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Working from Home - What are the Pitfalls?

By David Bonham-Carter

 

The rapid pace of developments in communications technology in recent decades and changing attitudes about work roles mean that for many the option of working from home instead of in a traditional office environment is suddenly becoming a reality rather than just a dream. Flexibility is perhaps the cornerstone of the approach with research suggesting that some employers are now allowing or encouraging a mixed approach to where and how their staff work, with their employees being given the opportunity to use a combination of office working, home working and remote working to meet the requirements of their job.

This article looks at some of the benefits of working from home then considers some of the pitfalls, particularly where you have a family that may be affected by your working from home. The concluding part of the article gives you some tips on how to deal with the potential problems by appropriate discussion and planning for the issues before they arise.

For people who are used to working in a regular office environment with routine office hours the attractions of working from home may seem obvious:

• More flexibility in the hours you work
• More efficient use of time, with less time spent travelling and savings in travel expenses
• Freedom from having your boss watch over you whilst you work
• The opportunity to design the space in which you work, creating a more relaxed, less stressful environment

For those with families, the benefits may seem particularly attractive with the prospect of being able to manage your work schedule so as to free up time to meet home and family commitments, such as childcare. Whilst this can be the case, it is important to be realistic about the possible downsides. What happens if your partner expects you to carry out all the childcare or household responsibilities when actually you have urgent work that needs to be done? What if your children keep running into your office demanding your attention, when you are trying to conduct an important business conversation on the phone? What if you find that spending so much time in your home environment actually becomes claustrophobic and you would welcome the different routine of an office to add variety to your day?

It is important to do some thinking and planning before you take on a home working role. Perhaps the most significant issue is deciding how and when you are going to draw clear boundaries between work and home or family life and discussing this with your family. Some of the areas to consider are:

• Decide whether certain hours in the day are going to be ‘non-negotiable’ working hours, even though you are working from home. If so, communicate to your family that in these hours you need to focus exclusively on work.
• Think about your working space – are you going to have a separate room in the house as an office which is used solely for that purpose, not for housing toys, linen or anything else. You may also want to consider having a separate phone line for work use and decide whether you are going to answer the home phone if it rings or simply leave the answer machine on so that you are not distracted by it.
• Negotiate with your partner about the family commitments to try to reach a reasonable agreed solution – what will you do and what will they do, so that you both feel that responsibilities are being appropriately shared?
• For your own sanity – and your family’s – try to stop your work overspilling into the rest of the home environment in an unhelpful way. If it is useful to have a space in the house exclusively for work, then conversely it may be worth having other parts of the house or times where you don’t bring work in! Your family may not appreciate it if you spend every minute of your day talking about work or if your work papers are left lying around different parts of the house (and they may be picked up, moved or lost!).
• Give yourself some breaks – whether your work is difficult and demanding mentally or simply routine to the point of boredom, it is important to have some short breaks in the working day – for example, for lunch and perhaps  one or two opportunities to stretch your legs or have a soft drink to keep yourself refreshed. Provided you don’t go overboard and let the breaks extend too long, this should help you to focus at other times and is a basic stress management strategy for the long term.

Finally, it is important to remember to put your home working into context and perspective. It is not an end in itself - ideally it is something you are doing because you believe it will help to improve you and your family’s satisfaction and opportunities to enjoy life. So do reflect on your priorities – what are the most important things in life for your family and yourself and how can working from home contribute to them either beneficially or adversely? If working from home is helping you all to move in the directions you want, then you may be onto a winning formula. If not, then it’s time to consider a return to the office environment or to adjust the way you are working from home so that it becomes what it was always meant to be – enjoyable, time-saving, rewarding and beneficial to all involved.

Author Biography

David Bonham-Carter, the Founder of Life Coach Tips, is a Life Coach and Stress Consultant with over 15 years of professional experience in the field of personal change management. He founded this directory of life coaching articles in order to bring life coaching ideas and techniques to a wider audience. To find out more about the services David offers, please visit the link immediately below:

 

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