Pros & Cons of Being A Work At Home Entrepreneur

You can read about my journey into this small business on my about page. 

Today I'm sharing with you some pros and cons to working for yourself at home. I'm someone who gets distracted very easily, so working from home is a struggle for me most days. But at the end of the day, I wouldn't choose anything else over this. 

Being your own boss.

This one is both a pro and a con. 

It's a pro because you don't have someone telling you what to do 24/7. But that also makes it a con. You need to be disciplined enough to know what needs to get done each day/week/month. Since you set the rules, that can make them that much easier to break. 

I get frustrated not knowing what needs to be done each day. Even if I write down what I want to get done this week or month, I still wake up thinking "hmm, what should I do" and then I don't stick to my plan. I need to get better at this and get a better routine down, for sure! 

I've seen some people say they schedule certain tasks each day. For example, only shipping on Mondays and Fridays or responding to emails only from 9-10am each day. For me, this does not work. I think I would benefit from a schedule like this, but sometimes I'm just not in the mood to do what I have written down. Which is why I get distracted very quickly. 

The never ending to-do list.

It seriously never ends!! I don't know how I always have 500 things to do, no matter how much work I get done each day. 

There's always a Pinterest Board to pin to, a Tailwind Tribe to look at, social media graphics to make, new products to list, Instagram or Facebook posts to schedule, new products to design/plan, a YouTube video to film and edit... it seems like there is always something. It can get overwhelming at times, but for the most part I really enjoy what I do.

In the future I know there are certain parts of my job that I would love to hand over to someone else, but I just can't afford that right now. Someday though! 

Working from home gets really lonely. 

As an introvert, I didn't really think I would hate this part. And for the most part, I'm fine just being with myself and my dog all day. But there are days where I just want to talk about business or weekend plans with someone else, face-to-face. 

I recently moved across the country to a military base. It's been difficult making friends here, but I also haven't really put myself out there as much as I should be. I know that even if I do make friends, a lot of them won't understand what I do all day everyday. Heck... even my husband, who I tell every little detail to, doesn't understand what I'm saying sometimes. 

You might end up working more.

I recently read that someone who works in a traditional office setting and works 40 hours a week, only gets real work done for 15 hours. This means only 3 hours a day are they actually working and not talking to other coworkers or being unproductive. 

So when you work from home you don't have anyone coming in and talking to you or pulling you off course. And because you're working a lot more, you might be left feeling exhausted. I believe it is crucial to take actual breaks from work throughout the day, and try to leave work off your mind on the weekends as well. 

There will different distractions.

The pile of dishes. The dog that needs attention. The floor that needs to be swept. The mail that needs to be sorted. The laundry that needs to be washed and folded.

The do to list for your house seemingly never ends. And when you work from home it stares at you in the face all. day. long. 

What I like to do is take break when I'm feeling stressed or anxious, and I will wash the dishes. I'll let them sit out and dry and then when I need another break later in the afternoon, I'll put all the dishes away. I try to take a few breaks so that I'm not sitting down all day. 

You get to make the decisions.

I'm someone who hates making decisions so sometimes I really hate this part of my job. However, I really truly love the fact that I get to make what I want to make and not what someone else is telling me to do.

I get to design things that are right up my alley instead of making things that I'm not proud of just to get the job done. While, it is great to get out of your comfort zone sometimes, I would much rather make things that I love and want to use for myself. 

Overall, I love working from home and working for myself. There's going to be pros and cons to every job, but you get used to them and you make them work.                                                       

Do you have anything else you would add? Let me know in the comments! 

Below are all of the places you can find Jordyn Alison Designs.

• Shop: cards, stickers, lettering worksheets, and more
• Blog: lettering tips, product announcements
• YouTube: lettering tutorials, small business tips
• Pinterest: lettering, military, small business
• Instagram: lettering and product updates
• Facebook: product news and updates
• FontBundles: fonts and svgs
• Creative Market: fonts and svgs
• Redbubble: my designs on stickers, mugs, and more
• Society6: my designs on rugs, towels, and more