Work at Home Philippines

Funemployment is a new term that means deriving enjoyment from unemployment by doing what others call soul searching, traveling, etc.

It’s a growing trend for the 20-something and 30-somethings. But I do not think it will catch on in the Philippines. One of the top reasons for this is that our culture discourages us from working just for ourselves. And sure, color me old-fashioned but I know that whatever we’ve earned and saved if any while we’re still employed many still do no want to spend it on mindless beach combing.

It all boils down to having the money to make sure unemployment becomes funemployment. An unemployed broke can’t enjoy funemployment? Who knew?

This might not apply to other religions, but for many Roman Catholics, the Holy Week (March 19-23) is a big deal and it should be observed properly.

So if you are a work-from-home entrepreneur in the Philippines or even in other countries, how do you observe the Holy Week?

My family’s usually extremely busy during the Holy Week. Aside from the traditional self-flagellating or pamagdarame, we help in managing the business since it’s one of the busiest time of the year business-wise.

I am not going to make myself fully-available to my clients who require regular communication through instant messaging. But I will still be doing non-urgent tasks so that I can be of help to my family this year.

So how about you? Will it be business as usual or are you going to treat the Holy Week as a vacation?

Tags: holy week, vacation, home based business, holy week tradition

Actually, I wasn’t able to do it well – maintaining to accomplish some tasks for my clients while having to stay overnight for three straight days to attend my Grandfather’s wake, who passed away last February 20.

It’s a good thing one of my clients whom I regularly communicate with via instant messaging was kind enough to let me have a break.

However, the drive to create posts for the blog network blogs I write for dwindled.

Replying to emails was the most challenging because I can’t entrust this activity to anyone else just yet. As a result, I lost one project that one of my favorite clients offered to me.

The routine tasks like social network site accounts maintenance and re-posting blogs were done smoothly with the help of my meta-VA’s.

I, therefore, conclude that although I’m thankful that I have a trusty team that helps me get through these bad events in my life, I should also learn to trust others to perform email managemement. And make it a habit to future-post blog writeups.

Ever experienced troubles with your business like what I’ve encountered? How did you manage to handle such events?

Don’t get me wrong 9 to 5′ers have their own share of perks – stable salary, nonexistent feeling of isolation problems, benefits, etc. However, these three reasons made me forget about having to meet the bundy clock everyday:

1. Working from Home is Liberating. (translation: I like to feed my being an introvert.)

If you work from home either doing a one-man show running a home based business or working as a virtual assistant for an Internet marketer or a real estate broker, it rids you of those stressful days when you have to endure the presence of your boss breathing down your neck. 

IMO, do you hate feeling isolated that’s why you love the office setting? I love isolation! I mean, I’m born an introvert and all but I really don’t have any problem with that. My friends, who are mostly 9 to 5′ers know me that way and it’s what helps define my personality. And, it just so happened that working from home makes me enjoy more this character of mine. Read the rest of this entry »

I once had an IM convo with a fellow web worker (I’m getting addicted with this synonym of an online freelancer or someone who works remotely thanks to one of my most fave blogs – Web Worker Daily) about the pros of working from home. And one benefit of telecommuting that I think he enjoys the most is flexibility.

He actually suggested that I take a vacation. And we’ve chatted about that almost a year ago already, I think.

Read the rest of this entry »

Found this great read from Inquirer.net about people who chose to work for themselves in stead of remaining as corporate slaves.

Get a glimpse of how these three successful Filipinos are balancing the pros and cons of working from home:

Rowena Cuyco, a home based financial planner, emphasized that resilience and discipline are the key to her success. Cuyco also shared that you always have to on your toe on expanding your client base since any moment clients may lose interest in your product.

Read the rest of this entry »

You’re right! To be the next Saddam Hussein. Ok, enough of that he’s now executed.

Seriously, it’s to strike a good work/life balance.

Global research group ACNielsen surveyed consumers in 46 countries and found from the United States to Vietnam that more than half of those interviewed wanted work to play a lesser role in their lives in 2007. Source

Indeed, it’s been one hell of a stressing year, don’t you think? But it’s one of the most fun, too, at least for me. I hope it was a good and productive year for you, too.

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We have always known moms to go that extra mile just to make things work for the family. But if she wants to keep her career and family at the same time, more effort could just mean being extra creative to have more fun with her family.

Read how determined mothers with careers in PR, investment service, law, life coaching, graphic arts, and mentoring surmounted the troubles of running out of time for the family with their amazing career moves and even career shifts.

Read the rest of this entry »

In as much as I would want to relate my own home/work balance, I don’t have my own family yet, which will make the job considerably become more of a feat. So I’m sharing this helpful read on how Wendy Boswell, the associate editor of Lifehacker (a commendable blog on productivity and software reviews), who works from home manages to somewhat breeze through her tasks while attending to her 3 young kids and husband. She’s admirably systematized I must say for being able to schedule everything from her work outside and inside to having time for her kids and hubby.

Do you have your own system of balancing your life and work?

The brain drain in the Philippines has its pros and cons.

Pros: Brain drain helps the Philippine economy.

One of the effects of the Philippines “brain drain” is that the flow of inward remittances is maintained, about US$8 billion a year, an essential pillar of the Philippines economy and comparing to about US$2 billion a year for Bangladesh, another country with an economic dependence on inward remittances. In fact remittances “home” on a worldwide basis reached something between US$80 and US$150 billion in 1991—the remittance business is very big business indeed. The development of well-qualified professionals is in fact an exportable product of the Philippines, which contributes much more to the Philippines economy than say foreign-direct investment of (recently) less than US$1 billion year.

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