The last few years have brought a massive change in the way we work. The majority of us were forced to move our offices to our homes, and it turned out that a great number of people really enjoyed it. Now, when we can finally move back to the office, it’s not that easy to encourage the employees to start commuting to work every day. As working from home is becoming the new normality, let’s take a look at its pros and cons.
Why Do People Prefer Working From Home?
When considering the good and bad sides of working from home, it’s obvious that we should start with the pros, as they are much more numerous. The first and for many people, the most important issue is bigger flexibility and independence. You still do your work, but at your own pace and in your own way. You decide when you take a break and how you want to relax. Some people truly need to unwind in their short breaks from work in order to stay productive and effective for the rest of the day.
When you are at the office, you are constantly surrounded by other people and under the watchful eye of your supervisor. At home, you can take your break any way you want, you can even play a video game or take some time to relax in an online casino. Can you imagine such a lunch break at work? When you are at home, and you feel like it will do you some good, you can open a reliable platform. Choose a casino and a game and have a couple of minutes of pure entertainment and fun with some casino bonuses. You certainly wouldn’t be able to win some additional money when in the office.
The majority of people who work from home have experienced an increase in their productivity. This is another reason why people prefer a home office over a traditional form of office work. A quiet environment and being independent is often enough to become more effective and focused on your tasks.
Even those who thrive when working in a team and people who love to spend time with others have to admit that working from home has one huge asset. You don’t have to waste time commuting to the office, and you can sleep longer, while in the afternoon, you have even up to an hour more of free time to relax and enjoy life. Commuting to work is not only time-consuming but also expensive. If you work from home the price of gas or bus tickets, or the general cost of commuting, is of no interest to you.
There are other pros of working from home, which include a reduction in absences at work, an increase in satisfaction of employees, or a lower level of stress, but for the majority of people it is the work-life balance that truly matters. People who work from home have more time for their family, they feel more content and satisfied, and as a result, they are more devoted to their jobs.
The Cons of Working From Home
Even though a great number of office employees prefer a home office over a regular form of working, this solution has its drawbacks. The biggest con of working from home seems to be the number of distractors that make it a difficult task to stay focused. As you are already at home, you might feel the need to do some chores, play with your dog or talk to your family members instead of working. It requires a lot of self-discipline to stay on track and get all the tasks done when working from home.
Depending on the type of job you do, working from home might slow down your work, especially if you need to rely on others. As you can’t communicate with them face-to-face, you need to wait for them to reply, and a lot of important pieces of information might get lost in the process. Any job requiring teamwork is usually better done in the office.
Working from home also has some other disadvantages, like less face time leading to the feeling of isolation, home office expense, the lack of ability to disconnect from the workplace or the risk of overworking. As with everything, it’s all about balance.