My "work-from-home" journey.

Are you tired of spending hours on the road driving or commuting to work? Tired of office drama and issues in the workplace? Tired of missing important milestones/events in your child’s life? Want to start working at home but don’t know how to start? I was at the same position not a long time ago. Let me share my story with you on how I got started with working online.

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When I first tried to work at home, it was mostly because I needed to find some form of income while I was “taking a break” from work. I had just gone through some really complicated workplace drama/issues, and decided I needed to take a breather. A few months into my break, I was getting bored and wanted to do something to pass my time. I looked for jobs online which led me to oDesk (now Upwork). I signed up, set-up my profile and started applying for jobs. That time my rate was at $1.50/hour. I did mostly data entry jobs, and I didn’t know that I was selling myself low at that time. That lasted for about two months where I earned about $100 in total. I went back to “real” work and set that aside for the next couple of years.

This past year, I got fed up with having to spend almost 4 hours a day commuting to and from work. I wake up at 4 AM to get to work before 9 AM and leave work at 5 PM to get home around 8-9 PM. You would think 6 hours of sleep should get me refreshed for the next day right? Well, you thought wrong. I would always wake up even more tired than I was when I went to bed, and did not have energy or motivation to get back to work and do the same thing all over again. Halfway through 2018, I decided to quit work.

At first I focused on my hobby, crocheting. I would spend the day making shawls which my friends had made. It was fun for a while but I realized that it cannot be solely where I get my “income” from. I had to find something else to do. That’s when I decided to revisit my oDesk profile (which was also when I found out it had become Upwork). I had trouble accessing my account (forgot the password!) because it had been years since I had last logged in to it. After several attempts and a lot of help from their Customer Service Reps, I was finally able to access my profile. I browsed through the job posts to see what was “in-demand,” and looked at the skills clients were looking for. I made a list and realized I did not have most of the skills they needed. So I did some research and found that freelancing is a thing now, meaning there are a lot of people who make their living doing freelance work at home. The more I looked into it, the more I was convinced I needed to find someone who can help me begin my freelancing career.

It was on Facebook where the ad for Filipino Virtual Assistance first appeared on my feed. I checked out their Facebook page and messaged them to inquire about the courses they offered. After a few message exchanges, I had convinced myself to give their Freelancing course a try. Let me tell you, I am thankful that I took that course! I learned a lot on how to set-up my profile and online presence. I was able to find clients by the end of my 2nd week taking the course. Towards the end of the 4 weeks, I had signed up for 2 other courses with them which I’m still currently pursuing now.

Currently, I have 4 clients, mostly part-time. Of the four, three have recurring tasks for me to do, which I can do anytime within the week. The other one has a specific time when I should be online on certain days, apart from that, I can finish the tasks anytime within the week as well. My current rate is at $5/hour, that may not be a a lot but so far I’m happy with what I’ve been getting.

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That’s how I ended up working at home. You’re probably wondering, so how do I start? Well I would suggest first thinking about your “why.” Why do you want to work from home? To help you come up with your “WHY,” read this article from Gaze at Work from Home Pinay and download her workbook, The Power of Why.

I would also suggest looking up Facebook groups such as FHMOMS (Filipina Home Based Moms), Filipino Virtual Assistants, and Work From Home Pinay PH. These groups provide support for newbies/beginners. Aside from being a support group, the FHMOMS also provides monthly training which help you get set up for working at home.

You may also follow my Facebook page and group, and my other social media accounts for motivation, tips and tricks.

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After you figure out your “why” and get yourself set up, you can either start looking for clients or start upgrading your skills or if you can, do both - upgrade your skills WHILE looking for clients. The important thing is that you START.

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Reset. Restart. Rebuild.