Does working from home work for you?

With more people than ever working from home, some through choice, others through circumstance, we wanted to ask a selection of people from various backgrounds how they were finding the change, what challenges they face, and what, if anything, they prefer.

A bit of background info on our candidates

Sam is a recruitment specialist, who normally commutes to Central London on the underground, and has always enjoyed the social side of city working

Joe is a media project manager, who drives to a rural location for work, and commutes to work by car with his wife, who works nearby

Sean has recently set up his own accountancy firm, based in a busy town centre, and usually drives to work.

 

1: What are the advantages you have found about working from home?

Joe: No distractions of the day to day office life, no travel time and not having the expense and hassle of a commute.

2: What are the disadvantages you have found about working from home?

Sam: Sometimes harder to focus with Kids, Dogs, Neighbourhood noise.

Less cross desk collaboration – hints and tips you get from colleagues when in the office

Less social interaction if you spend your 9-5 sat in a room alone at home

Harder to build working relationships over MS Teams rather than face to face

 

3: Do you miss anything about working in the office?

Sean: Working atmosphere

Joe: Interactions with people, it is easier to keep up to date with new products when you talk about them and probably overhear conversations of others.

Getting out of home to go to work provides a separation that you don’t get working from home

4: Do you find you have more or less quality time for things that you enjoy

Sam: Definitely has allowed more time to spend with my young son & cooking meals for the family to sit down and eat together.

 

5: Have you noticed a difference in your expenses after working from home?

Sean - Yes – massively decreased from travel time

Sam: Saving £300 per month on Train tickets and lunch in London

Joe: Obviously cheaper, but haven’t looked at extra electricity costs, of being in doors. Food is cheaper being able to make your own lunch at home and no expensive coffees.

6: How do you plan your days?

Joe: It is very important to set your days and make plans, otherwise time runs away with you and you don’t complete the tasks you need to.

 

7: Do you have a good work routine?

Sam: It can sometimes be, although mornings in the house are sometimes hectic with a young one so the mornings work can be disrupted.

8: How do you feel your work/life balance has changed?

Joe: I haven’t struck the right balance yet, but my overall day is probably shorter without the travel, but I still don’t feel I can gain out of the time gained. Work is more intense and it is easier to feel more tired.

Sam: It has been a positive change. I commute roughly 2hrs a day so am saving 10 hours a week by not commuting – this has given me more time to spend with the family & exercising.

Sean: More time at home helps a lot but also more time spent working in the evening as there’s no cut off from home/office

 

9: Do you feel more or less productive working from home?

Sam: Maybe very marginally less on some days – but most I would say it’s the same.

Sean: A mix really. I get an extra few hours of time to work per day due to the reduced travel time but occasionally find myself assisting with babysitting duties taking me away from work!

 

It’s pretty clear that common themes emerge; no commute is a welcome change, generally we miss the atmosphere and input from our colleagues, screen conferencing can’t replace speaking to someone in person, and we don’t feel any less productive by being at home. 

No commute is clearly saving people time and money, but how you choose to use that time can make a big difference.  Whether you want to spend the time exercising, with your family, or checking emails and doing additional work is generally your call, although it’s easier said than done depending on your boss.

Personally, my experience with Arise has been that only the hours you select to work are the hours you work, so having no commute to my home office has been great, and really my choice whether to sign on for an extra couple of hours work or go for a walk, sit in the garden and read or spend more time with my husband and kids.  There’s never any pressure from a boss making you think you should be spending more time dedicated to your job.

I do miss the banter and collaboration from work colleagues, it’s difficult to vent to yourself when you’ve had a frustrating experience, or need some advice on where to go next.  However, when you’re working with Arise, there is a chat room for advice, technical support and help with policies and procedures.  Over time, you build up real rapport with this team, and get to know them very well.  We also have what’s app groups, to help with info, shift swaps and a have a giggle too J

In conclusion, I don’t think that working from home is for everyone, and there are some real advantages as well as disadvantages to it.  A lot of this is dependent on the company you work for, and your boss.  Which I think is pretty true about any job, wherever you work.  The great thing about Arise is that you are your own boss, you choose your hours and can easily schedule in appointments or life events to suit you.  There are people on hand to help and support you, both in Arise and Carleton Connections, if you choose to work with us. 

What do you think?  Feel free to leave a comment below