tales of Suchita

So I have been working from home – freelancing – or as I like to call it – working – for about 2 years now. If you translate this into real-time, it means I am just about floating thanks to the generosity of a lot of people.

If you are blinded by the rosy picture of working from home, let me present to you the flip side so you can make an informed decision. Unless you’re like me who doesn’t care what other people have to say about how difficult it can be and would rather find it out for yourself and then later curse why you couldn’t have just listened to the blog post that was trying to save you from yourself, then go ahead and skip this.

Here goes nothing:

1. Your family is never happy. Sometimes they curse you for being too free, sometimes for being too busy. Sometimes they demand your attention when you’re in the middle of a phone call and sometimes they will ignore you because you have no time for them. Pro tip: grovelling helps. Make best friends with your smartphone. Download all possible apps so you can do any work from anywhere. Pray your 3G/4G works wherever you are. Pray hard.
2. There are days when you have no work. Then suddenly everyone who has ignored you thus far will demand you finish their assignment, simultaneously, by EOD. Unless you are willing to pull an all-nighter, you can kiss that social life goodbye. Pro tip: enjoy your rest days because they are few and far between.
3. Work life balance exists in the comfort zone and remember you started freelancing to explore the area beyond your comfort zone? Yes, there is no such thing. There’s only the will to work, the will to murder someone and the will to simply fall asleep all the while trying to remember and hoping to god you didn’t forget to finish an assignment. Pro tip: making a to-do list is a waste of time. Stop making lists and start working.
4. Sleep deprivation because between work, social life and sleep, one of them always suffers. Unfortunately, sleep is usually the goat that gets sacrificed. Pro tip: take a nap and put your phone on silent.
5. Bank balance will always be somewhere in the low twenties. Either your payouts get delayed or they come in a lump sum and by that time you have deprived yourself so much, you end up spending it all. Pro tip: start investing. I just did and I already feel like a grown up.
6. Access to free food, hugs, bed, comfy clothes, sunlight, and the firm belief you will now start to take care of your health – finally. Pro tip: take advantage of those free hugs. They work wonders when you feel your mind may explode.
7. It is a lonely job – and if you have had a regular job, you will miss the office banter, the lunch break, the chai break, the evening break…and not to forget all the brainstorming sessions, meetings with bosses, let’s think out of the box ideation crap…hmm maybe freelancing isn’t so bad after all, eh? Pro tip: make friends with your mirror. Talk to yourself when no one is around. Not just your body but your vocal cords need exercise as well.
8. What is holiday? What is weekend? Since output is directly proportional to input, you can never really take a break. Pro tip: LOL I got nothing here bruh
9. The constant push and pull between did I make the right decision? Should I leave this and go back to a full time job? Does my freelance experience count as anything? At least with a regular job I’ll get my monthly salary…when do I stop? Have I even started? Pro tip: what is your priority? Plan-execute-rejoice-repeat. Hair pulling is also a part of it – sprinkle as per requirment.
10. WiFi is your god, your laptop your messiah, and your phone the boat that will take you to the promised lands. Pro tip: buy a good god damn WiFi!

I hope after reading these 10 points I have warned you away from this trap called work from home. If not…well best of luck. It’s your funeral.