Work from home: Is it really better?

Working from home has become much more prominent since the Covid lockdowns. Having the luxury of rolling out of bed 15 minutes before we have to start our workdays became a reality for millions of people worldwide as governments attempted to stop the spread of a virus that could be fatal to so many.

Now that the worst of it has passed, however, many companies are finding it difficult to get employees back in the office. We no longer want to spend an hour commuting back and forth from home to the office, we don't want to spend the money on a second car or a monthly transit pass. As a society, we've tasted the good life and we like it!

Is working from home right for you?

Is working from home a good thing? Do the positives outweigh the negatives? I've been working remotely on a full-time basis since before the pandemic lockdowns. It works for me quite well and since my most productive time of the day is the first couple of hours after I wake up in the morning, I'm not wasting that time sitting in a car or on the train. So at this stage of my career, I think it's the right choice for me. I can tell you with certainty however that when I was first starting out in my career I wouldn't have had the discipline or knowledge that I needed to be able to work from home. It would have been a disaster for me both personally and professionally.

As we've all seen working from home can have a lot of advantages. There are disadvantages as well however and you need to be aware of them before you fight too hard to stay out of the office.

The three big considerations in my humble opinion are:

Your business and social network

Take a few minutes to think about the people that are closest to you in your life. How did you meet them, remotely or in person? Chances are you met them in person either through school, a past work function or a social event. Removing the in-person element from your work environment reduces the opportunity to grow your network of business contacts and friends. We've all heard the saying, "It's who you know, not what you know". There is a great deal of truth in that one statement. People are social animals, it's how we function and grow throughout our lives. We bond with each other through shared experiences and interests. To do that properly, we need to be physically near each other. Throughout my career, I've met thousands of people, some of them remain very close business contacts and some of them are close personal friends. If it hadn't been for the fact that we worked in the same office, most of them wouldn't be in my life today.

If you're looking to grow in your existing career or maybe you're just starting your career, you need to expand your network. While it is possible to gain contacts remotely, the bond won't be as strong and the number of contacts will be much smaller. Working in the office, you're going to meet more people and form friendships that will benefit you personally and professionally throughout your career.

Your mental health

Remember when I said we're social animals? That aspect of our existence is critical to our mental health. We benefit in so many ways from being around other people. It's only when we stop doing it that we see the negative aspects creep into our lives. Working in the office can benefit us by helping to reduce anxiety in several ways:

For a lot of people, anxiety can be triggered by what many consider to be daily routines; attending meetings, meeting new clients, performance reviews and even trying to get to work on time. Working from home lets us avoid a lot of those situations and although it can feel great to avoid the anxiety that can be caused by them, we're not developing coping mechanisms. The more you do something, the easier it is to do it without thinking about it and the less anxious you will be.

Written communication is not always effective in communicating emotion. Sure, it would be if everyone understood and used proper rules of grammar but the reality is that most people don't and generally speaking, most people are lazy when it comes to writing messages or even emails. We rely on much more than just written words when communicating with each other. Verbal and visual cues are very important when communicating effectively. Working from home, you can easily misinterpret a message, leading to stress or negative emotions unnecessarily.

Psychology Today, lists some of the benefits of regular social interaction as; living longer lives, better physical and mental health and reduced risk of developing dementia. For those of us who live alone, the office is often where we do most of our socializing. Removing that from our lives makes it very difficult to socialize on a regular basis.

Your career growth

Advancing in your career can be difficult at the best of times but working from home can make it even more difficult. Your career can be impacted in the following ways.

Recognition. You could be putting in extra effort, going above and beyond what your job entails but if it's not seen by your colleagues and management, you're not going to get the recognition you deserve.

Learning. Individual and group successes and failures are one of the ways that we learn on the job. Working remotely, you may not see them or their impact may be diminished.

Future goals. A number of years ago, I was approached by a colleague who worked in a different area of the business. They told me they had been fascinated with the work that my team did and wanted to know how they might be able to get involved in it and possibly transition their career. Long story short, over the next couple of years, this individual became a very creative and enthusiastic developer. Had we all been working from home they may not have found their love of technology.

Mentoring. Whether it's done formally or casually, I think everyone needs a mentor and at some point in their career, they need to become a mentor. Junior employees can learn a lot from those that are more senior. If you're not in the office, you can miss out on a lot of opportunities to learn from those who have experienced much more in their careers than you have. You may also miss out on passing your experiences on to others.

Final thoughts

Working from home can be a tremendous benefit at times but I don't think it's the best solution for most people. Before you push back about working in the office, think about the benefits that can be gained by working in the office even for just a few days each week. Some, like myself, may be very productive while working from home but I can tell you with certainty that I wouldn't have had the successes I've had in my career if I hadn't been working in the office for most of it.

If you'd like to talk about what the best solution may be for you, feel free to contact me and I'll be happy to discuss it with you.