You know 2020 has been a challenging year and almost the entire world was forced to quarantine because of the Coronavirus pandemic, I realized most people were just not ready to work from home as they did not have a proper set up to work from home. The pandemic is still surging, and while a vaccine has been approved, it’s likely we won’t go back to offices for several months from now. Even if we do, office work will never quite be the same, as more and more companies are considering work from home as an effective solution. 11 months of working from home has made me realize 9 factors why it is beneficial to work from home rather than going to the office. 

Work-Life-Balance: 

I always felt that my job was taking up too much of my time and I missed a lot of good part of my family time. While during this lock down I realized by working from home you have a flexible schedule to make time for your parents, kids and family,  or pursue other personal interests. I also realized that while you are working from home and taking care of your family, I could also concentrate on building my Freelancing business.  I agree that achieving work-life-balance is challenging if certain rules and standards are not set and practiced. You need to set aside time for completing focus work in less time to have most of your day spent effectively. However, achieving a work/life balance does take some planning and time management.

Make Money Doing Something You Love: 

Best part of working from home I will always cherish is that you can start a side hustle and make money while doing something you love! In fact, you’re more likely to achieve success if you focus on pursuing your interest when starting a side hustle. While you can continue doing the office job, set aside some time during the day to complete the side hustle you have taken up.

No More Commuting: 

I have spent most of my corporate life commuting from home to office and back.  Working outside of home not only takes a lot of time, especially you have a long commute, traffic jam but also increased job-related travel expenses. In 2020, I will hardly spend any money towards petrol. This has helped me put some of that money back in my pocket. Other expenses that I could avoid going to social gatherings, spending on shopping and so on. While working from home I realized you tend to step out only to shop that is absolutely essential and not waste time in unnecessary shopping. 

Focus time to do the work, no distractions: 

Best part of working from home is you do not have any distractions and can focus and complete a major portion of your day’s job effectively. Especially if you are an early riser you can set aside some time to plan your day’s schedule and complete the most important task of the day.  You need to ensure that you do not procrastinate, take it slow at first to allow yourself time to get used to it. 

Set aside time for self-development activities: 

Too often, I used to end up feeling stuck in my job and could not concentrate on setting aside time for myself for self-development activities like taking up online courses and improving my skills. After I started to work from home I have devoted specific time for myself to invest on self-development courses and I have also done a course on career planning and mentoring which was otherwise seemed impossible with distractions at every level in the office for some or the other meetings that are not effective but yet I used to spend most of the time in meetings for varied reasons. I realized that how important it is to stay competitive, you’ll want to continue to study, grab some certifications and keep abreast of currently trending topics in your industry or small business management. In essence, this helps you design your day and what you do, which allows you to expand and grow your skills and look for challenging opportunities ahead.

To stay competitive, you’ll want to continue to study, grab some certifications and keep abreast of current trends in your industry. In essence, you design your day and what you do, which allows you to expand and grow your skills.

Control Over Your Schedule: 

Working from home is like being incard of your day and this is one of the biggest benefits. You can set and customize your work hours to meet the needs of your life. Do you wish you could take a power nap in the middle of the day? You can while working from home. Do your best work at the time that is best for you – whether early morning or late at night. This enables you to concentrate on your work when there is no meeting or any other distractions.

While this freedom can also set you back if you tend to procrastinate work-related tasks. You’ll want to make sure you have the right traits and a good daily organizational plan to handle this responsibility. You will have to ensure that your home environment is conducive to the work environment you need.

Enables you to add variety to your work: 

When you get bored of doing the same tedious work for a longer time you tend to lose interest. One of the interesting benefits of work from home is the opportunity to switch between job types and adding variety to your work. In your day’s schedule, or re-prioritize the order of the tasks you have to do

More time for fitness and less sickness: 

Working from home helped to keep me and my family safe and did not face any issue related to sickness even though the whole world was dealing with the issue of a pandemic situation. By working from home you will also be able to devote more time for your fitness ensuring you do not eat anything outside unnecessarily. Do not spend time in office doing unnecessary gossip rather focus on work and connect with team members and stakeholders only for the matters related to work. This has also helped your team members to have a healthy working relationship than spending time in unnecessary arguments and unwanted dialogues, thereby keeping the cordial relationships in the working environment.

A cleaner environment: 

Not to forget working from home reduces the emissions from the vehicle resulting in better air quality. It has also helped in reducing traffic congestion on roads. You also get time to do the housekeeping and thereby ensuring that you have a clean environment at home too. 

You will agree with me that after having experienced the taste of working from home, you will never want to go back to the office environment.  Even if you go, the situation will never be the same as before. That is the reason if you notice many multinational companies have already opted for the policy of work from home and employees would need to go to office only in case of need.