Even though working from home became a vital necessity for many employees after the coronavirus outbreak, remote work is not a new notion. In the past decades, only tech and IT experts could brag about having this amazing opportunity, but nowadays, this is a very popular (or not) method of doing work. However, pandemic or no pandemic, many people are still in doubt whether it’s beneficial to work from home or not. There are seemingly numerous positive reasons to work from home such as no commuting costs, decreased costs on childcare, it’s less stressful, etc. But some beg to differ. Here are some of the pros and cons of the work-from-home concept that’s vital to know.
Pro: Time and money saved on commuting
Let’s face it, an average person tends to spend a minimum of 2 hours commuting to and from work daily. Add the gas costs, and you have added costs just if you were to feed another family member. Working from home allows you to save money on gas or other transportation, plus it always saves time commuting. By saving 90 minutes per day, you end up saving roughly 10 days per year, which is a substitute for a full vacation.
Con: No physical work-leisure separation
It could be utterly hard to adapt to the new working regime at home, as you might need to delegate on multiple fronts. When you are physically at work, you are able to focus solely on your job, however, when you are at home, you might skip some duties and start watching a short tv show instead of finishing a certain report. A less structured daily regime means that you won’t recognize what is needed to do for work and when is it time to rest.
Pro: It increases productivity
There are a lot of remote workers who have managed to maximally increase their productivity when working from home. When you are in calm surroundings in the comfort of your home, you can focus better, organize your workload adequately, you can even uninterruptedly attend and host real-life secure video conferencing. Not only would you always be punctual, but you would effectively listen and participate in meetings and conferences without office disruptions, limitations, or other background impeding.
Con: Risk of overworking
As there is zero commute time, automatically you have additional time to spare working. Even though many employers don’t see this as a problem when you spend your designated free time working more, you tend to decrease your productivity. Overworking can easily lead to burn-out and increased work-related stress. Hence, it is vital to stick to the maximum hours of work set by your business. When you work from home, you could break that rule and inevitably allocate specific times for your job tasks and personal tasks.
Pro: It gives more work flexibility
Working from home undoubtedly gives each employee more flexibility to make independent decisions and work with their own pace and rhythm. A person could attend some crucial life events like medical appointments or go to their children’s school play. By having more work flexibility, employees’ morale is boosted and overall job satisfaction is increased.
Con: Lack of social interaction
Although you would have more time to spend with your family members when working from, you would have less opportunity to have quality face-to-face communication with your co-workers and managers. Communicating through the screen isn’t always practical, and by having fewer in-person interactions, you might feel as if you don’t belong in a time that can make you also feel miserable.
Pro: Having more family time
Sometimes people can spend over 10 hours in the office and this can negatively affect the time they spend with their families. What’s more, some people tend to work night shifts or long days, so the family relationships could utterly deteriorate. While working remotely, you could spend more quality time with your loved ones as you would be situated in the same place at the same time.
Con: Costly equipment
The home office can cost a lot to equip. You would certainly need an abundance of tech-specific equipment like headsets, webcams, and other essential software to perform important projects and tasks. You could set up a desk, chair, and add some other pieces of furniture, but all of those items could be rather expensive.
There are many pros and cons of working from home but in the end, it all falls down to whether working from actually saves you money and at the same time brings you overall satisfaction.
