Working from home isn’t just for freelancers anymore — over the last four years, a growing number of full-time employees have experienced working remotely or in a hybrid role. According to a recent State of Remote Work report from social media management platform Buffer, almost all of the 3,000 survey respondents who work remotely (98%) said they would not only work remotely for the rest of their careers, but would also recommend remote work to their friends, family and co-workers.
Working from home may sound like an ideal situation if you’ve imagined simply rolling out of bed and arriving at your home office in moments. In reality, though, just like working in an office, remote work comes with positives and negatives. Read on for some positive aspects of telecommuting and the challenges that come with a work-from-home lifestyle.
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Pro: More Flexibility to Take Care of Appointments and Errands
One of the hardest things about committing to a 9-to-5 desk job is that it prevents you from being able to handle almost anything else that comes up in your life, whether it’s getting to a dentist appointment or picking a sick kid up from school. While you still have to meet your deadlines and be available when you say you will be, you generally have wider bandwidth to tend to other responsibilities when you work from home.
Pro: Fewer Interruptions From Meetings and Chitchat
In your home office, it’s easier to get into a deep state of focused work without colleagues dropping by to talk about their weekends. Limiting unnecessary interruptions is a big plus of working from home and one reason many remote workers feel they are often more productive than office-based workers. While you may need to dial in for some meetings, you’ll likely get a break from attending others — many of which may be unnecessary to your role.
Pro: No Commute Time or Expense
You can save a lot of money — almost $8,500 a year on average, according to a study by Clever — and avoid wasting hours spent getting to and from work when your office is right down the hall. Avoiding traffic tops the list of benefits for many who work from home.
Pro: More Time to Spend With Family
Office workers must kiss their loved ones goodbye each morning when heading off to work. In contrast, virtual employees can work down the hall from a work-from-home spouse or younger children. By doing away with the commute, there is more time to spend with loved ones.
Pro: Work When You’re Most Productive
When you work in an office, your schedule is rarely your own. Between interruptions from colleagues and meetings, plus your boss hovering nearby with agenda items and to-dos, accomplishing your focus work may be difficult.
It’s still essential to be mindful of your team’s needs and be available for virtual meetings. But remote employees generally have greater latitude to select their time of peak productivity to do their most important work and have more quiet time to hone in on tasks that require concentration.
Pro: Save Money on Your Work Wardrobe
In addition to saving drive time and gas expenses, the work-from-home crowd can generally save on clothing costs. While you may need to have professional attire at the ready for video calls (at least for your top half on camera), most employees who work from home have more freedom to wear what they want while they work.
Pro: Live Where You Want
While some employers have restrictions about where you can live as a remote employee, a huge perk of remote life is the ability to choose your location without needing to worry about a daily commute. Even if you’re in a hybrid role or need to make occasional visits to the office for meetings, you have a wider range of possible places to settle.
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Con: No Physical Separation Between Work and Leisure Time
Many who work from home lament that they often work around the clock and have difficulty shifting to post-work relaxation mode.
The absence of an obvious division between the personal and professional realms means some remote workers get distracted by housework and other interruptions. That makes setting boundaries and sticking to them important if you’re a remote worker who has a hard time overlooking the dishes.
Con: It’s Easy to Misread Cues From Electronic Communications
Many remote workers report difficulty getting the tone right when using digital communication systems such as email, chat, social media, text and other platforms. Without body language, facial expressions and other cues, remote employees have to put in extra effort to maintain positive communication.
Con: You Have to Make the Effort to Get a Change of Scenery
What can be a blessing can also become a curse in the form of cabin fever. Some freelancers and others who work from home lament that where they work during the day is the same place where they’ll be sitting later that evening; getting involved in their work often translates to spending a huge portion of the day indoors. Many remote workers stressed the importance of scheduling lunches and other meetings to keep them in the mix and avoid the rut of never leaving the house.
Con: Less In-Person Contact With Co-Workers
While you may have more time to spend with loved ones when working from a home office, the flipside is less opportunity for face time (minus a screen) with people at your company. If your co-workers drive you crazy, reduced time in the office might be a perk for you. But if you enjoy office-based camaraderie and like to socialize with your team in person, the remote life might make you miserable.
Con: You Miss Out on In-Office Perks
You can’t swing by the break room and grab a doughnut or hit the company gym if you’re working from home. This may be more of a disadvantage for workers in industries such as technology, which are known for their impressive on-site offerings like game rooms and meals among their company benefits. If there’s a perk you like about being in the office, working from home may make you miss it.
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Con: You Have to Motivate Yourself
If you’re the type of person who procrastinates at work unless a boss is breathing down your neck, you might find yourself underperforming in a work-from-home role. Remote workers have to motivate themselves to get the job done, which puts more onus on people working from home to manage their time wisely to complete their projects.
Con: Some Bosses May Be Biased Against Those Not in the Office
A study by researchers at the University of California–Davis and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that the amount of time that you’re seen at work either within normal business hours or outside of them can affect how your boss and others perceive you at work. If you’re not in the office and others are, some managers may be either intentionally or unintentionally biased against you. You may find that your contributions aren’t noticed or appreciated as much by your team and feel compelled to make extra efforts to keep on everyone’s radar screen.
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7 Benefits of Working From Home (and 7 Drawbacks) originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 07/16/24: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
