Some People love the idea of working from home, others hate it. There are so many prejudices involved when it comes to this working style. The result is that people either desperately try to score a remote job so that they can work from home, or refuse to telecommute because they only think about negative consequences.
Before we look at the advantages and disadvantages of working from home, let’s just quickly have a look at what kind of remote job you can do. This helps you understand that not every telecommute professional enjoys the same advantages or has to struggle with equal disadvantages.
1. Remote Employee
You are employed with a company as usual but don’t have to come to an office. Instead, you can work from home or literally from anywhere you want. Since you are a fixed part of a team, you often have a given working schedule you have to stick to, which can include start and end time of your daily working hours or scheduled meetings.
2. Freelancer
You offer a certain service to clients and are free to work from anywhere you want.
3. Your Own Business
You are your own boss and don’t work for anyone, you can work from home or anywhere you want when you want and as much as you want.
Pros of Working from Home
Luckily, they are plenty of advantages to working from home, this is what you could look forward to:
1. No commute
No more crowded buses or train, no more annoying traffic jam, I always hates this part of my day the most, I found it very stressful and depressing. You are surrounded by the tired, frustrated and stressed out faces of all the daily commuters first thing in the morning, especially on a Monday morning.
2. Save Time
You don’t spend ages in the bathroom to get ready in the morning, and since you don’t have to commute anymore, you also save a lot of time. I’m sure there is many better things to do with my time.
3. Save Money
You also save money when working from home. No public transport tickets or petrol bill. Besides that, you will save money because you won’t need to buy business attire anymore and you can prepare you can prepare your own food instead of going to pricey cafeterias. This really adds up!
4. Comfortability
Goodbye suit and tie, hello Joggers and jumper! No need to do your hair or put on makeup. If you have a bad day, maybe feel a cold coming, just wrap yourself in a blanket and work from home with as comfy chair. But beware, your productivity might suffer from too much comfortability, so don’t get too cozy too often.
5. Flexible Working Hours
If you a freelancer or a business owner, you will most likely get to choose your own working hours. Even many companies allow their remote employees to decide on their own when they want to work, this means that you can work when you feel most productive.
6. Own Working Environment
This is one of the biggest advantages for those who like to work from home, no uninspiring office atmosphere anymore, you can create your own working environment that works best for you.
7. Reduced Stressed
It’s not only the annoying commutes to work that you can skip when you work online, you also don’t have to deal with stressful working environments anymore. No keyboard-hammering, phone call yelling coworkers anymore and no bullying or infighting. In the long run, this will save you a lot of nerves.
8. Autonomy
When you work in a big company for years you are often caught up in given structures and routines that you might not like, when you work from home, you are finally able to make more decision on your own, even when you are still employed, you have more responsibility for your performance, this is a great feeling and can boost up your confidence.
9. Work/Life Balance
Even though you spend just as much (sometimes even more) time working from home than you would in an office, you still feel like you are closer to your private life than before. The work/life balance improves a lot.
10. Health increases
No more daily commutes and a reduced level of stress can result in more and better sleep. In addition, you will eat healthier and exercise more. The increased work/life balance makes you happier and more satisfied than ever before, of course, you will be healthier.
Cons of Working from Home
1. No Human Interaction
Although you will have calls and online meetings with your clients or team members every now and then, you will be home alone most of the time. The lack of social interaction can be really hard for some people.
2. Hard to Switch Off
You sleep at home. You work at home. Sometimes its hard to separate private life and business life. You are not dependent on office hours and can literally work from early morning until late at night. Your whole life revolves around your work
3. Distractions
Potential distractions are there when you work from home. It really takes a lot discipline to focus on your job and actually get things done
4. Lack of productivity
Along with the issue of distraction goes the reduced productivity. It is great when you don’t have a boss looking over your shoulder all day long. But some people won’t be able to much work done without than bit of pressure.
5. Unhealthy lifestyle
On the one hand, working from home does wonder to your health and can increase it a lot. On the other hand, it can be harmful, most companies provide office with ergonomic chairs or even standing desks. When you work from home you might not want to invest that much money into proper home office equipment.
6. Bad reputation
This is one of the most annoying cons of working from home, people just don’t value it as much as in office job. Family members or friends will ask ‘’ so, when will you finally get a real job again?” or “could you do [insert any random 3 hour long task] today? You’re at home anyway and have time. Although you might be working way more hours now than you did before, people just don’t see it as work, very frustrating!
As you can see, there are plenty of pros and cons of working from home. It is up to you decide which ones are more important to you and have a bigger impact on your well being and happiness. If you want to go for remote work, you should have most or better all of the following characteristics:
• A Lot of self-discipline
• Able to stay focused and not get distracted easily
• Great with time management
• Organised and structured
• Able to work on your own without constant supervision
• Need to fine with working alone and spending most of your day alone