Work from home is a blessing as well as a curse. As the saying goes, nothing is 100% advantageous, remote work included. However, the most essential part you are missing out on is to balance its benefits and disadvantages, which will lead to more fruitful results.
Plus, don’t forget that you have a diverse workforce. Moreover, everyone has their needs, priorities, and preferences. So, overall, it’s wise to let your employees work in environments that they find to be the most comfortable (but not too cozy).
So in this blog, I will get right down to the wire with the pros and cons of working from home. Plus, by the end of this blog, you will get the best solution of a working model, which is suitable for both office and remote environment lovers. Thus, we have a lot to cover. So, with that being said, let’s get right into it.
What is Work from Home?
You all may find it weird that I would share the meaning of working from home here when it is self-explanatory. The only reason is that when I am speaking of remote work as an entire working culture or organizational setup then you need to know how most organizations define this phrase from their perspective.
Some organizations define work from home as work being done remotely. Nowadays, the WFH acronym is being used in messaging tools such as ‘Slack’, ‘instant messaging’, ‘and text messages to tell their contacts that they are working remotely.
Some organizations have created their version of work from home such as Doximity finds working from home on Wednesdays as most beneficial for its employees. The logic for implementing WFH in this version is that it prevents employees from going through a midweek slump. Giving this flexibility in the middle of the week also enhances productivity for the next three days of the week.
Also, there are organizations where some employees work from home in a full-fledged form. They are setting up their work accessories like a dedicated laptop, internet along with business applications inside their home. Besides, some are traveling to their office half of the time and working from home occasionally.
10 Advantages of Work from Home
So far, so good. Since now you know what it is from multiple points of view, it will be easier to wrap your head around the advantages of working from home. Based on what my employees and I have experienced. Here’s a short list of WFH pros to expect.
1. Save Commutation Time
You all know that time is money. What can be better than a scenario where you are saving time and money? Also, you are not just saving but also earning proportionally. Needless to say this sense of work from home advantage encourages an employee towards a ‘savings’ mentality.
2. Flexibility of Mind and Schedule
Here’s one of the home working advantages, which makes maximum employees prefer it. Because everyone is different and differs in their habit of starting and ending their day. Therefore, to ignite creativity and productivity at work it is important to provide flexibility of mind and schedule in the work culture.
3. Custom Work Atmosphere
When you are working in a work from home setting, remember that you are the boss, when it comes to deciding the environment. For example, the noise in your room is totally up to you, you can set it as low as a temple in Bhutan or as high as a Linkin Park concert.
4. Comfortable Clothing
Another benefit of working from home is that you can always work in those shorts or pajamas and the old dirty T-shirt. Unless there is a virtual conference. However, a cheat code here is to wear a shirt over your shorts. Overall, you can be as comfortable as you want in a remote work setting.
5. Making Calls is Easy
During your work from home shift, no one is stopping you or giving you awkward reactions, when you make calls. So, you can even call your boss from under the bed while enjoying popcorn, soda, and work.
6. No Weekend To-Do’s
Here’s one of the advantages of working from home, which I find very useful for my lazy self. Since you all know that remote working comes with flexible schedules, you can easily get an excuse for not doing your Saturday chores.
7. No Office Distractions
Another advantage work from home brings with it is no office distractions. It means, no banters from frustrated co-workers, no repetitive chit chats, no disturbance of the noise of that fax machine, and you get the idea.
8. Save Money
An advantage at work due to the WFH setting is that your organization saves money. So do you. What I am talking about is how expensive tea, coffee, and snacks are at the office canteen. However, since you are not going there anymore, you can live as cheaply as you want.
9. No Traffic
You will thank your boss for allowing you to work from anywhere as you identify that you don’t have to battle crowds and traffic to reach the office anymore. This peace of mind also increases your efficiency and productivity.
10. Better Work-Life Balance
What work from home brings with it is a better work-life balance your way. Since you are at home, you can always spend more time with your loved ones or attend to the sick elderly without having to worry about anyone nagging about it.
10 Disadvantages of Work from Home
Now, for sure I would not want all taste buds to be saturated with sugary perspectives. Hence, it goes without saying that where there are advantages to something, there exist some disadvantages too. Therefore, below I have listed some disadvantages of working at home from various perspectives.
1. Lack of Connectivity
39% of work from home respondents feel isolated while working from home by default (for some obvious reasons). This reduction in communication with their colleagues can lead to severe mental health issues.
2. Home Distractions
Another disadvantage of working from home is this. So, you thought you were safe from office distractions. However, what about the various distractions in-house? For example, the smell of hot dogs cooking in the kitchen or the urge to binge-watch those episodes of Game of Thrones.
3. Requires Willpower
Work from home is good and all that. However, you need sheer willpower for remote work success. You know, your brain will say that the project is more essential. However, your heart will tell you to dream away in your blanket. You don’t want to start that inner battle again. Do you?
4. Hard to Follow Routines
One of the home working disadvantages is the challenge to follow routines. The hard truth is you can’t because there are other duties including giving time to your family or finding it hard to wake up early in the morning. Overall, it ruins the entire purpose of working remotely.
5. Important Calls Missed
You may keep your phone on Do Not Disturb because you need that piece of mind during work from home. However, this can lead to you missing an important call for a meeting. The result is that now your boss is angry. Well, good luck to you.
6. Ordering Food
Another drawback of working from home is the opposite of how you save money while working remotely. On the contrary, it’s essential to tingle your taste buds from time to time. However, buying bread is better but you won’t.
7. Power Naps
It’s okay to sleep in a work from home setting. Besides, who is stopping you? However, if the power naps become too long, then it’s a problem. In short, you will be working more than enough. Moreover, you already know all work and no play idiom.
8. Boredom
Working remotely is another synonym for being anti-social, which can get boring fast. Especially if you are an extrovert like me. It is another one of the disadvantages of working from home, which can get on your nerves, urging you to return to a full-time office environment.
9. Slow as a Snail
Work from home gives you flexible schedules. Usually, the start time is known. However, only God knows when will you end your workday. It’s natural for your office environment to have that enthusiasm and dedication, which is what is lacking in most work from home settings.
10. Internet Issues
The common disadvantage of working in a remote setting is issues with your internet connection. When your internet gets slow or there is a network error, you will find yourself investing more time fixing this issue than working.
Work from Home Tips to Improve Productivity
I understand that it’s a bit discouraging to acknowledge the cons of a work from home setting to some extent. Worry not! There exist solutions to every problem in this universe. Below, I have given some tips to boost productivity regardless of where you work.
1. Set up a Home Office
That means a desk, alarms, a comfy chair, a strict routine, and implementing everything that was there during your typical office setting including remote work monitoring software. The more, the merrier.
2. Time to Eliminate Digital Distractions
As mentioned earlier, the highest form of work disadvantage faced by employees working from home is digital distraction. Therefore, it is advisable to find ways to eliminate the same. Not to worry though. I have got you covered here as well.
- Managing your phone’s notifications
- Remove your digital devices from your house
- Schedule ‘distraction breaks’
- Seek help from employee time tracking software to effectively track your work hours.
3. Schedule a Time to Check Emails
Though checking emails is related to your job work, the activity is also a sort of distraction. Checking emails without following a set schedule breaks the flow of work. Overall, for work from home success, it’s essential to stick to a time, where you will do nothing but check emails.
4. Practice Mindfulness
It is common for our minds to get stuffed with unwanted data due to our day-to-day activities while working from home. In such a situation, practicing mindfulness is a great way to channel your mind toward accomplishing set targets.
5. Prepare a To-Do List
Concerning the above-given tip, preparing a to-do list for a whole day’s chores would be a cherry on the cake to avoid distractions and enhance productivity. To optimize that, you can use productivity monitoring software, which can automate this task for you.
Work from Home or Office: Which one is the Best for You?
So, I have covered the pros and cons of work from home. Plus, I have also given you some tips to increase remote work productivity. However, the big question is, which one is better for you? Weighing in everything, I have concluded.
Typically remote work is for those who like peace of mind and stay in their comfort zone as much as possible. However, office work environments are for those who are social birds and don’t bother directly facing their superiors. Still not sure, which one is right for you? Maybe you can try applying in organizations with hybrid work models, which is a combination of both.
Conclusion
I hope you now have a clear understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of work from home. To conclude, all I can say is that you need to understand its various perspectives and balance both for remote work success. However, you will be alright as long as you are not letting the cons get on your nerves. Plus, you can also use some expert strategies to increase WFH efficiency and productivity while using the best software for monitoring employees. DeskTrack provides you with the most intuitive and feature-rich interface, customizable and geared to boost the work performance of your remote, on-site, and field employees. With its amazing features including screenshot monitoring, real-time activity, time tracking, and project management simplification, I am enjoying many advantages such as increased employee efficiency, productivity, accountability and responsibility, more clients, profits, more growth, and success. So will you. Get DeskTrack today and see the outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q. What is Working from Home?
Ans. Working remotely, from home, or anywhere is the idea of giving employees the flexibility to work more comfortably from wherever they prefer. However, employers and organizations still have the charge over the workflow, patterns, and what employees are doing. However, it has different settings from various perspectives.
Q. What are the Advantages of Working in a Remote Setting?
Ans. Working remotely gives many benefits to your employees.
- Save Commutation Time
- Flexibility of Mind and Schedule
- Custom Work Atmosphere
- Comfortable Clothing
- Making Calls is Easy
- No Weekend To-Do’s
- No Office Distractions
- Save Money
- No Traffic
- Better Work-Life Balance
Q. What are the Drawbacks of Working Remotely?
Ans. There are also some disadvantages of working from home.
- Lack of Connectivity
- Home Distractions
- Requires Willpower
- Hard-to-Follow Routines
- Important Calls Missed
- Food Ordering Expenses
- Power Naps
- Boredom
- Slow as a Snail
- Internet Issues
Q. Which are the Best Software Solutions to Monitor Remote Employees?
Ans. You can use remote work monitoring software to effectively monitor the efficiency of remote employees. Below we have listed the 10 best software solutions for the same.
- DeskTrack
- Monitask
- Insightful
- Intelogos
- Connecteam
- Veriato
- EmailAnalytics
- InterGuard
- iMonitor EAM
- Controlio
