“How to be successful at remote work and its pros and cons.”
In the aftermath of the coronavirus situation, work from home has started to gain a lot of attention. Before the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic, people used to prefer going to offices and having an active work routine. This enabled them to maintain healthy friendships and social circles while maintaining a balance with work. They would get to dress up and leave their houses.
Also, working in an office tends to make people feel more productive, which enhances their confidence. This is precisely why on-site jobs and full-time employment were always preferred over the low-paying remote jobs in the past. However, the pandemic’s outburst has changed the trends lately.
As the situation demanded social distancing, partial and complete lockdowns were imposed. This meant that people could not leave their homes. It led to periodic unemployment for many, due to which they couldn’t earn any money. As a consequence, people had to experience financial distress as well as depression from not being able to have a routine. Later, a shift in the job market and job search behavior took place. This shift showcased a greater preference towards Online or home-based jobs. Remote work accompanies both benefits and drawbacks; let’s zero in on them.
PROS OF WORK FROM HOME JOBS:
Higher productivity:
Researchers believe that work from home employees get the job done more efficiently as compared to their office working counterparts. There are several reasons leading towards this greater efficiency, i.e., lesser distractions. While working in an office, an employee might get caught up in discussion with his peer or colleague. At home, an individual can seek to isolate if an important work is undergoing.
Also, at home, nobody would show up to discuss their stories that are trivial to you. Another reason that leads to this greater efficiency is the fact that 9 am to 5 pm jobs are exhausting. Working at any time of the day when an employee feels more energetic has proven to be more efficient.
Better work-life balance:
Certainly, if you are spending 9 am to 5 pm of your entire day at an office, your household would be neglected. In the US, people put a great weightage on their work-life balance. Work from home jobs enables you to interact and spend more time with your family. Also, you have a better chance at not missing out on any of the important events, I.e., birthdays and wedding ceremonies. For events like these, work can be planned and done prior to the event or later on the same day.
More savings & less carbon footprint:
You can save a lot of money with your remote work from home jobs. How? Imagine not having to pay for your transportation expenses, parking tickets, and food at a fine-dine restaurant for an entire year. When you embark upon remote work, you cut off many of your expenses. The carbon footprint would be reduced as you wouldn’t take your vehicle out to the office.
Prevention from the coronavirus:
The pandemic has taken numerous lives to date. Coronavirus can only be avoided by reducing social interaction and going out except when necessary. Remote work not only allows you to reduce the probability of contact with the virus but also helps you maintain better health and hygiene at home. The future of remote work is very bright because the pandemic might last long.
CONS:
Staff alienation:
The biggest drawback of work from home jobs is staff alienation. The company headquarters and employers in another country having to lead geographically dispersed employee force leads to a lot of communication barriers. These barriers include different time zones etc. Even within the same country, a communication gap exists in remote work. The inability of the employer and the employee to interact sufficiently leads to the demotivation of employees leading to inefficiency.
Lack of social interaction:
Remote work makes you miss out on the social interaction with peers and colleagues. This might not seem very important, but having a peer group is motivating. It encourages you and gives you a sense of affiliation with the organization. If you are an extrovert, work from home jobs are going to be lonely for you.
Proactive communication:
If you aim at being a successful remote worker, be a proactive communicator. Make use of the remote work tools, i.e., phone calls, e-mails, video calls, etc., to ensure effective communication. Ask your colleagues and employers when and how they want you to reach out. Once their preference is known to you, over-communicate to ensure that you and your peers are on the same page.
Set your specific work hours and stick to them:
To be a successful remote worker, you need to choose your time slot for work. Choosing a specific time slot for work and communicating it to your employers and co-workers means that they would know when to contact you for tasks and meetings. This way, they would not expect work from you when you are enjoying your family time.
Use Task Lists & Time Management Tools:
When no supervisor or employer is monitoring you, you might over-spend time on a particular task. It would help if you created a daily checklist of tasks that you aim at achieving in a day with the time duration required for each task. This way, you can identify the tasks where you need to speed up. Use other remote work tools as well to ensure strict deadlines.
Build a virtual support system:
Work from home jobs tends to be lonely and depressing. You must maintain some virtual friendships so that you can rant about your problems in combination with having some happy breaks over the video call. This will not only keep you sane but would also help you stay motivated to perform the job better. Once the pandemic situation is better, you may plan frequent live meet-ups as well.
Create an office space of your own:
If you set up your own dedicated office space at home where you have to work, there would be lesser distractions around. You can set up this office space accordingly, i.e., using white or light blue paint on the walls around you would keep you peaceful. Using vibrant colors, i.e., Red can keep you more energetic.
In a nutshell, online jobs are accompanied by their pros and cons, yet in the pandemic situation, it is a must to switch to online jobs for the sake of our lives.