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Work At Home Trend On The Rise By James Martell President Obama had an interesting response to Matt Lauer during an NBC interview prior to the February 2009 Super Bowl. "How have you adjusted to being at home with the kids after two years on the road and away from the family a lot?”, Matt asked.
I guess most never think of the Oval office as a "home office”. But that's what it is. President Obama works from home -- and like many of us these days relies heavily on the Internet to accomplish many important tasks. I like the fact that this U.S. president seems to have a firm grasp on how the Internet really changes things. Not only is he a big Twitter user but he recently posted a video on the White House YouTube channel to address the Iranian people directly with best wishes for their version of our New Years Eve celebrations. Very classy. And he did it from his “home office” no less.
The truth is that old industries are dying. Fossil fuels may soon become a thing of the past being replaced with clean energy, which means great opportunity for some (and evaporating sales for others). And it’s very possible that the common every day newspaper may also be a thing of the past. Did you hear that Seattle Post-Intelligencer has stopped printing its newspaper? Yes, it’s true. This major daily now publishes an online version to completely replace the print version. No more going-to-press after 146 years of doing it the traditional way. Who would have thunk it? Read more... I guess that’s bad news for most of the employees. But for those who see opportunity maybe this will be their wake up call. Maybe, just maybe some will think YES, I am now free of my daily commute…I have no more bosses to suffer under…I can set my own hours…I can reinvent myself…I can work online…I can work from home. This is not so preposterous. Arlene and I have been working online quite successfully since 1999. And hundreds upon hundreds of my students have done the same, many of whom have become quite prosperous, I might add. You see, advances in home office technology have allowed contract workers, consultants and freelancers to create a growing, self-employed work force. In a recent article in The New York Times Magazine, writer Matt Bai argues that U.S. lawmakers need to start thinking about making a self-employed society the reality.
But before you quit your job consider this. In a survey of office workers more than half said they'd be bored working from home. While 33% said the best part of their work day is the social interaction with co-workers. An astonishing 65% felt they might lack the discipline to complete work projects without a boss looking over their shoulder. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. You certainly don’t want to do anything rash if you currently have a good job.
Is your industry safe from the downward trends mentioned above? In other words, is your company selling coal or solar…printing newspapers or delivering news digitally? If you’re approaching retirement…how is that looking? It should be interesting to watch how the Internet will change the way work is done in the future. It's already elected a U.S. president, according to many political observers. Maybe the Internet can bring change to your life too. All the best,
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Mr. Obama replied, "It's the
best thing of this whole
deal. It turns out I've got
this nice home office. At
the end of the day, -- even
if I have more work to do --
I can come home and have
dinner with them. I can help
them with their homework. I
can tuck them in at night.
If I have to go back to the
office I can."
Hopefully you are subscribed
to The Martell Newsletter
because you, too, sense that
the change Obama keeps
referencing is mostly about
doing things in a new way.
In his new book,
“
,” the
Democratic pollster Mark
Penn notes that 4.2 million
Americans now work
exclusively from home (a
nearly 100 percent increase
from 1990), while some 20
million do it part time.
But think ahead.
