There are many myths about working from home that can prove to be enough to prevent people from taking the plunge. Whether it be worries about making enough money to being isolated from the outside world and lonely as a result, there are a myriad of excuses that people reach for in order to stop themselves joining the increasing number of Americans who are moving towards home working.

Because working from home is on the rise. Over 5 percent of the population now work from home according to census data from 2017, up from 3 percent at the start of the century. That number is only going to increase as technology such as increased connectivity, and cloud computing makes remote working more efficient and reliable.

With that in mind, here are 7 reasons why should consider working from home.

You get full control over your schedule

One of the most powerful arguments for working from home is the fact that you get full control over your schedule. If you are an early riser who works best as a morning person, then you can start your day at 6am in the morning, a whole three hours before most offices kick into gear. Conversely, if you find yourself most productive in the afternoon following a long lay in, then that becomes an option too.

You might even want to adopt the Spanish siesta and grab 40 winks in the middle of the day. If you’re working from home, then you can schedule your day however you see fit which can give a real boost to productivity.

You’ll have more time with your family

If you’ve got young children, then working from home offers you the opportunity to spend more time with them. That can be particularly attractive to new fathers, given that America is one of the only developed countries in the world not to require paid paternity leave in law.

Working from home, you can effectively be in the office and looking after your family at the same time. It also makes sense from a financial point of view as well. You aren’t losing money by being unpaid to look after your children, and you also aren’t having to fork out for expensive childcare. With childcare costs averaging between $9000 and $9600 a year in 2017, the fact you can both earn and not have to spend at the same time can make a huge difference to your family finances.

No more commuting or travel expenses

Tying in nicely with the fact you can spend more time with your family is the fact that you won’t have to commute anymore. Time spent going to and from work for the average American amounts to over 200 hours a year. That’s nine days out of 365 spent commuting.

Working from home eliminates such a timely exercise, giving you more time to spend with friends and family or doing hobbies and activities which you love. You’ll also end up saving a lot of money through reduced transport costs as gone will be the frequent trips to the gas station or the expensive public transport expenses that are a direct result of having to commute to work.

You can wear what you want

One of the worst things about working in an office is having to dress up every single day. Working from home means that there is no more blazer or dress pants. You can wear whatever you want and not have to worry about whether it is appropriate for an office.

You can wake up in the morning, throw on the most comfortable fluffy dressing gown you own and get to work. Looking from a financial perspective again, it means that you aren’t spending money on a work-only wardrobe either.

You can work from wherever you want

Not only can you wear what you want, but you can also work from wherever you want. If you don’t want to leave the comfort of your own bed on the coldest of winter mornings, then you can fire up the laptop and work from the sanctuary of the bedroom. You might have a well-appointed office to settle down into each day, or on a beautiful summer afternoon, you could take your work outside and operate from the chair and table that are part of your winston patio furniture set.

Of course, working from home doesn’t have to be restricted to actually working from home either. Anywhere that has working Wi-Fi can effectively become your office. If you have the best coffee shop in the country just around the corner, you could head there and work while sipping on cake and a cappuccino. When you work from home, the world is truly your oyster.

There’s no boss constantly looking over your shoulder

Nobody likes the feeling of their boss constantly breathing down their neck or checking up on what they are doing. Whilst you will still need to check in with the office if you are working from home but employed by a business, it won’t be as a frequently as when the boss is 20 meters away. That can help you to feel more relaxed and more productive.

If you are working from home because you’ve gone it alone and started your own business, then you won’t have a boss to report to at all. No worries about being late, doing something wrong or being sick. Working from home – and for yourself – alleviates all of that.

You’ll have greater levels of happiness and satisfaction

Ultimately, we’re at our most happiest when we’re at home. Our homes are where we live, where we relax and where we are surrounded by loved ones, all of which makes them places of joy.

Seeing as there is a direct link between happiness and productivity, working from home can increase how good you are at your job and the results you can deliver. Your higher happiness and satisfaction levels will permeate to all areas of your life, making you nicer to be around, more patient and a better person as a result.