Working remotely means working outside of the company’s property, whether that be from your own home, in a shared working space or a cafe. There are many reasons to work remotely: for someone who is self-employed, they will often be on the move or they might have to stay at home to look after their child or for any other exceptional reasons, such as the confinement or transport problems.
Nowadays, working from home is accelerating in popularity and thanks to new technologies, it is very easy to set up. In essence, there are a multitude of softwares and applications that enable working from a distance, especially by facilitating communication and collaboration between those working from home and their colleagues and managers.
Find out the 7 advantages of remote working for your team.
Work at your own pace
We are all different, and this statement applies equally to how we work. Certain people are at their most productive at the start of the day (from 6AM for example) whilst others are much more effective at the end of the day (after 4PM). At the office, its is hard to follow standard working hours whilst at the same time respecting your natural biological rhythm. Whereas with remote work, it is quite possible to do this, as long as the work is completed on time and you communicate regularly with your colleagues.
One of the advantages of working from home, is that you can manage your own timetable to your needs. Need a little siesta after lunch? A little post-meal walk? Anything is possible as long as you do not abuse this power and you accomplish all the tasks that are trusted to you.
Say goodbye to being late and to transport problems
Gone is the morning stress where you must sprint and hustle to get ready, take the kids to school and jump on the underground or in you car, only to eventually arrive late to work anyway because of a strike or traffic jams.
The plus of remote working, is that you do not need to take transport to get to your place of work (when you are working remotely from home). Forget the long hours spent in public transport or being stuck in traffic, and the frustration of being late. By opting for remote working, you eradicate travel time completely and the stress that comes with it. Take the time to enjoy your breakfast, then settle yourself in your office and your working today can begin.
Balance your professional life and personal life
One of the advantages of remote work is the ability to organize your working days exactly how you like, factoring in your biological rhythm and your productivity. Also, if you were very productive on Monday and Tuesday, and you managed to do some of your work in advance; nothing is stopping you from taking a little time off on the Wednesday to spend with your family or to pursue your passions or hobbies.
Working remotely allows you to break out of the traditional nine-to-five (or eat, sleep, work, repeat), and have a better work-life balance. Employees are therefore happier, more motivated and more productive.
Work in peace
Do you have difficulty concentrating when working in a noisy environment? Do open spaces stress you out? Then you are going to really appreciate remote working.
Gone are the co-workers who chat amongst themselves or talk (however loudly) on the phone all day long whilst you are trying to draw up an urgent presentation or a complex report. With remote work, you are at your home alone (in most cases) where there aren’t so many annoying noises. Therefore, you can concentrate more easily and be more efficient with your work.
Be more productive
At the office, you can rarely fully concentrate on a task without being interrupted by phone-calls, a colleague with a question or needing assistance, or by your manager who has just given you an urgent task – not to mention the noise disturbance previously mentioned. Under these conditions, it is difficult to be productive and to move forward with your tasks when you are being distracted and helping others with their work.
When you are working from home, you are alone and relaxed. Therefore you can focus your attention solely on accomplishing your tasks without interruption. As a result you are more effective, higher performing and you will make progress more rapidly. So working from home facilitates a real increase in productivity.
Bonus: discover how to stay productive while working from home
Gain autonomy and responsibility
When working from home, it can be difficult to ignore the distractions and to not succumb to procrastination – putting things off until tomorrow.
Working from home requires organising your own timetable and ensuring that all your tasks are completed on time. This means you must be rigorous, diligent, responsible and autonomous – many qualities that you are going to rapidly develop.
Don’t forget that by authorizing you to work remotely, your employer has put their trust in you and expects results. Live up to their expectations.
Switch-up your daily routines
When one is working from home for many days in a row, it is easier to change up of your daily routine. Simply put, remote work allows for a greater diversification of tasks because you can alternate between your work and your personal tasks, house chores and/or role as a parent.
Take a break by preparing a nice cake or evening meal, go out for lunch with a friend, go to a meeting at your workplace, meet up with a client somewhere new or organize drinks with your coworkers. There are different ways to breakup a routine and stay productive.
Conclusion
Working from home offers many advantages, even though it’s not for everyone. As a matter of fact, some employees might finding the isolation really tough, whilst other can struggle to time-manage effectively and stay productive. To help out your colleagues, discover how to start working remotely under the right conditions.
