The effect of the coronavirus pandemic is deeply felt by the global workforce. Companies dealing with non-essential goods or services are forced to close temporarily to avoid the spread of the virus. However, businesses have to keep on running or the economy will fail and millions of people will lose their job. Thus, the alternative working arrangement was proposed. Most companies globally are now doing work from home if not the skeletal workforce.
Working from home sounds ideal. Who wouldn’t want this kind of set-up especially in the middle of a pandemic? Nevertheless, there are always two sides of the same coin. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of working from home set-up.
Advantages
- Flexible. Companies sometimes have so many rules imposed, and naturally, you have no choice but to follow. You don’t have to worry about it when you work from home. You can take breaks any time, eat whatever you want, and be on your phone talking with a family member or friends, provided, of course, that you’ll have your work done on time.
- Comfortable clothes. Aside from our skills, appearance also plays a big deal in displaying professionalism. It doesn’t apply when you work from home though. You can start working without taking a shower nor brushing your teeth (though it sounds so unhygienic). You can even wear your pajamas, and no one will judge nor reprimand you.
- Minimal distractions. Finally, you can now take a break from that toxic coworker (you still have to deal with that person virtually though). No more chitchats and pointless discussions from workmates. And, there will no longer be unnecessary meetings too.
- No more commuting. This is the best treat working from home gives to those people who need to wake up at 5 am to prepare for work, or to those who are not a morning person like me. We can now spend every precious minute in sleeping. All we need is take four or five steps and we are now ready to work.
- Save money. Since you don’t need to commute, no need to gas up, lunch out, and buy snacks, you will save a hefty amount of cash. It is at this time you’ll realize how much you’ve been spending on small and unnecessary things. Hopefully, it will serve as an eye-opener for you and me to be wary of spending money.
- No traffic. Spending a long time in traffic early in the morning is one of the stressors of millions of employees. Forget about the traffic and stress now. You can now enjoy your morning, eat your breakfast, and take your time drinking coffee.
- Be with family. For parents, it is important to stay with their kids these days especially when schools and daycares are close.
Disadvantages
- Mastering Self- discipline is a must. We’ve mentioned earlier that one of the advantages of working from home is the freedom of any office distractions. However, you will have to face a new set of distractions while working from home, too. From doing chores to child care, and feeling the need to relax. It takes a lot of effort to pull yourself together and keep your focus back to work.
- Intermittent internet connection. What could be worse than your internet connection acting up in the middle of an important meeting? Things like that happen, and it’s something we need to be prepared when we work from home.
- Mess- up routine. Planning to integrate your office routine while working at home? It is not easy. New environment (a very comfortable one at that), different distractions, different set-up. What you need to do is to adjust. Once you get used to it, you will develop a work routine that suits your work from home set-up.
- Naps. When you feel tired and bored, and you look around thinking of what to do when you see your bed. You decided to take a break and do a power nap. It’s not bad, we all need a break unless that power nap turned into an hour or two of sleep.
- Waiting game. That moment when you need to confirm or ask something important to your boss or colleague and you haven’t received a response from them. The worst part is you cannot proceed with your task without their answer. They leave you with no choice but wait.