If you haven’t worked from home, you may dream of rolling out of bed in your pyjamas and strolling to your desk, coffee in hand. Office-based employees may think that remote workers have it easy, but it’s not always as easy as it sounds. We look at 5 commons myths about working from home.
1. It’s easier than working in an office
In some ways this is true as you won’t have to deal with commuting and stressing about what to wear to the office. But working from home isn’t for everyone. You’ll have to be super-organised and efficient to ensure that you complete projects on time and also be sufficiently self-motivated to work by yourself. It can get rather lonely at times, especially if you’re a people person and enjoy chatting to colleagues. You also might end up working more hours in order to meet deadlines – and to prove to office-based staff that you’re not slacking off.
2. You won’t need childcare
This one is definitely a myth! You might be able to get in a bit of work while your baby is sleeping, but don’t make the mistake of scheduling an important call with a client during naptime. You can be sure that your baby will wake up screaming in the middle of it. And don’t even think about working from home during the school holidays. Children don’t understand the phrase “I’m working” – if you’re at home you’re considered fair game. Prepare to be bombarded every five minutes with questions, requests and demands.
3. You’ll be able to keep on top of housework
Imagine you’ll be able to do the laundry, do a bit of shopping and give the bedrooms a quick hoover during your breaks? Think again. It’s more likely that you’ll get less housework done as you’ll be working all the time. While your office-bound colleagues may get to switch off after they leave their desk, your computer will be beckoning you to come and finish off that last bit of work, or get ahead with the next task before next week. In the meantime there’ll be a mini-mountain of dirty clothes piling up and loads of unwashed dishes in the sink…
4. You’ll be less productive
Working for home can actually make you more productive as you won’t have your colleagues distracting you by talking about their plans for the weekend. Recent research conducted by economics expert Professor Nicholas Bloom and James Liange, co-founder of Chinese travel website Ctrip, found that staff who were allowed to work from home for nine months were much more productive than their office-based colleagues, and completed almost an extra day’s work in a normal week.
5. It gives you a better work-life balance
This is a difficult one as on the one hand you’ll be at home more, but on the other you’ll be spending every spare moment working. You might be able to arrange working hours around the school run, but in order to make up for this lost time at your desk, you’ll end up spending the evenings hunched over your keyboard instead. Your partner may also not understand the fact that you can’t just switch off from work, so be prepared for a few arguments…
Do you love working from home? Share your tips on how you make it work.
Posted by Julie Tucker