How Many Hours Do You Work from Home?

Updated on: by Miranda Grimm

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“How Many Hours Do You Work from Home?” 

This is a question I get a lot, and even more so over the last couple of weeks. As most people seem to understand, there is as much variety in work at home jobs as there are in Brick and Mortar building jobs.

From nurses working from home over the phone to Bank Reps to Freelance Writers to Transcription- the list really can go on and on. As our society evolves with the rush of technology our dependency on the internet is increasing. More and more companies are finding it is more economical and practical to allow their employees to work remotely.

So this question at first seems impossible to answer. Everyone has different experiences and there are far too many variable to try to cover all the scenarios.

 

However, I think I understand that most of the people asking are wanting a general idea. The work at home world seems so mysterious to people at first and people like to know what to expect before spending a lot of time pursuing things.  So, I did my best to cover this topic in three different emails yesterday and figured I better cover it here as well!

Working an Hourly Job Versus Working a Task-Based Job Versus Being a Freelancer Working for Private Clients

These are the three main scenarios that come to mind. Each of these types will provide a different experience.

 

Working an Hourly Job-

Working jobs that pay by the hour offers an obvious expectation of how many hours you work to make your income goal.

My Experience:

Working Leapforce is a job I have that pays hourly. I love having this optional hourly wage in case I HAVE to make a certain amount, this helps me be sure I make my goal (hoping there is enough work to grab the hours I need).

Working Task Based Jobs-

Notice I made this one plural (jobS). This is because most jobs that pay you based on the work you have completed, usually cannot keep you busy steadily. Therefore many people work for multiple companies and work as many tasks as it takes to make their income goal.

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My Experience:

I have done work for companies like Fancy Hands and Textbroker to make my personal income goal. For example, if my goal were $250 a week, the hours I spent working would vary. Every task pay differently. My speed to complete a task varies. And so on. But if I were to estimate an average. Working this type of job would probably take me around 30 hours of work a week. However, if I were to have stuck with this job type longer, I would be able to make that much with less time as my speed would surely have gone up!

Freelancer Working for Private Clients

This job type allows you to have more control over your income. If you have a service, such as content writing or web design, that you can offer with proven skills, then you can control how much you make per contract. If you know your goal is $250 a week and you know you are worth $25 an hour, then you can do your best to find clients who have work that will pay you that rate. Seems hard to do at first, but once you become established and can offer top quality work, people are willing to pay. Not everyone is out to find the cheapest labor possible. Many people want a good deal but they want QUALITY more than they want to save a buck.

My Experience:

I am new to this job type. But I love it!

Because I am new and I don’t have substantial experience to show for myself, nor do I have a degree in the field I am working in- I keep my rates low. This keeps me busy and allows me to make sure my clients feel like they have found a really good deal, increasing future work and spreading news of my service via word of mouth.

But I work ALL THE TIME. I cannot even tell you the hours I work because I find myself working more than not! I sit with my 2 year old on my lap- letting her color and draw in front of me while I work. I sit on my smartphone responding to emails while waiting for my older daughter to get out of preschool. I am on and off the computer all day long. Then, when my girls go to bed. I sit at the computer the rest of the night until about 1 am, sometimes later- working.

However,  I control all of this.  I can decide to not work today. I control when I tell clients their work will be finished. I control what projects I accept.

As I grow and I have plenty of experience under my belt, my prices will definitely be going up. The time it takes me to complete a project will go faster. I will be able to do LESS work for MORE money. I know the potential I have. I know the potential my chosen field has. But right now I am building it and making a future career that will forever fit my lifestyle. This is not a temporary thing until something else changes or my kids are in school. This is part of my future.

 

I hope this response helps answer some very broad questions, or at least give a bit of insight to the TRUE life behind us Work at Home Adventurers!

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Comments

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Katie Jones

January 27, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Great post Miranda! I think many people assume that working from home isn’t work, but it’s just the same if not more than B&M job positions. I am also in the freelancing category and I have to say that I work a lot. Of course, I can choose when to work; however, I have client who have deadlines that I have to meet and it can sometimes be overwhelming, especially when trying to juggle a full-time school schedule as well, but I stick with it because I like the how I can control my schedule.

I’m currently looking for job positions that are “fixed” only because I need to pay down on debt and the freelancing career is not always steady. Once again, great post in explaining to those out there what different tasks/positions there are and what the expected work performance for each will take!

Miranda

January 27, 2012 at 4:41 pm

Thanks Katie!

I answered this question three times yesterday and each time I felt like I did not do it justice. It is still hard to explain in my head, but I feel closer to it.

Lisa Mills

January 27, 2012 at 3:33 pm

I don’t think I could come up with an exact amount of hours spent working from home if I tried. But I have the feeling I spend more than 40 hours a week at it. Probably something I need to change. It’s so hard to stop working when the Internet is available 24/7.

Miranda

January 27, 2012 at 4:42 pm

The first time I thought about it, I thought I worked WAY less than I realized i do. I kept thinking more and more on it and my hours worked started going up and up.

It also depends, some weeks I dont work as much. Depends on the projects I have going on at the time.

Leisa Good

January 27, 2012 at 4:02 pm

The number of hours I work varies too due to work load. Now these are billable hours.

Now, there is also the non-billable hours to do my taxes, advertising, and networking. I also try to plan upcoming marketing strategies and joint ventures. Then there is creative thinking.

With all of this, I would say I work 35 to 40 billable hours plus 10 to 20 non-billable a week. That’s about as closely as I can track it.

Great post, Miranda.

Miranda

January 27, 2012 at 4:44 pm

I keep thinking about charging by the billable hour. But since I am new to this I am not sure how long things take and I also hate to charge for my learning time. I am doing a thesis site right now, using Thesis for the first time. Most of my time spent has been learning how Thesis works. One day this will all be easy for me. I look forward to that day but I am enjoying this learning process all the same!!!

Leisa Good

January 28, 2012 at 6:00 am

Miranda,

Because I know how long most of my jobs take (I said “most”), I can charge by the project. It is called a flat rate. I don’t usually charge for the learning curve either if I have to learn something new. However, I do charge for research.

Not an exact science! There has always been a battle going on in the freelance world about whether to charge by the hour or charge by the project. I do both depending upon the client and the project.

Of course, always enjoy your learning curve. 😉

Anna

January 27, 2012 at 5:58 pm

I don’t think I could figure this out. The truth is, most of the time I’m on the computer I’m working in some form or another. Either blog stuff or other work. It would be hard to know. But one thing I do know is that I work a lot!

Jess Weaver

January 30, 2012 at 11:28 am

This is so true. I always try to figure out how many hours I work. I would have to say at least 30. But I don’t have an hour commute to and from work either. I am with you Miranda. I am up till the wee hours in the morning but it’s all worth it in the end right?:)

Mandy Robinson

January 30, 2012 at 1:38 pm

Some weeks are more and some are less for me, but I will say I a make a full time income working less than 40 hours without a doubt.