subject: Perks of working from home! [print this page] Perks of working from home! Perks of working from home!
There is a lot to be said for working out of the office or working from home. The sense of comfort offered by familiar surroundings is often confused with the negatives as there are also many more distractions and the overall lack of interaction or team building with work colleagues is missed.
When working from home it is difficult not to get caught up with the general surroundings. If the house is untidy, just by going to the toilet you naturally start picking things up and before you know it, you've spent 15 minutes tidying the kitchen and unloading the dishwasher.
When working from home I like to set up a station and sit there, comfortably with everything around me, an extra cushion on hand, the cat on my lap, dog at my feet, all the electrical accessories I may need and of course the music I would potentially want to listen to for the day. No one complains when the playlist is set to Death Metal or Hip-Hop and the household pets offer company and warmth.
People within the household are a distraction too sometimes. The best place within my house to work- that is comfortable for a working practice is the living room on the large table. However, with family members occasionally watching the television or your mum playing on the Wii Fit at full blast it can be a little distracting when they start exclaiming that you need to see' something or they ask you questions mid game.
When working from home, it is always a strange experience when it comes to dress code. Team members will not see me wearing my pjamas during working hours however I often think that perhaps I should get dressed' when at home. The rules of casual Friday are taken to an extreme but because no one can see you, they can only see the work your uploading or email responses, it doesn't seem to matter and yet to the individual at home it is just an odd thing to think about.
Tea always tastes better at home. I don't know why this is. Maybe it is the familiar mug that allows for a bucket sized cup of tea. Maybe it is the teapot, or the familiarity of the milk. Either way, tea at home tastes better and I find myself getting up less throughout the day to make one.
Can I watch TV at lunchtime? Normally within the office you wouldn't be able to catch the daily news etc, as there isn't a television, so planning your lunchtime whilst out of the office around Loose Women at 12:30 seems a little too comfortable for a working day.
The Interaction with the team is generally missed when working from home. Communicating via email or phone, or even MSN in some cases just is not the same as face to face. There is no need for fun team building events as everyone is independent from the Mother Ship, however after a few days of not seeing anyone and being stuck at home, the daily interaction and impromptu laughing with a team mate is sorely missed; there is no chatting over the kettle, or over the monitor and in a way you actually start to feel as though you would rather be in the office.
