Indexing: The Pros and Cons
What kind of pros and cons should you weigh if you want to work from home as an indexer? I compiled a list for a relative, and realized I should share it here.
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The wonderful thing about indexing is the individualization. In other words, what I see as an advantage, someone else sees as a disadvantage, and vice versa. So, although I may have something listed as a disadvantage or the downside, realize that you may not consider this to be a disadvantage or downside at all.
I prefer to think of it more as a list of what you can expect, then you can decide if they are advantages or disadvantages.
* Flexible Hours. You can decide how many hours a day you want to work to reach your indexing goals. You may still decide to work 8 hours a day, but the flexibility is because you decide which 8 hours they will be. You might choose to work from 2:00 pm to 10:00 pm, instead of the daily 9-to-5 grind.
The other side is that you may also occasionally have to work 12 or 15 hours in order to get a project done if you misjudged how long it would take, or if something came up. You are responsible for getting the project done on time, no matter what hours you work.
* The Two-Second Commute. This is totally grand. I used to commute 55 minutes, one way, to my corporate job. This gave me almost 2 more hours a day to accomplish something, be that more sleep, housework, or indexing.
The flip side of this is the invitation to distraction that working in your home can offer.
Look at the following list of household chores. What do they have in common? A load of laundry, unloading the dishwasher, folding clothes, cleaning the sink, a quick vacuum, cleaning mirrors, making the bed, flipping through the bills, writing a couple of checks, cleaning a countertop, cleaning the toilet, and sewing a button on.
Did you notice all these things, by themselves, take about 5 minutes, or less? It's so easy to see these things that need to get done, some everyday, and think: " I'll take a few minutes to toss in the load of laundry."
Without realizing it, you may wind up spending 1/2 of your working time really doing housework. You need to control what you do with your time. Be conscious of how you are spending time when you are supposed to be working!
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