There are literally so many benefits of working from home.
Let me ask you something:
Do you dread the everyday ritual of getting ready for the long commute to work?
Well, the age of telecommuting, crowdsourcing, and working online is upon us. Why do you need to put on those heavy suits, when you can work in your PJs?
Working from home might sound very comforting and flexible for those who don’t have the luxury because of their current position and the nature of their job.
But, nevertheless, working from home is more engrossing and requires a lot more self-discipline. Let’s do a comparison of working at home and working at an office:
Working at an Office
- Commuting
- Working under pressure
- Less time to unwind
- Feeling more tense in performance situations
Working from Home
- No commuting which in turn means more time to work
- No direct pressure
- As the time is saved because of not commuting, can take time to have a break
I am an avid believer in working from home as it gives me the independence to work on my schedule and around my family.
But working from home does come with some issues like having to juggle family and work at the same time and in the same place. Most importantly, the biggest factor productivity.
I want to elaborate on or point out the ways you can increase your productivity while working from home and fight against the belief that home workers or telecommuters are not as productive as folks who work at offices.
Here is a small case study by a Chinese travel website who gave half of its call center employees a chance to work from home for nine months. The results were clearly that there was more productivity in the home workers group than the office workers.
Here Are Some Amazing Benefits of Working from Home:
No Commute
This is mostly the biggest reason people prefer to work from home. Commuting to work is becoming stressful as cities are getting bigger and people have to travel more.
There was a European court ruling last year that stated that commuting to work should also be considered work. A long commute to work can already make a person tired even before starting their day at work. There is a lot of emphasis on telecommuting now as it reduces pollution, saves time, and leads to less traffic.
Working from home can be a boon in this case as the time spent commuting is eliminated and the time is used more productively for work.
Related:
Top 5 Time Management Skills You Need to Work from Home
9 Key Skills You Need to Work From Home
Self-Discipline
Why is it often more stressful to work at an office?
It’s because of the pressure from your manager or the person above you in the corporate ladder for deadlines to be met. When working from home, this system is slightly changed as you do not have the same pressure.
On the contrary, a person develops stronger self-discipline for getting the work done. Setting a target to work toward by yourself makes it more achievable than when you are being pressured to work on something.
Having boundaries at work also makes one more organized and more productive. Working from home would require a person to create a good working environment at home, away from the family.
This might be hard to do at first, but it comes with good benefits. This setup makes a person more responsible toward their work.
More Time
This again speaks to the no commuting, as the time spent traveling to work is saved. It can mean more working hours in the comfort of your home.
This also means as you have more time on hand, and more tasks or projects can be completed that you would otherwise do later, which increases productivity massively. And translates to more job satisfaction.
Being More Creative
People who work for more creative businesses will get this, but nevertheless, this point is for all. As humans, we tend to be more creative when we are under less pressure or being less forced. We tend to react more freely when we have the freedom of space. People think more “outside the box” when they get out of the usual setup or get some time away.
This happens more for workers at home as they have the flexibility to take breaks and spend time with family or a pet or just have some time for themselves.
This process makes a person get in touch with themselves, be more creative, and, in turn, more productive at what they do.
Tiny breaks give workers a bigger productivity boost and make them more creative. This is evident because of the “nap time” culture at big giants like Google and NASA. Companies are now realizing that if the employee is to be more productive and healthy, they need their “me” time at work as well.
What better way to do that than working at home?
No Politics
It’s a known fact that in an office environment, apart from the work, there is always a lot of office politics.
Whether it is coming from a manager or another higher up personnel or from a coworker, work politics are always a part of office culture. The effect this has on workers is debatable, but sometimes it does go to a point where the underlying politics affect a person’s work or productivity.
More than half of the time, it’s a negative effect, and as a result, this becomes a reason for people to avoid going to work. I know a lot of people who have quit their jobs because of office politics.
Working from home might not completely omit this part of the work, but it does reduce it a lot. The gossip, the tactics, and all the strategies that make most people uncomfortable can be cut down.
Instead, you put all your energy into increasing work quality, reaching work targets, and being positively geared toward work that matters.
I am not going to sell the work-from-home idea. It definitely has its golden points to be considered for most people.
With the growing number of people who are turning to the work-from-home or telecommuting option, the question about productivity might not matter in future as it’s evident that, to a larger extent, productivity increases when working from home.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you think working from home does have its benefits?
I would love to hear your opinions on this.
