Working from home can be a blessing and a curse. The good things about working at home are that you get to work on your own time, at your own pace, and without the stress of commuting. But there’s plenty of bad too. It can be hard to stay focused when you’re alone all day with no one else around, and communication with coworkers is more complicated online than in person.
The worst mistake people make online is not getting up from their desk for more than an hour or so—even if they have a treadmill desk. People need to get up every once in a while and move around. Otherwise, working from home can seriously affect your health. It’s also essential to take regular breaks away from screens so that you don’t spend your entire break sitting in front of a screen. In this article, you’ll learn the benefits of working online as well as its drawbacks.
Online Communication Still Needs a Lot of Work
Working from home can be difficult when it comes to communication amongst coworkers and staying focused. Online communication is usually not good enough for companies to be completely reliant on it. Most people agree that email, instant messages, and phone calls are not good ways to communicate while home and working online. The lack of face-to-face contact makes it difficult to communicate well without saying the wrong thing or leaving a person out of a conversation.
Even if people communicate well online, there is no guarantee that they will truly understand one another’s position and work together as a cohesive team. Furthermore, it’s harder to adjust to different time zones while working online, making it difficult for teams collaborating on a project to communicate well with each other.
No Distractions or Noisy Coworkers
When you work from home, there are no distractions to keep you from being productive. If anything goes wrong, someone notices right away and gets it fixed without waiting for a response. However, people can get so caught up in their tasks that they forget about working together as a team. This is especially true when the only other person in the house is your spouse or child. If you work all day with nobody who shares your work ethic, it can be tough to stay productive and focused on one task at a time.
Working from Home Can Be Lonely
Working from home can also be lonely without anyone around to talk to daily, especially when you’re unmarried or without any kids. Sometimes people will start talking to themselves or speaking out loud when they get stuck on a task. It’s also easy to become distracted and start playing video games or surfing the internet all day instead of working. If you don’t have someone home with whom to interact but do have children who can interrupt your work with their own needs and interests, working from home can also result in frustration when there are children around.
Self-disciplined People Tend to Do Well Working from Home
People who are self-disciplined enough to work from home tend to do well when working online instead of in an office. Working online helps people stay focused because they know no one will pop into their cubicle or office for anything, and they can respond to emails quickly on their own. Some people may feel lonely or isolated when working online, leading to stress that causes them to be less productive overall.
Careful Not to Lose Connection with the Outside World
Sometimes people can become so focused on their work that they stop interacting with the outside world in general, which is not good for them or anyone else. People need to take walks outside, interact with other people face-to-face and go out to lunch or dinner to keep in touch with the outside world.
People who want to stay productive and focused while working online should take regular breaks away from screens and communication tools such as email and chat tools like Skype. It’s also critical to work with other people and fellow team members to be productive and focused on one task at a time. These things can differentiate between thriving while working online and feeling lonely, isolated, and unproductive.
Telecommuting Is Not for Every Job
While some people work better alone, others are more productive in an office with others around them. Also, some jobs can’t be done from home, but plenty can be done either from home or in the office. Therefore, working from home isn’t necessarily better than working in an office overall because people can thrive or fail when they work online, depending on how well they balance their time and focus.
Working from home can be great, but it is not for everyone. Some people thrive without the distractions of an office, while others need to interact with other humans to stay productive and focused on one task at a time. If you’re considering working remotely or are currently doing so successfully, make sure to take care of yourself by maintaining human interaction outside your work settings as well as taking regular breaks away from screens. You want to keep that balance between productivity and focus if you plan on staying remote.