Pros and Cons of Working From Home

Pros and Cons of Working From Home

sound_header

16 JUNE 2019

written by Mike

PROS AND CONS OF

WORKING FROM HOME

 

One of the recent changes in how people work is the focus on flexibility as well as comfort and working from home seems to tick these two boxes.

There aren’t many more comfortable places than our own homes and having an office next to your bedroom (or in your bedroom) offers a lot of flexibility with your day.

In the past, working from home meant running a business and being self-employed; however, this is also changing. More and more companies, especially ones that operate on the internet, allow their employees to do some work from home. It may be an occasional day here and there or a flexible schedule, but, I can see these options available more easily now.

Working from home still seems like a dream come through for many people, and they envy those who have that opportunity. It means having no boss, no schedule and of course no dress code as you can do your task in PJs and no one will mind a thing.

From my personal experience, after 3.5 years of working from the comfort of my home, I can say that I have a good comparison to the standard office environment.

I have had many jobs before, and in different places and even though working from home does have a lot of upside and positives, like, with everything else, it has its downsides too.

Here is a list of good and less ideal things that I found after a few years of having the office less than three steps away from my bed.

monitors_article_1

 

PROS

No schedule

Matthew Walker is a scientist and professor who researches sleep, and in his book Why We Sleep, he demonstrates that we are not all wired in the same way. Naturally, some people prefer to work in the mornings, but there are also those who need a later start. Unfortunately, most companies (and services) favour a morning 9-5 routine, which for many people means a grumpy way to start a day. The obvious positive of working from home is that you can set a schedule that works for you. You can set the hours that you prefer and take as many breaks as you want.

No dress code

Not everyone likes to dress up every day, put on makeup and iron a fresh shirt. No dress code is even better than a casual one, because you can work in your PJs or your robe or wear nothing at all! No one will look at you or comment behind your back.

Services and appointment

Most people work 9-5, which means that necessary services like health appointments are either busy, closed or available for you on weekends. Same goes for gyms, restaurants and cinemas. Having your schedule means that you can book these appointments during day hours when there is little queuing. Gyms and cinemas are empty, and restaurants offer more deals as they want customers during quiet periods. It is honestly one of the best things that you gain when working from home.

 

No unnecessary meetings

Anyone who ever worked in the office understands the pain of pointless meetings, and the time wasted on gossiping near the coffee machine and just general unproductive activities that happen during office hours.

When working from home, there is none of that. When you had enough, you can stop and do what you want to do – go shopping, read a book or watch a movie. There is no need to sit idly in front of the screen staring at the clock.

No pressure

Of course, there is always a bit of pressure when working with clients however when a deadline approaches and you work alongside other people the stress feeds on itself and it is very easy to be consumed by the bubble of pressure, stress and anxiety. I find working from home much more relaxed than the office or any other work environment.

When I’m stressed, I know, it is me who spreads the pressure around, and I can’t blame anyone else.

 

monitors_article_2

It would be to easy to list all the good things when you can sit at home and do your work. Like most things in life, working from home isn’t for everyone, and it has some consequences. Here are five things that I noted about having an office at your home that you may not enjoy.

CONS

No schedule

I am a believer that routines help to guide our days and to improve skills, develop projects and make us healthier in the long run. However, with no schedule set by managers, this goes out of the window, and it can have a negative effect on your life.

When you have flexibility with your time, there is always an opportunity to move things to another hour, another day. You can sleep how much you want, take naps, favour pleasure over work and get little done.

To combat that I have my schedule that I stick to every day and in some ways, it is more rigid that schedules I had when I worked somewhere else.

No dress code

Sitting in your robe or PJs all day may seem like a good idea; however, it can also lead to stopping in taking care of yourself. Most of us like to look good in the mirror, but when day after day, there is no reason for it, it can develop in a bad habit. It’s all about balance, I tend to work in regular clothes rather than sweatpants, but my partner likes to work in her PJs in the morning. However, we still dress up when we leave the house.

No reason to leave the house

When working from home, and especially when you are busy with work, there may be days that you spend between your four walls. Even if you live in your perfect place, be it a centre of a bustling city or a quiet residential part, you are still confined to your home office.

Add to that no need to dress up every day, leaving the house may become problematic. It’s great that you can be more productive at home, but it is so easy to sit in front of the screen all day and then watch some TV show in the evening when suddenly realising that last time you opened your front door was two days ago.

 

It gets lonely

The unnecessary meetings are annoying, and you may not like the gossiping near the coffee machine, but with time, you start to miss it. You begin to miss the chitchat with your workmates, meeting new people in person and everyday banter. Working at home gets lonely. I am lucky that my partner also works at home, but it means that we get lonely together.

The crucial bit is to go out of your comfort zone, join some activities and clubs in your area and meet people there. It is much more challenging to do when you do your work from home, and it’s harder to make new friends. 

Feedback and ideas

It is much easier to offer feedback when the person is sitting next to you.

Emails get lost, multiple time zones play their role too and, with time, you forget what you wanted to say in the first place.

Another thing is that creativity can also suffer, having multiple people in the office means bouncing ideas off each other, trying new things, listening to different opinions. When you work from home, even with a team of people over the internet, it is much harder to create that environment.

 

After a few years of working from home, I can now see that it is not for everyone. It requires discipline as well as a proper willingness to leave the house. To meet new people, you have to get out of your comfort zone, join local clubs and pick up new activities.

It is something that I didn’t think of at the beginning of my journey, and it is still something that I am working to fix in my own life. Looking at my sister and friends who lead busy lives in the centre of London, they love their office environment – the hustle and bustle of it.

My current work requires a quiet studio, so I’m glad I can do it from home and even that I’m on a different time zone than my teammates because I can do my job without too many disruptions.

However, it does get lonely, and sometimes I wish that I could attend a meeting or two, even if it were just a waste of time.

Liked the article? Follow me! 🙂
 

Subscribe for the latest updates

Two Cents on Teamwork

Two Cents on Teamwork

sound_header

16 DECEMBER 2018

written by Mike

Two Cents on Teamwork

 

Everything is all about teamwork these days. Synergy, team get-togethers, motivational speeches and management courses are all about running a proficient and a happy team. A quick detour to LinkedIn is an excellent example of then, every hiring agency writes about the importance of the team and team culture.

I’m also guilty of that, in the past I wrote about how much better it is to work in the team versus being a solopreneur. How it helps to come up with better ideas and achieve the goals much faster. However, I’ve also learned, through a hard way, that being part of the team – as a member or supervisor – is a tough task.

It often goes like this – at the beginning of a new team in a startup or freshly created environment (or just a new team of people in an established company) it’s always about the direction and management.

It’s difficult enough to have strangers spend so much time together, and it’s especially tough to get them working towards the same goals. The first step is to get everyone aligned and pumped up. Get them excited to go to work every day.

But, let’s say that everyone is motivated. Excited about the project, the opportunity, money, status and what have you. They understand their place in the machine, and they start working hard. Weeks and months pass by, team members help each other out, the workload gets big but everyone is on board, the success seems to be just around the corner.

Then it happens. The business starts running well, and the project gets recognition. Customers, users and fans love the product, the company and the team. The hard work paid off, and the show starts running like a well-oiled machine. Everyone is still working hard, but there is no need for constant meetings, get-togethers or even helping each other out as much. It’s because everyone knows what they are doing, and they are doing it well.

After these few paragraphs you may think to yourself – so what? If everything is going so well, what seems to be a problem?

I had a bit of luck to be in this particular position a few times. When everything worked great, the consensus was that because people know what they are doing, management can take a step back. That’s right, there is no need for holding hands anymore, but without a proper feedback platform it is quite easy to start taking things for granted.

monitors_article_1

 

When everything is going great, the business is thriving, sales are coming through the door, you get new likes, viewers and positive comments it is tempting to think that you figured it out. Finally, after all this time, you found the magic formula and repeating it will bring more success.

There is no need to overcomplicate anymore.

In my short experience, these are the times that you have to be even more aware than before – to plan for the unexpected, to tackle small issues, to communicate even more.

Unattended issues tend to appear when we least expect them when we think that everything is and will always go our way. Maintaining relationships is as important as starting them, it doesn’t matter if it’s at home or in your business.

If you are in a position of any power, make yourself available, encourage conversations and transparency. Make sure that everyone is aware of the feedback platform and safe space where they can speak their minds.

What I found is that it is easy to forget that. To think that everybody around you knows they are appreciated and valued, that the work speaks for itself.

It’s not as easy. There are as many approaches to management and teamwork as many people in the world and most of us need some validation, praise and feeling of significance. To know that others value what we do and appreciate it.

It can be as easy as setting up a weekly team meeting when you catch up on everything and anything that happened: not just work but any issues, as casual or as serious as they can be. Making sure that everyone has a chance to speak and is free to discuss anything.

Emails that merely say you appreciate your team’s hard work are essential too, making sure that the work makes the difference and without their input, the project wouldn’t be as successful.

The big issue is also that you have to back up your words and make sure you mean it. Only recently I had a chat with someone close to me who complained about their boss.

On the surface, they were asked for an opinion, input and comments and were praised for it. However only few days later it turned out that everything they said was disregarded and the management has gone with their own decision.

That’s fine too; however, it wasn’t explained why that happened, and for the rest of the week, the boss strategically avoided meeting with the said persons.

monitors_article_2

 

It’s all about feeling that you mean something, that you are not just a replaceable cog in the machine. You can disagree, and civilised arguments should be welcomed as avoiding the issue almost never ends well.

I worked in environments that both respect and appreciate every input as well as in the top-down hierarchy when the hard work was expected, and only mistakes were pointed out.

I remember one time after working overtime for weeks and overstretching myself and the team to bring the big project to a close it was finally over. We were tired and drained, and when we had our end of the project review, the management picked on a couple of errors that we made utterly omitting all the hard work that went into finishing the project.

I don’t need constant praise and pats on my back, but even though this happened years ago, I still vividly remember that moment. My disappointment and feeling worthless stayed with me for months and ultimately led to leaving the team.

Each way of management has pros and cons, but I’m more motivated to press extra hard when I know that my input is appreciated and mistakes are learning opportunities. I would like to believe that most people are like that too.

I’m all for the tough love approach, and I hate tiptoeing around the issues, however transparency, understanding and respect do not exclude any of that.

People are afraid of speaking their mind, and they want to keep their jobs, they don’t want to cause trouble. Making sure that from the get-go they know that they can raise any issue they want will make problem-solving much more comfortable and faster, but without proper communication channels, it won’t work.

We don’t hear it often but success can often be a trigger for a downfall too, and it usually happens where you least expect it.

Liked the article? Follow me! 🙂

Subscribe for the latest updates

Make Money Freelancing Online

Make Money Freelancing Online

sound_header
07 AUGUST 2018
written by Mike

MAKE MONEY

FREELANCING ONLINE

 

Making money online is a relatively new thing. People were doing business around the world for hundreds and hundreds of years, but the idea that you can sit in your bedroom with a laptop and run a company is new.

It may seem obvious to you now but a lot of people, even my age, aren’t sure how to start and if they could do it. The beautiful thing is that anyone can. There are no restrictions, no limitation and you will only be judged by the value you bring to the table.

It’s not easy, and things are changing very fast. However, anyone can start now, right this second.

There are many ways of making money online, but today I want to focus on freelancing, selling your skills online. It, of course, applies to lots of professions but I will be using audio production as my example.

 

monitors_article_1

 

Your Online Presence

I know many people want to go against the trend, that’s good, not all directions are positive. However, if you’re going to start doing work online it will be much harder if you don’t have Facebook, Twitter or other social (and not just social) media profiles. You need to be visible.

There are hundreds of thousands of people hustling online, how can you stay a few steps ahead of everyone?

Start creating your online presence today. Don’t think about making money just yet, but start creating content and joining conversations online. It’s challenging to give personalised advice on the topic; it all depends on your strengths and likes.

For example, the big trend right now is video, Instagram rules and blogging is a thing of the past. Think about what you would like to post and create profiles around that, maybe it’s a podcast, not a vlog?

 

Skills and Gear

Next step is writing down your skills and available equipment. Try to niche yourself down; generalists don’t charge near what experts make. For example, with my abilities and system, I could do a lot of things in music and sound production space but my niche at this moment is podcasting and audio storytelling.

The skill needs to be transferable online, if you are a photographer, it will be hard to take photos online, but you could offer product photography services.

Go to top accounts on eBay or Amazon, join some Facebook discussion groups and offer your services. Online selling is all about the perception, and the sellers know about this. Set up a small studio at home, get people to send you the products and charge for photos.

With audio, you could be offering music production, mixing, mastering, editing, scoring, design and other services that I don’t even know.

Also if your skill isn’t transferable, think what can you add to your portfolio, what else can you learn. I was working as a dialogue editor on blockbusting movies; it’s safe to say to they wouldn’t allow me to edit their content in my bedroom. However, podcasting and audiobooks are more comfortable, not as much pressure. I just had to learn the new medium and adjust my skills.

The gear also matters, with an old computer you won’t be able to do much, especially in audio. Think about where you can upgrade and what can you do with what you have. For some time I was working solely on trial and demo versions until I could afford a full license on top of the shelf software.

 

Platforms for freelancers

There are many places online where you can find work. Not all of them are great, and most are so-called ‘race to the bottom’ on price. However, it’s a good enough start to learn how the whole online world works.

Platforms such as Upwork, Freelancer, Fiverr, People Per Hour allow you to create a profile and bid for jobs, usually very low paid.

Apart from that, write to people on LinkedIn, studios and production houses. Be upfront and say that you are looking for freelance work, they may write back to you, when they are under a deadline.

Facebook groups, Reddit and forums are other places to look for work. If you are hunting for freelance jobs you can also check out listings from Jooble.

It is the hard part as it can take weeks before you start moving, however, don’t be discouraged and keep the ball rolling. One client leads to another and another and another, and you never know who will you meet online.

That’s how I started on Casefile.

 

monitors_article_2
 

Areas to consider for audio professionals

Editing

Look at podcasts and audiobooks. Right now it’s the best time to get in the game as a lot of people are either starting their podcasts or doing audiobook narrations. Of course, not all of them will pay well but if you are starting out, contact smaller profiles. It will give you time to learn, hone your skills and make some side cash.

Let’s say you want to charge £50 per podcast (I know it’s not a lot, but you have to start somewhere) and do ten shows per week. That’s £500 per week, £2000 per month working from home. Then when you are good enough, leave the smaller pods for someone else and move up the ladder.

If you know how to produce music, offer that. Again podcasts are a great area to explore as most podcasters don’t know much about sound production and they will need your help. Writing intros, theme music or even bespoke score for storytelling shows could be a great way to make extra money and practice your skills.

 

Audio Restoration 

Audio restoration is another niche area to keep an eye on. A lot of content creators dismiss the art of recording sound and leave it until the end. Then they often realise that their recording is not as good as it should be and it doesn’t only apply to podcasters. Youtube creators, narrators, online teachers – find people who are making money online, and if you think that you could help them, offer your services.

Audio restoration requires specialised software and skills but if I can learn it, then anyone can.

 

Online Courses

Online courses are booming right now. There are plenty of platforms such as Coursera or Udemy, and of course, people selling their course on Teachable. The video is one thing, but again, most creators dismiss the importance of audio. Search for courses and creators who achieved some success and offer them your help. By making their work sound better, hopefully, they can find more students and develop their practice, and usually, with online courses, there is a lot of material to go through.

 

Acquire extra skills

The secret to being successful online is to have multiple streams of income or to be top of the world expert in one thing. So unless you are bullish on one thing only, start thinking what extra skills you can acquire that make sense for you and your business.

When I started online work a few years ago, I didn’t know what to do, but I needed cash right away. Audio work is niche and harder to find than video production, as everyone is jumping on the medium. I started offering video editing and production services, first video for free as a ‘test’.

I have no professional backing, and I’ve never done paid video editing work before. I started learning Premiere, and After Effects and for the first few months when I worked on my online presence, 80% of my income was from video editing. It may sound weird given the fact that I’m an audio professional, but it’s true.

Also, but knowing both sound and audio, I could offer more value than other people, and suddenly I had twice as many options as others.

Many creators who needed video editing asked me to clean up the sound too, so I had plenty to do. It was crucial to develop that skill and have that income, because the first year or so when we were working and creating Casefile we had no money.

Think what else you want to do, how can you do it online and start hustling!

 

Learn, read, train, practice and apply!

A beginning is often hard, but we can’t stop progress, even if you are not keen on the state of technology, social media and the online world right now – get used to it and embrace it.

The future will be digital so start making the transition right now, and you never know who you will meet out there. Every now and again, one of the ‘another jobs’ can turn into a long-term relationship, and an awesome project like Casefile did for me.

Liked the article? Follow me! 🙂
 

Subscribe for the latest updates

Before You Quit Your Job

Before You Quit Your Job

sound_header

02 DECEMBER 2017

written by Mike

BEFORE YOU

QUIT YOUR JOB

 

There are countless articles online on how to go freelance or how to start a business – I know because I read a lot of them.

However, one thing that sometimes gets forgotten is, what to do before you quit your job, before you take the step, before you make that crucial decision that has a potential to change your life.

I’m a strong believer in planning. On the one hand, I understand that it’s rare that things will go according to the plan, but writing down goals and strategies help with initial anxiety, and when the chaos creeps in – you can refer to the notes.

I won’t be talking about jobs, freelancing or how much you can make as a business, but rather what steps I took before I did quit my last full-time position, and what you can do to prepare yourself, for when things go wrong.

It’s safe to say to many people fantasise about quitting their jobs, being their boss, having the freedom to do whatever they want. However, as attractive as it sounds, it’s not that simple. More than often, instead of creating a business, people create a job for themselves but without the benefits of working for someone else.

Michael Gerber describes this paradox in ‘E-myth‘. Of course, it doesn’t mean you can’t be a freelancer. I did write about it before – in my opinion, the best way is to combine the two. Learn skills that can make you money but also have another stream of income from other businesses.

 

monitors_article_1

 

For everyone, the journey will be different, so I will outline the steps I took before I handed my notice.

First, it was a decision to leave. There were many different reasons for that, however at that time, over 2.5 years ago, I was 100% certain I wanted to leave my current employer.

That was in April.

Even though I knew the end was coming, what I didn’t do was quit my job on the next day. I’ve done that before, but it was when I knew I could find another position next day.

This time I didn’t have that luxury, so I decided to leave at the end of December same year. Yes, December.

I gave myself eight months to figure out the next steps. At that time I didn’t know what to do; find another job, move to a different industry, change careers, start freelancing, open a business. Next months were full of research, experiments, going to trade events and conferences. I went through the motions, being both excited and depressed for the most time.

Finally, I went back to the drawing board and started from scratch. I asked myself.

What are you good at?

What can make you money straight away?

What do you want to do in 5,10,15 years from now?

I got rid of a short-term planning anxiety and started to focus on long term goals. In the end, the decision was to freelance from home, do simple jobs online such as editing audio and videos as I work on other projects in spare time.

Good.

What’s next?

monitors_article_2

 

Finances were the next issue to tackle. I had some savings, but I planned for the worst – what if I can’t bring in any money for the next six months?

Plus I needed to upgrade my system if I wanted to work from home.

I calculated an absolute minimum I needed to survive – rent and food and ‘startup’ cash. It meant no parties, no holidays, no extra spending for an unknown time. Having all the numbers written on paper, I got a loan from the bank.

The loan was an addition to my saving but helped to ease the anxiety and fear in the beginning. It helped, especially that for the first four months I didn’t make any cash and was burning through the savings fast. I handed my notice, and on 1st of January, I was officially self-employed and adamant to make it work. Two years later – I’m still here.

My word of advice is to plan and prepare for the worst. People tend to optimise for best-case scenarios, especially when things are going well. If you are 100% sure you want to leave a paid job and start a business on your own – have a plan A, plan B, plan C and worst case scenario rescue. It’s all so you can sleep well at night, knowing that you prepared. Even if things go ok, there will be days when you will question your decision.

Days when you ask yourself if you are good enough, if you can make it, if you are just wasting time. Enough money in your bank, skills that you know can make you money straight away and friends/partners that keep pushing you are invaluable – don’t dismiss it.

The first year after leaving my job, my net income was slashed to 1/3 of what I was making before – that opens your eyes and can make you depressed, and that was a year of hustling, freelancing and frugality

Two years after and I would never go back to a full-time job (unless there is some unexpected turn of events) – even six months can make a drastic difference in your life.

It takes time, discipline, hard work and drive.

Is it all worth it in the end?

That’s up to you.

Liked the article? Follow me! 🙂
 

Subscribe for the latest updates

Podcasting and Audio Gadgets

Podcasting and Audio Gadgets

sound_header

19 NOVEMBER 2017

written by Mike

PODCASTING

AND AUDIO GADGETS

 

The most beautiful aspect of podcasting is how little you actually need to get started. Thanks to the internet, the distribution is free but even with the equipment – you don’t need to spend a fortune to get working.

Of course, there is a difference between starting a low-budget show and a full–on drama series.

Today I want to talk about the minimal setup as well as what I’m currently using to produce audio shows like Casefile.

Computer

You will need a working computer – it can be a laptop, a desktop or whatever you have got at the moment. It needs to be fast enough to process audio files, and for that, you will need a good hard drive (SSD would be recommended) and enough RAM (fast processor will help too).

At the beginning, you don’t need much and shouldn’t be looking into buying a brand new system, when I started producing podcasts I used my old MacBook Pro from 2011. I did upgrade RAM and SSD, but for nearly a year I worked on that.

At the moment I’m working on 27-inch iMac with upgraded RAM. It was a necessary upgrade – the production I’m doing right now is much involved than it was in the beginning.

 

monitors_article_1

 

Software

To start, you will need an audio sequencer – a program that lets you edit and record a podcast. There is no need to go for the most expensive software, something like Garageband, Pro Tools First, Audition or Audacity will be fine.

Most sequencers are similar, it’s just the interface that looks different, and once you understand the basics, you will be able to change to something else with ease.

In the beginning, choose something that looks and feels most comfortable for you. I would recommend doing a bit of research and trying out demos and free versions. You won’t be investing in third-party plugins and tools, therefore, choose a software that offers the best all-in-one.

I’ve used many different sequencers in the past. However, I’ve always come back to main two – Apple Logic for music and Avid Pro Tools for audio editing and mix.

Over a year ago I decided to simplify even further, and once I was happy that Pro Tools could fulfil my scoring needs, I moved everything there.

At the moment I’m using Pro Tools 12 for scoring, editing, recording and mixing.

Microphone

Again, you don’t need to spend a lot of money to start. There are plenty of USB microphones to choose from, with Blue Mic company being the most popular. The thing with mics is that you will need one that works well with your voice, that compliments your narration. That’s quite difficult to achieve because you probably won’t have a chance to test many different setups.

USB is the best solution because you won’t need anything else – no extra cables, no stands, no audio interface.

I don’t have my podcast, but the microphone I use for other recordings is Shure SM7B. It’s a legendary voice microphone, mostly used for broadcasting. To operate it I need an audio interface as well as a gain booster; it’s not the simplest solution to start with.

 

monitors_article_2

 

Headphones

Editing and mixing on computer speakers is a no. You won’t need expensive audio monitors (professional speakers), but good headphones are a must – especially for editing. There is no need to overspend but beware of a consumer product; you need something that will give you the most detailed and neutral representation of sound as possible. Of course, having a pair of two of consumer headphones for a reference is a good way to make sure that the mix sounds good on different systems.

For editing and mixing, I use Sony MDR-7506 closed-cup headphones. I also have a few pairs of earbuds – from cheap to more expensive. I use them to reference the mix and get the picture how it will sound on different devices.

Plugins

Plugins are the tools that will make your recording and mix sound good. These are the reverbs, compressors, EQ and other sound changing solutions. When you start, you will use plugins that are available in the audio sequencer of your choice – that’s why choosing one that offers the best range will be a smart choice. For example, even though Pro Tools is my operating program, it doesn’t come with a wide selection of plugins. Unless you have bought something from a third party – it may not be a good solution.

On the other hand, something like Logic or Adobe Audition comes with a wide selection of tools that will help you during production. Research of what you will need (which will change as you progress anyway) and select a program that will help you rather that limit you.

For my work, I use third-party plugins from Izotope, for mixing and mastering. These tools are the best on the market but come with a quite high price tag – you won’t need them when you start, but if you ever want to get into professional audio production you will need to familiarise yourself with iZotope.

 

My last word of advice is not to go overboard with the gear and gadgets. Most of us want to start with the best equipment, whatever hobby we pick up.

Make sure you can start on the cheap and only if you like it and want to continue, then start upgrading. There is nothing worse than getting the hype, spending lots of money on something that will gather dust in the corner of your room.

Liked the article? Follow me! 🙂
 

Subscribe for the latest updates

Pin It on Pinterest