5 Reasons to love working from home

by Karen Adamedes

Some days it can be difficult to remember the things to love about working from home. It can be challenging when you are in the same four walls, day in day out. Without the option to go to the office for a change of scene or a bit of a chat.

Even before the pandemic, research suggested that the happiest workers were those that worked from home 3 – 4 days a week. You can be productive most of the week and then some social interaction thrown in on the other days. Now that working from home is a full-time gig for many of us, it can be easy to lose sight of the great things there are to love about it. Here’s 5 reasons to love working from home:

Reason 1: You can spend time with your furry friend

Pets are frequently the subject of social media posts extolling the virtues of working from home.

They provide companionship, a good excuse for a walk (with a dog or to look for a cat), and they are great listeners. As long as you don’t expect an answer, at least you can ask them a question out loud, without feeling like you are talking to yourself.

Cuddles, companionship or a welcome diversion – if you are working from home you get to spend more time with your furry friend.

Reason 2: It’s a short commute

There is no frustrating crawl in the traffic on the freeway. No battling the rain at the bus stop with an umbrella that has blown inside out from a gust of wind. No smelly commuters packed into a train like a tin of sardines.

Before we all started working from home, the worldwide average commute was around 41 minutes each way. That’s a lot of time standing squished up with strangers, or sitting bumper to bumper in rush-hour traffic.

No wonder one of the top benefits of working from home is often said to be the time and aggravation saved on travel. And one of the reasons people probably won’t flood back into offices when the pandemic is over.

Reason 3: There’s flexibility to manage your day

Working from home provides a level of freedom and flexibility to manage our day.

It can allow us to work at times that suit our lifestyle or allow us to maximize our productivity or creativity. We may have the flexibility to live where we choose. It can provide opportunities to go for a walk in the middle of the day, take a break to pick up the kids from school, buy food for dinner or actually make it to a gym class on time.

I often get straight into the work day with a break a couple of hours later for a shower when I need to recharge. At the risk of sharing too much information, I often do my best thinking in the shower. It’s time to let my thoughts wander. I don’t find that watching a growing number of emails in my inbox encourages my creativity or my ability to solve problems. Funnily enough, mid-morning showers are not an option when you work from an office!

It’s the flexibility that I, and many other work-from-homers, absolutely love.

Reason 4: You get more done

Many people believe that they are much more productive at home.

There are numerous studies from recognized institutions such as Stanford University and Harvard Business School that support the fact that people who work remotely are more productive and more engaged. And that this way of working reduces attrition, sick days and facilities costs for employers. It’s a true win-win situation.

There are often less interruptions, less distractions, less commuting, less chatting and definitely fewer  meetings to be dragged into when you work from home. Which means we should be able to spend more time getting our work done.

Reason 5: You can choose where to work

There’s also the ability to work in a location that you like. Posts on social media are filled with hashtags, including #workfromhome, #workfromanywhere, #remoteworking. They show pictures of the views people have while they are working. Often they feature beaches, gardens, swimming pools and mountain vistas.

Your local coffee haunt, a park, a garden… anywhere with Wi-Fi can become your office. And if there isn’t Wi-Fi you can always take your own! Mobile Wi-Fi and smart-phone hot spots are liberating. Work from anywhere is the new work from home. Ducking out of the office (even when it’s your home) for a break is all part of the freedom and flexibility.

No matter where you work, it can be easy to get caught up in the daily grind. But if you are working from home, try and take advantage of the good stuff.

Enjoy your day!

 

 

 

 

This tip is based on ‘The good stuff‘ from Professional in Pajamas: 101 Tips for Working from Home

 

By Karen Adamedes on February 2, 2021   /   Working from Home   /   Leave a comment