Two employee benefit trends that get most employees excited are flexi-time and working from home. It will be good not to come to work on particular days of the week and also working from home, I have a couple of friends working directly from home and I really do sometimes envy them. They don’t have to go through the hassles of Lagos traffic, don’t have to get out of their night clothes and of course set their own daily work schedules but they often tell me that it requires self discipline. Of course, the home setting is different from the office and there is temptations to fall right back into bed and take another couple of snoozes right? I wish sometimes that can take time to work from home but it does have its challenges and requires a lot of discipline on the part of that worker.
One of such challenges is loneliness. There is a connection that exists when we meet and interact with one another in the office for meetings and all. It is not enough just talking on the phone but we get things done quicker with interactions and contact.
I hear it could be very lonely at home as there may be no one to interact with. I guess what you can do in that stead is to be strategic with your time and schedule planning daily. You have to make effort to prevent loneliness. Also separating work from the home front can be challenging also. You have to still attend meetings via videoconferences and meet deadlines and schedules. You have chores staring at you in the face when you could have been at work in the office. Unwanted distractions and guests could also be a challenge. How will you deal with a neighbour paying a visit on realizing that you are home and you still have a work deadline to meet? Be polite and let the neighbour know that you are working from home. The neighbour will not do that if you are at work in the office right? This may look simple but not too easy to accomplish.
There is also a routine that you settle in when you are working from home or going to work every morning. You dress up, make your tea or coffee and get the children ready for school. You can change this slightly when working from home but you don’t have to disrupt your routine drastically. You can still get up, dress up albeit casually if you don’t have an external meeting (you never know who will pay a visit unannounced) and importantly, treat your home like an office for that period. You do remember that your time is being paid for and cannot be wasted.
We account for each day in the office as a paid worker. We should do the same when we are working from home. We will be the controller of our home office, how we manage our work and schedules and be disciplined about it. So here comes that difficult word “discipline”. The difficult part is being disciplined enough not to fall asleep at home while working, making the time counts and appreciating the time away from the office workspace.
One factor that keeps pounding on my mind is avoiding distractions while working at home. Making your office as your workspace requires that you can communicate with other people and colleagues without interference. The Internet data connectivity is sound. Connecting to the office server is seamless. Sending and receiving emails, making video calls and all are hitch-free. What if they are not? Let’s face it. Avoiding early morning traffics is good but not being able to effectively communicate can also be a nightmare and I am not forgetting electricity issues. For someone working from home, I would truly hope that all the communication items are functioning well to truly enjoy the time working from home.
I have read some studies that show that employees who work from home typically perform better than those who perform the same job in a traditional office environment. In any case, they do have the time to focus on their work and complete assigned tasks and working from home may results in taking fewer breaks and ultimately working longer hours. For me, I have not done a research on the impact of working from home on the performance of employees but I very much doubt if this is the case. You can be as effective working from home just like working from the office setting.
All I know though is that working from home requires a lot of discipline and overcoming distractions is key. Those working from home will need to have outstanding organization and planning skills to manage multiple tasks and projects and day-to-day life. Although, everyone talks about the idea of working from home and it sure sounds fun when they do. However, just because working from home is right for someone does not automatically mean that it is the best solution for another person. Certain jobs, personality types, schedules and families simply do not play well with the idea of having dedicated work time at home. For instance, an extroverted and outgoing person will not like the loneliness of working from home and he will be miserable. It’s really down to knowing whether this is right for you or not. Good luck to you knowing if this is right for you but do your best in establishing a good work routine and focus on the elements that bring balance to all the elements in your life.
. Akintunde is a lawyer and an expert in HR and Communication.