or a family home. National Stats reports that women are more likely than men to have some form of flexible working arrangement with just over a quarter of women using a flexible working pattern compared to around a fifth of men.Amongst all types of working arrangements, flexible working hours is most common with an average of 12 per cent for parent employees. Vital stats such as these prove that the trend towards flexible and home working, alongside home based business opportunities, is the way forward for the majority of parents and people caring for others. It provides them with more control over how they do their work, increases job satisfaction and work production and an all round improvement in work-life balance.
This type of employment solution with forward thinking companies improves the likelihood of an employee staying with the company and thus, promoting employment stability within small companies and large corporations. Remote Employment’s Managing Director, Ken Sheridan, believes that today’s employees aren’t solely motivated by money and are more likely looking for flexible working to help them balance their work and home life.
Sheridan said: “Flexible employment solutions and home working can be a powerful benefit to employees. Companies will have to look to the future to ensure they don’t lose out on talented employees who want to pursue their career goals and who are determined to follow their work at home dream.”
To find out more about working remotely browse www.remoteemployment.com.
6 February 2008
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How to set up a home office ...
Before you set up a work station at home, check out our Seven Top Tips on how to work from home:
Your Home Office
Ideally, you will have a spare room to create a home office. If not, a corner of another room, will be fine as long as you are not constantly distracted in the family fast lane. Set up your kitSet up your computer, files and phone to give you maximum comfort for long hours. Have enough plug points for PC, printer, phone, scanner, mobile charger, fax machine and answer phone. Even better get an all in once mod con to save on a jumble of cables and wires.
Pick your desk location
You should be able to see the door of the office from where you are sitting or at least more of your surroundings. Beware of facing the garden and the bird bath – too tempting to watch the world go by! A hard chair will give you backache so spend a little extra on a good one.
Working Hours
Working outside 'normal' working hours helps to balance your work and home life so don't feel guilty dashing off to take the lads to footie after school, as long as you get your work done. Catching up in the early morning or later in the evening works well, but also watch out for going OTT. Make sure you close down and walk away at some point or the family will go hungry.
Have a breather
No matter what kind of work you do or what home you do it in, you can go bonkers if you spend 24 hours a day at it. Get out, whenever you can, to clear your head and to see other people. Use lunch time as a good break to pop down to pick up groceries for dinner, step outside to feed the birds during your coffee break or walk the dog around the block to clear the cobwebs. This is also a great way to mull over a document or get inspiration for new ideas.
Keep in Touch
Have no fear that your social life at work comes to an end if you leave your office to work from home, in fact in some cases your relationship with your colleagues may improve. Email is instant but be careful of 'funnies' – they can eat up a huge chunk of time. Chat through business issues by phone and meet for a quick bite every now and then.
Goal scoring
Give yourself little goals and objectives and then reward yourself when they are complete. Make sure family and friends know your hours or days of working at home and stick to that. Don't be tempted to pop over for a coffee or cook a large meal. Give yourself this time as a reward for getting up early on a Monday to finish a long-winded report. Or if you score well with a new client take five to put your feet up before the school run. Whatever incentives work for you, use them to motivate yourself to balance your time around your other responsibilities.
If you have any suggestions on working from home, please submit your articles to grace@remoteemployment.com.
Your Home Office
Ideally, you will have a spare room to create a home office. If not, a corner of another room, will be fine as long as you are not constantly distracted in the family fast lane. Set up your kitSet up your computer, files and phone to give you maximum comfort for long hours. Have enough plug points for PC, printer, phone, scanner, mobile charger, fax machine and answer phone. Even better get an all in once mod con to save on a jumble of cables and wires.
Pick your desk location
You should be able to see the door of the office from where you are sitting or at least more of your surroundings. Beware of facing the garden and the bird bath – too tempting to watch the world go by! A hard chair will give you backache so spend a little extra on a good one.
Working Hours
Working outside 'normal' working hours helps to balance your work and home life so don't feel guilty dashing off to take the lads to footie after school, as long as you get your work done. Catching up in the early morning or later in the evening works well, but also watch out for going OTT. Make sure you close down and walk away at some point or the family will go hungry.
Have a breather
No matter what kind of work you do or what home you do it in, you can go bonkers if you spend 24 hours a day at it. Get out, whenever you can, to clear your head and to see other people. Use lunch time as a good break to pop down to pick up groceries for dinner, step outside to feed the birds during your coffee break or walk the dog around the block to clear the cobwebs. This is also a great way to mull over a document or get inspiration for new ideas.
Keep in Touch
Have no fear that your social life at work comes to an end if you leave your office to work from home, in fact in some cases your relationship with your colleagues may improve. Email is instant but be careful of 'funnies' – they can eat up a huge chunk of time. Chat through business issues by phone and meet for a quick bite every now and then.
Goal scoring
Give yourself little goals and objectives and then reward yourself when they are complete. Make sure family and friends know your hours or days of working at home and stick to that. Don't be tempted to pop over for a coffee or cook a large meal. Give yourself this time as a reward for getting up early on a Monday to finish a long-winded report. Or if you score well with a new client take five to put your feet up before the school run. Whatever incentives work for you, use them to motivate yourself to balance your time around your other responsibilities.
If you have any suggestions on working from home, please submit your articles to grace@remoteemployment.com.
Remote Work
Remote Employment is a brand new online recruitment site specialising in remote working and home based appointments, professional jobs working from home, home based career opportunities, high quality office-home job combinations and flexible work positions that can be effectively managed away from the office.
Register to find professional, jobs working from home and self employed home based business opportunities. Search to find Candidates, Freelancers, Consultants and creative projects.
Register to find professional, jobs working from home and self employed home based business opportunities. Search to find Candidates, Freelancers, Consultants and creative projects.
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