With the wildfire like spread of the Coronavirus infection, economies across the globe announced nation-wide lockdowns. As a result, people were forced to stay and work from within their homes. Social distancing has become the new norm with people maintaining a safe distance from each other to curb the spread of infection. While working from home was an option that several people would take in case of emergencies, the pandemic made it the new normal.
Gradually over the months, lockdowns were ended to facilitate businesses to recover from the financial shock they have sustained during the complete lockdown. The Unlock happened in phases with businesses opening up gradually and steadily. However, work from home continues to be in practice, despite the Unlock, for companies as a measure to keep their employees safe from the Coronavirus pandemic.
Working from home has served as a boon to several people who have got the much-needed time with their families. However, there are several cons of working from home too. Here’s a look at some of the pros and cons of the work from home culture:
Pros of Work from Home Culture
Save Time and Money
Employees do not have to travel to work and hence with the lockdown the money that was spent on daily commute has come down. Furthermore, the stress of battling traffic on the road and reaching office in time has also been done away with.
Access to Jobs
The work from home culture gives you the freedom to apply for jobs that are not necessarily nearby. Because of the remote working arrangement, you can apply for more lucrative jobs without having to think of relocating.
Work from Anywhere
You can choose to work from anywhere, your bare necessities being your laptop and a stable internet connection. You can choose to work from your couch or your favorite coffee shop.
Cons of Work from Home Culture
Coordination can be Difficult
The work from home culture takes away from you the comfort of just walking over to a colleague’s desk to ask for information or clarification. With everyone being on calls all the time, it can be a challenge to connect with your colleagues. You may also have to deal with numerous phone calls, which will be significantly higher than that under normal circumstances, through the day.
Distractions are Aplenty
Yes, you may have the freedom to work from wherever you want to. But work from home does come with the biggest disadvantage – distractions. From the television to children and from running household errands to taking care of the chores, the distractions are aplenty. At times you might feel exhausted because you are working too much during the day.
Work gets Doubled
You will have to take care of the household chores during the day and keep up with professional commitments throughout the day. This is one of the biggest cons of work from home culture. Under normal circumstances, your mind is programmed to take care of professional tasks once you settle down on your work station every morning, In the evening, as you pack your stuff to leave for home, your mind understands that work is over and you can focus on investing your energy on your personal commitments. However, with the work from home culture, you mind is invested in several things during the day which results in physical and mental exhaustion at the end of each day.
Besides all these, the biggest challenge that work from home throws at you is developing your relationship with your co-workers. Your conversations are now either over the telephone or video calls and you do not get the opportunities to chit chat over a coffee break like earlier.
The key to using the work from home culture to your advantage is being organized and optimistic in your approach. The work from home culture could become the new normal in the post COVID world, so you brace yourself by devising techniques that allow you to be productive and effective.