WORKING FROM HOME, IS IT ALL THAT?

I’ve been working from home a lot lately. My team is remote and it’s the middle of winter – it works for me. It’s been nice to dress in my sweats and work in comfort. There’s a lot to be said for WFH (and countless articles on the pros) but here are my top 5 reasons not to.

Team

?A couple of weeks ago, I was fed up of my own company so I popped into one of the offices I supported in my old role – it was so nice to see so many friendly faces, really nice. I encountered the questions related to my old role, but I also had lots of enquiries as to my new role – how was I getting on, was I enjoying myself; I felt valued. I got to chat with them about what they were doing workwise, hear about their lives, celebrate birthdays, see successes and listen to frustrations. I was part of something, even though I was nothing to do with it in my professional capacity. I ended up working from that office for 4 days in a row.

The Commute

I’ve never been a fan of the commute. Don’t get me wrong, I love driving, but I’ve rarely seen the commute as that. Traffic, in my opinion, should be banned. Why hasn’t someone invented teleportation? It’s 2017 guys, c’mon! Those empty roads during the school holidays are bliss. But lately, I’ve started to really appreciate the commute. It gives me the chance to wind down at the end of the day (switching the laptop off and stretching isn’t quite the same), and the chance to ease into my day. There’s the audio accompaniment – be it inane ramblings, articles that get my brain working, or just the simple pleasure of music. This morning, a song that took me back to my teenage years came on, just as the sun came out, taking me back to that first summer of driving – not the mention the promise of the summer sunshine I spend most of winter waiting for! Did I wish I’d stayed at home, put on running leggings and big socks, and set up in my cosy lounge with a mug of something hot? Not for a moment.

Lunch and a Canteen

Do you remember Can’t Cook, Won’t Cook? I probably fall into the latter. When I follow a recipe (boring…) I can produce a pretty epic dish. However, rarely do I bother to cook. I couldn’t tell you the last time I switched my oven on and my microwave was last used to heat my lavender scented hot water bottle alternative. The last three meals I ate in my house are, cereal (not for breakfast), crisps and dip (some people have argued that is not a meal) and Dominos (two weeks ago…). I eat out, whether that be at the homes of family or friends (thanks guys), or at restaurants – I can assure you I rarely go hungry. Why don’t I cook? Complete lack of motivation usually. I live on my own, so cooking for one is boring, and frankly not always cost friendly. When I’m working from the office, I have the advantage of a hot meal, that I don’t have to make, where I don’t have to wash up, where there’s variety every day (if I do cook, I will be eating the same thing for at least a couple of days). And I get a proper lunch break. When working from home, it’s all too easy to eat at in your workspace – pack of raisins here, biscuit bar there – oh, it’s the end of the day and I’ve not eaten properly or taken a break from the screen. In the office (all the offices I’ve ever worked in anyway) lunch is something to be celebrated.

Engagement

In my current role, a lot of my colleagues aren’t even based in the UK. I speak to people daily – I know the conference call number and pin code by heart now. Yesterday, I was working from head office and I was invited into a meeting that in part covered the project I’m working on, to take notes as a last minute favour for a colleague. I walked into the room and saw one of my French colleagues who I hadn’t realised would there – the first positive. I learnt more from that meeting than I could have thought possible. I learnt about other projects going on in the business that will ultimately link in with mine. I heard feedback on my part of the project that will prove invaluable, just from sitting quietly and observing.

Later in the day, I took some time to get to know one of the new hires involved with the wider project – he gave me feedback on the hiring process and his impressions of us as a company (not hugely relevant to my current role, but of huge pride to my inner recruiter, as what he described is exactly what I’ve wanted my team to achieve). He also gave me link to a podcast on talent he’d heard and thought would be interesting (it’s lined up for my commute!)

This is me actually working at home (this one was a snow day). It's a hard life...

Cake

If you’ve ever followed any of our content, you’ll probably know we have something of a sweet tooth here. It’d be quite a shock if a week went by when someone didn’t produce a sweet treat of some ilk or other. This is not all positive, but I’m not willing to dwell on the negatives right now. I don’t buy cake at home as a rule – I’d eat it (see my earlier point regards reluctance to cook). Anyway, I’m pretty sure office calories don’t count. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one in my office who thinks that, so it must be true.

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