Working in Office vs Working from Home
- Hayley
- Feb 9, 2018
- 3 min read
Working from home is seen by a lot of people as the goal. It cuts out having to face the morning commute, allows you to stay in your pyjamas all day, and can feel like a much more relaxed environment, which can in turn, encourage productivity. However, there are many disadvantages of working from home, so today, we’ll be showing the positives and the negatives to try and determine which is the better option.
Working from home:
As previously stated, when working from home, you cut out the dreaded morning commute, which can cause a lot of stress before you even reach your workplace, allowing you to relax and also save some money on petrol/diesel costs. Again, as
previously stated, you are able to wear whatever you want, cutting out the stress of getting ready and making sure you’re on time. There is greater flexibility as you are free to do as you please, taking breaks whenever you want, and allowing yourself to work during your most productive hours, you can essentially play by your own rules. When working from home you are also able to have a better control over distractions, some may disagree with this as at home you can be distracted by a range of different things, but when in the office, you have a lot less control over distractions from co-workers and office-based noise. A great positive to working at home is if you have children, you are able to look after them while you’re working, which can cut out childcare costs and allow you to spend more time together.
There are many positives of working from home, but there honestly seems to be even more downsides, which can be made into positives from working in office.
Working in office:
When working in the office, you don’t have to rely on self-discipline to start work as you have a predetermined start and finish time. There’s also more pressure to be busy and reach deadlines while in the office, at home you can work at your own pace, which can sometimes lead to a lower level of productivity as you have to rely entirely on self-motivation.
Working from the office can also improve creativity as you can gain inspiration from your surroundings. Alongside that, you are able to gain more guidance and development in the office as you can learn from your peers, or seek guidance and engage in developmental activities, this is a lot harder to do from home. You are also able to have real interactions with colleagues or in meetings which can make it a lot easier to build relationships with people, and even improve your mental health as working at home can be very lonely and you can start to feel as if you’re missing out. Lastly, you can actually end up over-working yourself at home as it’s easy to go back to the home office. This can also lead to a feeling that you can’t escape your work, which can end in your living space feeling like a stressful environment, which can make it a lot harder to shut down or unwind on a night time.
In the end, whether you prefer to work from home or in the office, it really depends on several factors:
Your work ethic – some people prefer a busy environment and that can motivate them – others prefer to work alone in a quiet space
The nature of the work – some may require a high level of concentration, meaning distractions would be a disadvantage
The home office environment – whether there’s children/pets/housemates or not, the amount of outside distractions, whether there is a set office space or whether the work is done in the living room etc.
Realistically, only you can decide whether or not you feel it’s right for you and your work.
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