What’s so great about working from home?

Aug 13, 2020

According to a recent internal WAHVE Survey, lots. From increased flexibility for exercise, more quality time with loved ones, to saving valuable hours and dollars on commutes, coffee, and meals, working from home draws us closer to our core relationships, helps us focus on our immediate tasks, and minimizes wasted time and money. (Get the full survey here.)

In a global economy that is suddenly brimming with remote workers, it’s a good time to focus not only on the challenges of working from home, especially when new to it, but the benefits. Even more so, perhaps examining the benefits of working from home can become a broader exercise in gratitude and silver linings for those of us fortunate enough to be able to stay home and stay safe.

Intentionality

Working from home requires designating an office space, which the overwhelming number of survey responders said they do. Having a separate space allows us to focus on our work and move through our to-do list. But it also serves an equally important purpose of being the designated space where we leave work when it’s time to clock out. In one internal survey, this was the overwhelming answer for the biggest challenge remote workers face when working from home, far outstripping issues such as technology availability and differing time zones between teammates. The takeaway: find your designated workspace and be intentional about using it to protect your work and leisure hours.

Spend wisely

With median responders reporting they’re saving at least an hour per day in commuting and roughly fifty dollars a week on food by working from home; as we contemplate our time in the past few months spent home rather than out, driving, traveling, eating out, and grabbing coffees, a new monthly savings may be accruing for many of us. While some of those savings might wisely go to adaptations and modifications to our home, to make spending so much more time in it more enjoyable, we will at some point in the future face increased opportunity to travel, socialize, and be out once again, spending time and money among others. A valuable use of our time now may best be served using our savings to improve our work environments and homes, but also a little bit of dreaming and planning about that first big trip or meal out. That kind of forward thinking can go a long way to boost our moods.

Focus on the positives

Optimism and positivity help us place challenges and ordeals into perspective. They give us a bigger picture for the struggles in our lives and help us see the good that comes out of circumstances. In this season in which so many more of us are working from home, as those of us who work from home contend with an even greater degree of time spent in our homes, away from others, it’s important to realize that while this might feel like a season of extra constraint, it’s also a season of greater preservation and intentionality—a season that, while difficult, won’t last forever.

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