Will Tele-Commuting Transport Us Back To The Pre-Industrial Age?
Have you ever stepped off your morning train feeling hot, dishevelled and angry; tired before the day’s begun and convinced that there must be a better way to make a living?
No doubt you and tens if not hundreds of thousands of fellow sufferers feel pretty much like that most days. And if you think about it: what a crazy system of life this is that we’ve evolved. Quite apart from the toll on the physical and mental health of the individual, consider the amount of polluting energy consumed in transporting that number of people into and out of our major cities each and every day – in most cases only to perform tasks which with modern technology they could just as well do at home.
So what if many more of us could be like our forefathers, and work where we live? Imagine that more and more of us could live in vigorous rural communities with busy shops, full school rolls and thriving theatres, sports and other social amenities. An idle daydream? Not necessarily, because technology is rapidly removing the need for us to be geographically close to our notional place of work.
Of course we’ve long been familiar with phone and fax, but now the laptop, wireless internet and cell phone mean you need never really be out of touch with the office. E-mail will instantly deliver large documents anywhere in the world, while even traditional round the table meetings can to some extent be replaced by video conferencing.
So might tele-commuting or home working be for you?
Well, here are just a few of the many opportunities available.
Data Entry Word Processing Typesetting Loan Officers
Data Processing Reviewers Appraisers Recruiters
Secretarial Financial Analysts Billing Clerks Systems Analysts
Legal Transcription Desktop Publishing Translators Web Developers
Internet Research Editors Technical Writers Copywriter
Copy Editors Software Developers Computer Programmers Assembly
Bulk Mailing Photographers Mystery Shoppers Illustrators
There are many other opportunities to add to this bewildering variety, but the key point to note is that tele-commutes are almost always employed positions for which you apply in the same way as for a conventional workplace job. Accordingly you will be paid an hourly, daily or annual salary rate. So although there may be some overlap in terms of the type of role, these are not the same as freelancing opportunities, for which you will normally be paid an agreed fee for a specific project for which you’ve pitched or tendered in advance.
So on the face of it you have the best of both worlds; the regular income of the corporate worker with the freedom of working at home. But course there’s no such thing as a perfect way of life, and there are drawbacks to tele-commuting. Compared to freelancing, for example, which tends to appeal to creatives, the work can sometimes seem mundane in nature. And the tedious or repetitive tasks which afflict all forms of employment can seem all the more burdensome without the camaraderie and interaction with colleagues that can help brighten the routine of office life.
Moreover, unlike a fully-fledged freelancer, you will normally need to be contactable during your agreed hours of work, although depending on the precise nature of the job the kinds of technology already mentioned make this requirement much less restrictive than it was even just a few years ago.
Then there’s the of money; and it has to be said right away that tele-commuting is almost certainly not the way for you to get rich. It is, after all, only employment by another name, and payment by the hour or standard working week allows little scope for your talents to gain you a rapidly increasing income.
On the other hand, you will enjoy a security of income that the freelancer does not, and you will not have to spend precious hours in chasing the work. Freedom from travelling will carve out precious extra hours at the beginning and end of each and every day. So if you’re looking for a way to maintain a guaranteed income while trying to get a new business off the ground, writing that novel you’ve always wanted to start, or simply need a better fit with the lives of your kids or partner, it could be that tele-commuting’s for you.
If you think it sounds interesting, you could do a lot worse than taking a long hard look at your current job. Is there any way you could do this through a tele-commute, even if it’s only for one or two days a week to start with? I can understand your being nervous about suggesting it to your superiors. The corporate mindset has traditionally been very hostile to such radical (ie, sensible) ideas. But things are changing fast, so don’t dismiss the idea out of hand. I well remember a few years ago finally plucking up the courage to ask a boss of mine about this and being very pleasantly surprised at his response.
All of that said, it may well be that you’re intent on changing your employer, perhaps even changing career altogether. And tele-commuting can certainly be a realistic way to achieve both objectives.
Be aware, though, that you’ll have to approach your job-hunting at least as seriously as if you were seeking a traditional “work on-site” position. But luckily there are many
websites which will help you get started. Perhaps one of the best of these is www.craigslist.com, an online classified section filled with thousands and thousands of jobs, many of which are designated as tele-commuting opportunities.
You might also look at www.hotjobs.com, www.jobstreet.com. which are more general job sites, while www.top-paying-online-jobs.com, www.hea-employment.com and
http://www.tjobs.com cover tele-commuting and a range of on-line and home business opportunities.
There’s a ton of information and assistance out there, so if you’re looking for a “life and planet friendly” way of working, tele-commuting is an option well worth checking out.
Steve Smith
January 2007
Source: http://www.ArticlePros.com/author.php?Stephen P Smith
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