The idea of working from home without having to get dressed and driving all the way to the office every morning sure sounds great. Thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, this isn't just an idea anymore but a full-fledged, widely accepted working model for most organizations. Now, if your employer offers you a choice between whether or not you want to work from the office, we're pretty sure you would opt for work from home, and trust us when we say, you aren't the only one!
An increasing number of organizations have now adopted a remote or hybrid working model where some of their employees are working from home entirely, and some work from home a few days of the week and from home the rest. Both the employees and employers are happy with this arrangement.
Everything looks and feels great!
We hate to break your bubble, but remote working isn't as great as you think it is. It has some downsides that you may not be thinking about right now. While we can't deny the benefits of a remote working model, it's important to educate yourself about both sides of the coin so you can decide what's a better option for you!
What Made Remote Working Model So Popular in the First Place?
Before we move onto the side of the remote working model that not many people are able to see yet, let's first look into the many reasons that made it as popular (and common) as it's today.
Better Work-Life Balance
The first and most obvious benefit of a remote working model is it allows people to achieve a better work-life balance. They no longer have to go to work and return home tired and unavailable to family. Remote work has allowed them to spend higher-quality time with their families, which they couldn't do earlier.
Increased Flexibility
How many times have you wished to sleep for a few more minutes? Well, with remote working, you can enjoy those extra minutes of sleep (and even more) since you don't have to go all the way to the office. You can work when you feel the most productive. You can also take breaks to have meals with family or pick up your kids from school. The increased flexibility tends to make you feel good and, therefore, more productive when you're working from home.
Saves Money and Time
Remote working helps you save money. The money you would have to spend on fuel is saved clearly as you don't have to go to work at all! You also save a lot of time, of course! Going to work requires waking up, getting dressed, preparing breakfast, and then driving to the office. When you're working from home, you save the time you spend preparing and going to work. This leaves you more time to relax and start work when you're ready and ready!
Better Mood and Morale
You'll feel better (and happier) when you're working from home. Remote working allows you to enjoy a longer sleep. You don't have to leave your home early in the morning. You can work from the comfort of your home and usually, at times, when you feel the most productive. Remote working also offers a lot of independence, space, and a break from being micromanaged. All of this makes you feel great. And when you're feeling good, your mood and morale both will be boosted, and you'll be able to work with greater dedication and deliver better quality results.
The Darker Side of Remote Working
When we say remote working isn't as great as you think it is, we've got pretty good reasons for it. Most of the time, we tend to notice the obvious and overlook what's not immediately visible. The same is the case with the other side of remote working.
Below are some of the reasons that make remote working not-so-great.
1. Too Many Distractions and Loss of Productivity
The biggest downside of the remote working model is the fact that there's too much distraction at home. When you're working in the office, you're fully immersed in your work with little distraction. However, when you're working from home, and you don't have a proper office space setup, you just can't focus on your work. Someone from your family will always be around. Having children and pets makes it worse, as they'll make noise and disturb you throughout the day. You also can't deny the fact that when you're working from home, your family doesn't really understand that you're still working and expect you to contribute to household work, like picking up the kids from school or putting the dish in the dishwasher. If you don't have a separate office space at home where you can shut the door and work, you simply can't work as well as you do at the office.
The result is poor productivity and low-quality work. In fact, you may even make blunders. Because let's face it – your mind and focus are all over the place when you're working from home!
2. Work Bleeds into Personal Life
When you're working from home, you aren't really working a fixed 9 to 5 shift. You start work late, take longer breaks, and often work till later than you would if you were going to the office. While a lot of people find this flexibility good, it's actually not the best thing. Here's why – since you're working from home, your boss may not respect the fact that your shift is over and might expect you to be available by email and calls even after 5 pm. This isn't the case when you go to the office. The moment you're out of the office, you're done for the day. This pressure of being available for work, even during odd hours, slowly starts to bleed into your personal life. The time you could enjoy with your family without worrying about work is now disturbed. You can't even plan outings and dinners outside the home if there are meetings planned for later. The fine line between work life and personal life slowly starts to fade, and nobody likes that in the long run!
3. Higher Risk of Musculoskeletal Disorders
Have you noticed that you feel more exhausted at the end of the day when you're working from home as compared to when you go to the office, even though you don't have to drive to and from work? Well, this is because your home isn't designed to be used as an office and for this reason, the work conditions are really poor. The lack of suitable office equipment and furniture like the Back Support Ergonomic Office Chair OC13 tends you tire you out more. Only a few people invest in designing ergonomic home offices, while the majority continue to work in poor ergonomic conditions. Now, this puts them at risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders that start as back, shoulder, and neck pain. If you don't make your home office ergonomics-friendly, you'll soon need medical attention because musculoskeletal disorders are very serious – and painfully uncomfortable!
4. Poor Communication and Delays in Work
Remote working also causes delays in work due to poor communication. The things you could quickly discuss with your coworker at the office now have to wait until they respond via email or text. Walking up to someone's workstation is definitely a more convenient and quicker way to get things off the desk. But that's not the case with remote working. There's a major communication gap between teams and the management when teams are working remotely, and this results in delays in work which can be avoided if everyone was present in the office.
5. Poor Mental Health
Working from home means little to no interaction with people (other than the family, of course). Going to the office allows you to mingle with people regularly, which is crucial for mental health. As the saying goes, man is a social animal, and their mental health will be affected if this social life is taken away from them. Staying indoors all the time with no interaction with people is bound to stress you out and add to your anxiety levels. Remote working in the long term can be detrimental to your mental health.
Closing Word
Who knew there was so much more to remote working than we could see at the surface? Remote working is great, which is why it has become so popular today, but we can't deny the downsides either. The good news is that most of the downsides can be addressed, and the risks can be mitigated. Once you're successful in doing that, you can definitely reap maximum benefit out of the remote working model!
