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IF GIVEN THE opportunity to work from home (WFH), most people say they would jump at the chance. For who would miss the tedious workday routines of ironing shirts, sitting in traffic, standing on crowded trains or buses and eating breakfast on the go?
Until recently I was an office based employee and while it was common practice in my company to WFH, I chose to do it only very rarely. The reason I didn’t take advantage of this perk was because although it was permitted, there was a perception that when people were WFH they weren’t really working as hard as they were when they were in the office. As long as they sent around an email in the morning, afternoon and evening they were covered and could have spent the rest of the day in bed for all anyone knew.
On occasions where I did have a WFH day, I would enjoy an extra hour and a half in bed, linger over breakfast, read the news on my phone and still be able to start work at 9am. I could continue through to lunch time uninterrupted by pointless meetings or by idle conversations with my colleagues about what they had watched on TV the night before. Once 6pm came I could down tools and immediately start enjoying the long evening ahead.
According to a recent Stanford survey over 10 per cent of US employees now regularly work from home (WFH) at least one day a week. It is a shift welcomed by many companies eager to cut costs. The objective of the Stanford study was to determine if employees working from home were more or less productive. Following an experiment with a 13,000 employees, NASDAQ listed, Chinese multinational it was found that home-working led to a 13 per cent performance increase. Home workers also reported improved work satisfaction and their job attrition rate fell by 50 per cent.
Based on the successful findings, the firm gave their employees the choice of working from home or working from the office but surprisingly, only half volunteered. The main reason they said no was fear of loneliness. These days I am self employed and every day is a WFH day. While I am delighted with the freedom running my own business offers, the novelty of working from home has well and truly worn off and I can relate to why the Chinese employees turned down the offer.
Working in an office, there are inevitably going to be people that drive you crazy as portrayed so accurately by Ricky Gervais as David Brent in hit BBC comedy series The Office. When I was office based I would do everything I could to avoid getting stuck in a conversation with someone like this but since I’ve been WFH there have been days when I haven’t talked to another human being at all. Of course I interact with people all the time over chat, email and phone but I miss the human interaction, even that of annoying ones, more than I thought I would.
Lunch is another challenge. When I was office based I was lucky to have a canteen onsite I could avail of or if I felt like going out there were lots of restaurants nearby and plenty of colleagues whose company I enjoyed enough to eat with. In any case, I didn’t have to put a lot of thought into what I did for lunch. When you are WFH lunch can be a lonely affair and if you want to eat anything other than beans on toast you are going to have to put in some effort.
Running into technical issues while WFH can be a nightmare if like me you are not technically savvy. Recently I lost an entire morning trying to fix a paper jam in my printer and another over internet connectivity issues. When I was office based there was always someone to fix these problems so I never had to learn for myself.
Going through my morning grooming routine was something I had come to resent while working in an office, mainly due to the fact that if it wasn’t for it I would have had an extra forty minutes in bed, but at least I looked presentable for the rest of the day. These days I can often be found still in my pajamas at lunch time.
Although I hated the monotony of it at the time I also miss the familiarity of my daily commute. I miss getting on the same train carriage every day and sitting in the same seat, looking at the familiar faces of my fellow passengers who I have never actually met. I miss the buzz in the office on Friday’s talking about what everyone has planned for the weekend and the Monday morning debrief of how it all went.
I am also finding it difficult to adjust to the fact that home has now become a place of work instead of a sanctuary away from work. Maeve Binchy the recently deceased Irish writer said that she kept “upstairs for working and downstairs for living” and I understand why. Working and living in your home at the same time is not easy.
Like Maeve I have found that in order to make working from home work, you have to set yourself some rules. I make sure I am up early enough to be showered, dressed and at the computer at 9am, I take just an hour for lunch, finish at 6pm and I take the weekends off.
Ironically though, most of the rules I have set are the same rules I had to live by when working in an office.
After a seven and a half year career in Google, Anne-Marie has recently set up the digital publishing company Orchard Wall Publishing, whose goal is getting great writing read. Orchard Wall Publishing is currently accepting submissions from authors.
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As I sit here on the train. Just starting an hour commute in my regular carriage/seat, looking around i see the familiar faces. I hear all the overly noisy people with their obnoxious yawn noises and play elbow wars with the over sized smelly guy who is loosing a battle to halitosis sitting right beside me, i think – IS THIS GIRL CRAZY?!?!?
I completely agree with the author. Every now and then it is nice, but if you do it for 2 or more days on a row it becomes boring.
I also enjoy the social aspect and some of of the routine at work.
I’ve worked from home for 5 years and love it..! It takes discipline but it only takes a short while to get into that groove ..it shaves about 3 hours off my day commuting downtown, saves money on transportation, wear and tear on car, lunch money , clothes .. I don’t know how I used to take a train downtown for so many years before ..
I work from home three days a week. In truth, I get more work done from home. I tend to work longer and harder without breaks. Additionally, there are fewer interruptions.
I agree, I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that there’s no boss breathing down your neck every few minutes. People generally only ring when the genuinely want something so you will have fewer people wrecking your head for the most trivial things. I work in IT so I get this every day :-)
Obviously someone has never experienced the joys of the m50 during rush hour, it would make anyone appreciate the benefits of working from home forever!
stuck on an overcrowded bus, no open windows and feeling slightly overwhelmed by the stench of unwashed bodies, I want to work from home!
Ewwwwwwwwwwww
Oh ick !!
I worked from home for two years and it gets so isolated. The postman would be lucky to escape being accosted for a chat.
The cabin fever is a big issue and a lot of discipline is required – you definitely need a dedicated, work-only space. I have the option now and choose to go to the office.
My postman is so chatty, it’s all I can do to get the door closed so I can get to work. Lovely fella, but if I thought *I* talked a lot, I’ve got nothing on him. ;-)
I’ve worked from home for 15 years and love it. If I get lonely, I get the car and head to the shopping centre for lunch, or I’ll arrange a lunch date with a friend who may or may not also work from home. And I take my midmorning and afternoon breaks to walk the dogs. Lovely!
This. If you’re lonely working from home, get a dog.
I work from home sparingly, but do so in very bad weather (had 2 weeks of snow days a couple of years ago). I’m logged on at 7.30 or 8am. I walk the dog at 10. I make lunch around 12.30. Maybe walk the dog later, but at least throw a ball with her for 10 minutes while my brain ticks over on something. Log off around 5-5.30. The dog appears for some attention every hour or so for 5 mins of attention.
I probably do a 8 hours of flat out work when at home, as opposed to the 5 – 5.5 you get done in the office with interruptions.
That said, I don’t think I’d like it long term. I have a minimum of 6/7 hours of meetings on a good week, more during busy periods, and I couldn’t stick all that time on the phone. It’s very stressful following conference calls over bad lines etc.
Definitely get a dog. We have two. They’re former working dogs so need a good run 1-2 times a day but they don’t have to be long ones, especially as they’re getting old now.
Working from home allows one to work at their natural times. I’m a night owl and prefer working later in the day. working from home allows me to do that. Some mornings I might sit down to work at 9am, but rarely later than 10am. I take the dogs out at 1pm and am back at the desk around 145pm. Dogs go out again around 4pm for an ‘outing’ and so I can get some fresh air. The hubs comes home from his job at 530pm and takes the dogs for their second run at 6pm. Something light for dinner and some last minute work things. I make a point of being off work by 8pm, 9pm latest. Yeah, I can work up to 12 hours a day. It’s the nature of my business. But with the dog outings and going away from the house for lunch, and Fridays we go out to dinner so a shorter work day that day. It all balances out.
I try not working on the weekends, but that’s not always possible, though I don’t base my day around it like I do weekdays.
It’s all about balance and making the time to take time out for ones self.
I worked in retail and customer services for the best part of 25 years. While I enjoyed it, I find I really enjoy working from home.
The downside of working from home –
Family and friends who don’t consider working from home legitimate work
Nosy neighbors who want to chat for hours when I’m out with the dogs
Neighbors who have very nosy kids/dogs
The fact that working from home means you’re always at the office (keep a separate office and close the door at quitting time!)
Battling between working at home and juggling things like housework, laundry, shopping, cooking, kids/dogs,etc.
Personal hygiene can slip if you’re always in your PJs and don’t make a point of showering and dressing every day
The upside of working from home –
Set my own hours
Flexible schedule
More time with the dogs (they don’t want to be cooped up 10-14 hours a day waiting for a piddle or a run)
Quality time with the hubs on his days off form his job (no trying to match schedules to have time together)
No fluorescent lighting all day
No one spreading illness around an office or shop environment (really, if you’re sick, go/stay home!!)
Easier to concentrate when on a deadline
Don’t have ‘the boss’ hovering over my shoulder during deadline (as if that helps productivity)
Can use my lunch time to have a soak in the tub (nice on a horrible winter day)
Can get housework done during slow times (have to find busy work during slow times at an office/shop job to give the appearance of being busy so we don’t get done for slacking)
If we have a nice day, I can take my laptop outside for a couple hours to work while the dogs lay in the sun
Can take short breaks to read emails/FB/TheJournal (like now)
And more . . .
One of the biggest up/down things about working from home is I also tend to dine ‘el desko’ frequently rather than at the dining/kitchen table . . . eating at the desk while I’m working. But that’s OK because the time I’d be sitting at the dining/kitchen table eating is less time I can be outdoors with the dogs. And I find when I’m eating at a proper table that I have a note pad with me or I’m on my smartphone. I’d rather be outdoors with the dogs.
Rónán, you might consider trying Skype for your meetings rather than phone meetings. I guest-lectured at the Univ of Galway earlier this year over Skype. Was brilliant! I Skype to the US all the time. It’s free too.
Worked at home for two days a week during the Olympics. It was pretty sweet but I don’t think I could do it everyday (even if the early morning London commute would put anyone off travelling to work for life!)
I’m so glad I cycle to work..
I couldn’t do the WFH thing, literally – you would need to call it ‘stay at home all day wanking and getting paid for a few weeks till being fired, from home
I like how you pretend you work from 9 till 6 and only take an hours break in case your boss reads the article, thats the real challenge I suppose, pretending to work is harder when no ones around
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