Most translators who work from home really love the lifestyle they’ve created for themselves. Let’s start by taking a look at the positives of running your freelance translation business from home –

Probably the No. 1 positive is the flexibility one has when working from home.

When you’re committed to a work-at-home lifestyle, you quickly learn how to manage your time well, which means that you’re free to do things during the day – a great bonus if you have children. It means you can attend their school functions, take them to the dentist, and so on. It also gives you the freedom to go shopping, attend an exercise class, even do some part-time study; of course all the time knowing that these hours will be made up in the evening or early morning. So, yes it does take commitment, but it’s still a fabulous lifestyle.

Being available for daytime activities.

When you work office hours in a professional environment it can be difficult scheduling appointments. When you’re working from home it means you don’t have to take a personal day to attend a doctor’s appointment or wait for a special delivery. Basically, your time’s your own, and it’s up to you to plan your own schedule.

Better Quality of Life for Children.

All children would love to see their Mom when they come home from school, or even have their Mom pick them up from school, but this has become a rarity today with so many women out in the workforce. With the flexibility of working from home, you don’t require any outside care or after-school programs for children. You’re always there for your children, whenever they need you.

No commuting to work!

This is a huge bonus for translation professionals who work from home because commuting to work can be very stressful, frustrating, and a huge waste of time. And when you do decide to commute it’s because you choose to, so it’s much more enjoyable.

 You become part of the community.

By being able to attend school functions, going shopping, visiting the hairdresser, calling on family and friends, and so on, you do get to become a part of your local community.

The negatives of working from home might include –

Again, the word ‘flexibility’ comes up because having this flexibility can sometimes work against you. It’s very difficult to say ‘no’ to family or friends when they ask a favour, such as to collect their sick child from school, go out to lunch, collect their little one from day-care, let the electrician in because they can’t be at home, and so on, because they know you’re at home. This wouldn’t be an issue at all if you worked in an office environment and were clearly ‘at work’. It can be really awkward if you have people visiting because it’s hard for them to understand that you actually have to work, which could mean simply going into the next room.

It can be quite isolating being alone at home for many hours a day. It doesn’t take long before you become ‘out-of-touch’ and start to withdraw from society, so you must make an effort to socialize at every opportunity. Sometimes, for people who work at home, staying at home ends up becoming much easier than making the effort to go out, and this can be very damaging to your sense of self.

You’re always at work! Unless you plan your day very carefully you could well feel that you’re always at work and that the only way to escape work is to leave the house. Sometimes it would be nice to simply close the door on a Friday afternoon and not walk back in there until Monday morning!