5 Flexible Job Pitfalls to Avoid
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If you are lucky enough to have a flexible work arrangement while raising a family, starting your own business, etc., you really have it made. The last thing you want to do is unwittingly put your job in jeopardy because you start to get too comfortable. Here five flexible job pitfalls to watch out for:



Taking Your Situation for Granted



If you’ve had a flexible job for a year or more, it’s easy to forget exactly how desirable your arrangement is. Because the grass is always greener, you’re envious of other people and lose sight of the fact that 90% of employees would kill for your set-up. You stop expressing gratitude and appreciation to your employer, and start complaining more.



Getting Lazy



Because you don’t have a boss watching your every move, and because no one will notice if one little deadline slips, you stop working as hard as you usually do. You don’t put as much energy and thought into your assignments, and the quality of your work suffers. Don’t let your flexible job turn you into a lazy professional.



Spending Fewer Hours Working



This is one of the reasons Marissa Mayer abolished telecommuting at Yahoo!. She envisioned employees gaming the system, getting paid for full-time work while doing a few hours here and there and spending the rest of the day surfing the Internet or running errands. If your employer is smart, it’s already using software to track what you’re doing and when, so don’t get caught with your pants down.



Not Checking in Enough



When your manager becomes this shadowy figure who you never see and no one demands a status report from you each week, it’s tempting to go completely off the grid. Recognize, however, that out of sight is out of mind, and you don’t want your boss to think the organization is doing just fine without you.



Becoming a Hermit



The worst thing you can do for your career is to become a disengaged member of your organization. No one knows who you are or what you do – and worse, no one knows what you get paid for. Skipping in person meetings because they aren’t mandatory for you, and allowing your busy schedule to interfere with genuine collaboration? Bad news.



The bottom line: with a flexible job, you must be more proactive than ever. When nobody cares what you’re up to and/or you can get away with murder, that’s not a good thing.