I want to work from home.... What can I do?

[Boobslikeadropscone]

Please don't think I'm in any way workshy, but I've recently realised how negatively working outside the home impacts my mental health. I won't bore you with the whys and wherefores.

My job is badly paid but can be very stressful. I used to have a job I loved where I was on my own a lot more, but it's the sort of job that doesn't seem to exist any more, or I'd go back to that!

I would really, really like to work from home. I've worked it out, and even if it was only 20 odd hours a week at NMW, I could make it work because I could save so much on commuting.

I have an English degree, but that's about it. Not particularly crafty or good with my hands. Don't care how boring the work would be, as long as I could do it at home!

I am trying to do this too! Have you looked at the make-money-everyday threads. I've signed up for a couple of the suggested websites but not made anything yet! Will follow.

I’m a virtual assistant (not self employed). Have to work 40 hours a week, there’s no part time or job sharing allowed, but you can work your hours when they best suit you.

Difficult, I work from home and all the people I know that do have worked many years for a large corporate and their office job has evolved with technology and global teams so that it can be done just as easy from home.

My Neice did work from home though as a call centre travel agent type person. Never worked for them in an office and was recruited to be home based as she did evenings.

Yes, my friends who work from home have all done their time in an office. They're on good money though, I was hoping that my willingness to earn very little in comparison might mean there's something out there that I could do. We are lucky enough to have minimal outgoings and we've always lived frugally, but comfortably.

It's work- the pressure of always being "on", and living by someone else's schedule, is absolutely crippling me. I have never coped well socially, I have to constantly think and check that what I'm saying and doing is appropriate.

If I couldn't work from home, I'd love one of those jobs that you only ever see on TV, you know, when there's a news article about bats, and they interview Ellie, 38, who spends her day walking around a forest, checking that the bat boxes haven't fallen off trees. But I imagine Ellie is probably very highly qualified, with an ecology PHD

With an English degree you would probably become a self-employed copy editor / writer. There are a number of websites out there you could try. Publishing houses such as Penguin also offer these types of jobs on a contract basis but you would need experience.

Have you thought about being a bookkeeper?

A copy editor.... That would be worth looking into. That's the sort of thing I vaguely had in mind. I wouldn't know where to start, but I'll have a Google.

Bookkeeping.. I am appalling with numbers!

With an English degree - web content writing. This is what I do, I'm not an English grad but have a degree in an Arts subject and a good command of English. Lots of companies want people to write blogs or articles for their websites and you don't need to be an expert on the topic either. Just write simple, clear, grammatically correct content. I write about all sorts of things and in the past month have written travel tips for various towns in Canada, blogs about disposing of trade waste, and multiple choice questions on French history. Every day's a school day.

Check out People Per Hour, there;s a lot of rubbish on there but it will give you an idea of what sort of jobs are around. If it's something you think would work for you, you might also want to investigate local small business groups. My town has a monthly "business breakfast" for female small business owners which is always interesting and I;ve picked up a few jobs through that too.