Top Ten Disadvantages of Working From Home as a Transcriptionist

The overwhelming reaction from work-at-home moms who registered their antagonist views when I opined that a work-at-home lifestyle makes you lazy and the unilateral opinion spread across the web favoring a work-at-home lifestyle further warrants to list out the disadvantages of working from home to substantiate my stance; hence I’m listing here the top ten disadvantages of working from home as a transcriptionist. As a home transcriptionist, you have the advantage of greater independence, you have the freedom of setting up your own work schedule, you have the convenience of not having to look at the face of that ugly supervisor etc., but there are a lot of associated disadvantages too working from home. There is the other side of the coin which nobody has told you so far or rather nobody is willing to admit frankly. There are hardships working from home which we ignore comfortably for the sake of the so called “convenience!” Even you might not have thought about it until you read this long list of inconveniences of working from home! What are those disadvantages of a work-at-home career? Here are they.

Missing Out on Workplace Relationships and Social Relationships:

We human beings are supposed to be social animals! In a work-at-home job, you cage yourself at home; therefore, you miss the human relationships, eye to eye contacts, physical touch, and the joy working as a cohesive team. Since there are no social interactions, there steps in a sort of boredom, isolation, loneliness, frustration, you name it a few. You start to feel detached from people leading to depression and discouragement. I’m missing all that socialization that I used to make en route, to and fro office, with the friends, relatives, neighbors, strangers, street vendors etc. Moreover, I really miss those water-cooler gossips and office politics; after all, I am a social animal! What about you?

The Ease of Embracing Lethargy:

Since you are on your own boss with full freedom, which is ought to be your greatest enemy unless you are strictly self disciplined, you will find it difficult tackling lethargy. When I start my day after the breakfast, I start feeling sleepy, which needs to be taken care of with a cup of coffee and some self-motivation techniques to overcome lethargy and monotony; else, the close proximity to bed would land me up there! That should be the same with every other human being working from home, may be they need to do something else to keep lethargy at bay, like peeking through the neighbor’s window! Isn’t it true?

Falling Prey to Distractions:

Since the atmosphere at home is not conducive to business, there ought to be a lot of distractions and noise interferences. I have my own set of pet peeves and my own ways of tackling distractions. So which one will you concentrate; to tackle distractions or transcribing?

Missing the General Trend in the Industry:

Due to lack of oral communication at job between colleagues, you are bound to miss the current general trend in the industry. May be attending some trade shows or conferences could get you some rough ideas on what is going on in the industry but overall you will be void of the latest news pertaining to the industry.

You are at Risk of Becoming a Workaholic:

On your chase for money, you end up becoming workaholic. The mind equates each and every minute wasted to money lost leading to working up to 16 hours a day and would further end up working even on weekends. The kids might miss you so much because of this. However, if you work from an office, you leave your seat once the bell goes; you are paid even if there is no work or even if you attend a conference or chat the whole day with your colleagues!

Missing Employee Benefits:

As an employee, you enjoy all those statutory employee benefits like minimum wages, stipulated working hours, paid holidays, health insurance, health checkups etc. However, you could only dream of a paid holiday if you are an independent contractor!

Bearing the Expenses of Owning and Maintaining a Workstation:

You make all the capital and operating expenses from your own sweat while you are not compensated for that. While seeking a work-at-home contract and arriving at a per line rate, apart from your own hourly wages, have you taken into account the electricity charges, the broadband charges, the cost of depreciation of your capital assets etc.,? I am one hundred percent sure that you wouldn’t have! You accepted the rates that were put across the table! If you work from an office, all the operating expenses and capital expenses are borne by the company. Whereas at home, you need to spend on your own on the operating expenses as well as invest on your own on the capital assets to have the whole workstation with all the necessary softwares which include dictionaries, drug references etc., and the necessary furniture like chair, table, fan etc. However, what I hear most of the times is that many of the MTs who begin with or who return back after a break in career are unable to afford even a spell checker which prompted me to build one and make it available free online. Apart from owning a workstation, you need to become a computer mechanic many times for service and maintenance issues, and/or loosen your purse strings to part with the hard earned money every time you service/maintain your computer or peripherals, whereas in an office setup the company takes up the burden. It is their headache whether to service, maintain, repair or replace!

The Horrendous Task of Book Keeping:

After I started working from home, I have always been frightened by the tremendous task of keeping the records of every transaction I make. You need to keep a trail of all the expenses incurred to claim any minuscule tax deduction with supporting evidences such as receipts, vouchers, bills, statements etc., and if necessary you may need to prove that certain expenses are not your personal expenses but expenses made to maintain your business! So for every penny you spend, you have to either scribble yourself or hire an accountant, a tiring work indeed on the top of transcription whereas for a salaried job, all the taxes are deducted at the source itself by the employer before the remuneration is handed over to you, and income below some prescribed limits may even never warrant filing a tax return at all depending on the country you’re residing.

Forgoing Financial Security:

Since in a salaried job all the deductions are made at the employer’s end, even contributions to the retirement account or savings plans goes automatically as per your one-time directive, it ensures a financially secure future where as when you work from home, you have to make it a habit; else, your future itself will be a big question.

Backup Action Plans Have to be in Place:

To meet with the turnaround time obligations, you need to have a backup plan of your entire operations to take care of any breakdowns. That could include a fully loaded second computer, a foot pedal, a headphone, a broadband connection, a power backup, and probably a transcriptionist itself if you fall sick!

Forget about the blah blah blahs of advantages in home-based jobs like you save time and fuel. Apart from these two prime advantages, tell me frankly; does it worth working from home against all these odds? Do you earn/save more as an independent contractor working from home after all these hassles than as a hassle-free regular employee?