Hey everyone.

It's been a while since I haven't posted anything here at my blog, and now I am going to share to you this very personal post of mine: The pro's and con's of working online.

This is quite random compared to my old posts that were mostly music reviews of my favourite musicians. However this blog does not aim to focus on music alone. From the name itself, My Random Reality, expect more random posts to come your way very very soon, just like this one.

2020 was the year where online jobs boomed, from the highly anticipated employment of the e-commerce industry to the populated world of online teaching. It took me about almost 4 years to post this just to vent out my experience that most of you could probably relate to - for now at least.

Before I started with my current job as a pharmacist, I used to work as a full-time online ESL (English as Second Language) teacher for Japanese, Korean, and Taiwanese students. During those years I was fixated to pursue my career as an English teacher because I enjoyed it a lot. But we all know that there's a saying "All good things come to an end", and due to some various personal reasons, I've decided to continue to practice my real profession.

To be honest there are so many things with that job that I miss, but prior to make the final decision of leaving my previous dream career, I realized that I've also missed out a lot in life. 

DISCLAIMER: This is only limited to my personal experiences as an online English teacher and may contain some bias views. Good luck.

Starting with the good bits, a.k.a "The Pro's"

1.) You're the manager of your working hours.

    This is a FACT. And to me I guess this is the best part of working online as a tutor. I used to teach only in the evening so I have a lot of free time in the morning to either go out with friends or do some shopping or binge watch Netflix shows on the internet. This is not applicable to all online jobs out there, but even in online freelance jobs they have the privilege to manage their own time as well. Looking back at it, being able to work at your own time is such a huge blessing, unlike now that I have to be at my shift for 10 to 12 hours a day plus travel time. But what can I say, we all made our choices.

2.) Less expenses and better pay.

    If I were to compare my expenses before and now, I'd say I spent less on transportation and food when I was working online than being a part of the corporate world. However, when I go out to eat with my friends, that is where all of my money goes. I'm not implying that you can get a higher pay with all online jobs, but commonly you get compensated better than the usual local companies since you deal with international-based employers. Transportation expenses is an essential to me nowadays, and that means I have to add this to my monthly budget. Unlike with doing your job at home, you wouldn't have to think about that kind of stuff. At the end of the day it all goes down to your spending habits. You can only say you were able to save more when you have managed to handle your money well.

3.) More time for leisure.

    Of course if you're the one who's in control of your working schedule, that means you can take a leave anytime you want. No bosses, no annual plot approvals, and no dreadful search for relievers. So whenever my friends would invite me to go out of town, I'd usually work about 8 to 10 hours straight for a week or so, and then take a break for 3 to 5 days depending on how long I'll be out travelling. When I started to work at my current job, I never had that "time" to gather all of my thoughts to make blog posts such as this one or make music and band reviews unlike before. As I've mentioned at the beginning of this post, it took me 4 long years to write my confessions. To be able to sit here and write or vlog is already a luxury.

Meanwhile the bad bits, a.k.a. "The Con's"

1.) Developed unhealthy lifestyle habits.

    I am truly guilty that I have bad lifestyle habits and it worsen at that time when I was working online full-time. One example is the lack of discipline in all things especially with my diet. I would finish one whole family size pizza by myself or drink a bottle of wine in just one sitting while having a movie marathon. There was a period where I constantly do these things weekly. I don't exercise or get active. In other words I became LAZY AF because my whole body is just too heavy to move. My weight was 75 kg and that is already obese according to BMI. That was a turning point for me because when I finally came into my senses that I have developed these harmful habits, I just snapped out of everything and began to apply for corporate jobs left and right. I knew that I needed to change because that was not how I envisioned myself back then: an obese 25-year-old in stagnation.

2.) Socially distant.

    People around me know that I'm sociable. I love expanding my network. Yes there is Covid now but that didn't stop me from meeting people online. Yet Covid was nonexistent when I was in the middle of this crisis 4 years ago. I do have my set of friends and most of them are introverts. I could say that I lost a lot of my social skills when I didn't have much opportunities to meet and mingle with people in person. There's a huge difference between getting to know someone virtually and getting to know them in a physical sense, and to me that's important.

3.) No financial security.

    As harsh as it may sound but this is the sad reality of these fancy home-based jobs. Yes it's fancy considering that it pays higher than local companies. On the flip side, financial security is off the table. Though you may always have the option to talk to your friendly financial advisor to get insurance policies, that I can say is a wise decision. Unfortunately not everyone has access or knowledge on these things that could help them get that stability in the future, and I admit I'm quite ignorant for a time about it as well. When I was teaching online full-time, they only deduct the taxes off my salary, and sadly that doesn't contribute to any benefits and privileges in the long run. If you live here in The Philippines you'll understand. 

...and that's all for this post.

I only mentioned a few, but believe me, there's more to that. The things I've cited above were the major ones that I have learned or experienced all throughout those years.

Whatever career you may choose in the near future, remember that there's always upsides and downsides to everything. Nothing is perfect at all as what they say.

Thank you so much for taking your time to read this.

Good luck on your future endeavours and I wish you the best! -k*