WORK FROM HOME

Prior to the global pandemic, the work from home concept was mainly adopted by mothers who wanted to take a break from the office to raise small children while maintaining some financial independence, business starters who could not afford to rent an office or a commercial property and random software developers. The pandemic gave the concept a completely different dimension and meaning. Nobody could commute to work and yet businesses needed to run to sustain the economy and revenues.

Technologies like Zoom, Teams, Skype, Slack, and Facetime only to mention a few, became essential tools for everyday meetings and general communications powered by emails. In fact, many tasks can be done as effectively by working from home as in an office.

Since the pandemic, there is now various research that is carried out on the work from home and the key findings for employers are that there is an overall reduction of companies running costs. With everybody at home, no need to buy things like coffee, milk, toilet paper, no need for the cleaning staff to come every day or for staff to use the printing machine. Huge savings on electricity and water bills.

Employers also realize that working from home can increase productivity whereby the employee is more focused on the tasks to finish and does not waste time and is not distracted by the office environment. This can also help to reduce turnover because the employee is more engaged by not having to deal with office politics.

For the person who chooses to work from home, there are also many perks. With work from work, there is more flexibility regarding the hours of work as many organizations are now heavily promoting flexi-time so as to allow people with children to care for them while working. Work from home has allowed for productivity to be more task-oriented than time-oriented. The time which was previously spent on commuting is now spent with family and leisure.

To work from home, you will need to invest in the right equipment, you will need a pc or laptop and adequate software depending on the nature of your work and most importantly you will need a good internet connection. It is also always an advantage to have a home office or a designated space to work.
Take advantage of all the free apps, especially the free phone apps like WhatsApp, Telegram, and Messenger to make free calls. These apps are a great way to save money on normal calls and are becoming more and more business-friendly so as to cater for more work-oriented customers.

Whether you choose to work from home long term or just a couple of days, you want to be as productive as possible and it is thus crucial to create the right space and atmosphere which will be conducive so that you are able to boost your productivity. You will need to create a workspace that will be quiet, far from the kids’ playroom, and with enough light and fresh air circulating so that you do not feel claustrophobic and tired. Try to minimize distractions and noise by investing in a noise cancelling headphones, which are especially useful when you have to focus during meetings. Always remind family members that work from home is work and that they have to respect your time and space as there is nothing worse than hearing a family member yelling while you are talking to your boss.

One of the many perks of working from home is being able to plan activities that you would not be able to do if you had to waste hours in traffic. Instead of driving or taking the bus morning and afternoon, you can use that free time to indulge in your favorite activity before and after work. Research has shown that people save at least 2 hours every day by not commuting to work and some save even 3 to 4 hours every day. What a blessing to use those hours at the gym, doing yoga, learning a new skill, or just walking in the park or catching lunch with a friend or relative.

Unfortunately, there are also major drawbacks with working from work as many people do not know how to draw boundaries between work and personal life. They tend to work longer hours and quickly suffer from burnouts. Having your phone or laptop on does not mean that you have to answer to calls and emails beyond your working hours, even if it is the boss who is calling or if it is a colleague who has a different work schedule. Always kindly let your colleagues know your working hours and learn how to say no. Working from home is great but you must not forget to log out so as to have a good work and life balance.