Working at home has become a trend everywhere. From America to Asia, working at home has become an option for a growing number of people, because the corporate desk job isn’t as flexible or as lucrative enough.

What I like about working at home is that my time is my own. I can work, not work, vegetate, stare at my text editor or word processor, take breaks as often as I like, ignore deadlines, but.. I have to pay for every single second of wasted time in terms of opportunity costs.

My biggest enemy with working at home has been my motivation. I have wrestled with motivation issues when I get discouraged. One of the biggest sources of discouragement for me has been being overwhelmed with the bills. My usual reaction to it was that I became unproductive. Other sources of discouragement included being given projects that were daunting or overwhelming to do, or that made me drop off to sleep, or, on a different part of the distraction continuum,  the need to engage in social and relational activity.

My biggest time-waster has been, and still is, relating with people. While these are cherished moments, and I do believe they have been worth it, I sometimes wonder if I should have put in more time working than playing with my cousins’ cousins.

But then, as the Purpose Driven Life said, most dying people do not declare in their death beds, “I wish I put in more time at work…” Rather, they lament that they should have spent more time with their loved ones.

I have to keep reminding myself that money isn’t everything. But when you have bills to pay, it’s so hard to do that.

I also have to keep myself from staying in the other end of the pendulum swing, because sometimes I tend to like the social relations too much I forget about work.

I have to keep myself grounded in the Ecclesiastes verse, “There is a time for everything.” Work and money are not the be-all and end-all of life, and conversations and social interaction have to be terminated at some points. The key is balance, in staying in a state of clear-headedness. There are priorities, but there are times to unwind too.

There is a season for everything, and everything has its place. Extremes are never good. All I need is to get the hang of it. :p

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