What are the long term benefits of working remotely?
Working remotely for some seems to be an ultimate dream where you don’t need to change clothes or commute to work, you have more time in your hands but have you ever wondered about long term advantages of that way of working?
There is no doubt you were able to notice few things like having more time available in the morning or in the afternoon, maybe remote work works better for your body, maybe you have more energy by not wasting time on habits which were part of your office routine. There are many advantages of working remotely, among them you will find flexibility, autonomy, independence as well as more time to be spend doing your hobbies or with the loved ones.
Let’s dive in and try to summarise on what are the ultimate benefits of working remotely
SAVING TIME AND MONEY BY NOT COMMUTING EVERYDAY
Let’s think about it for a second, what is commute, it is a your time as well as money spent on getting from point A to point B in various weather conditions, by train, car, bike or bus. This is needed to get to that point B which is your work place and once your work is done you have the reverse trip back.
If you have a job which you can do in comfort of your own home, you will see when it is snowing or raining and you will most likely appreciate that you do not have to stand outside and wait for this magical bus to turn up, full of people who will sneeze or cough around you. Now consider that if you work actual 40hours per week with no need of spending your time to commute you will feel much richer and equally you will became more productive during your working hours as they are unaffected by your trip. All that saved time can be converted to a time dedicated for your hobbies, additional endeavours or extra time for your family.
LOOKING AFTER YOUR SLEEP SCHEDULE AND MAINTAINING IT
It is absolutely crucial to have a good sleep pattern, this isn’t always achievable, especially when you have to get up pretty early to commute to work, going to sleep isn’t any easier as when you come back from office, have a dinner, then chat with your partner and kiss the child goodbye you may find that it is quite late already and before you analyse your day you will find that you are not sleeping yet… This can result in more stress and anxiety so allowing your body to have healthy 8-9hours of sleep everyday is really something you wants to achieve.
When working from home you don’t happen to have so many daily events which may upset you during the day, everything is work centralised and if you are on top of your work schedule there is nothing to worry about. Remember to experiment with for example an earlier bed time, this can allow your body clock to change it’s patterns and in the long run will comes up as flexible manner that suits you.
YOUR HEALTH BENEFITS
Well, we need to be very careful here, if you are sitting at home and opening your fridge every 5 minutes this can have negative impact on your life, but on the other hand if you know how to use the extra time you can do some gymnastics in the morning, followed by healthy breakfast and some meditation. You are not getting a quick take away or overpriced coffee on a way to work, you most likely prepare the food at home. Make sure you allocate some time to make some food in advance so you use your time wisely.
By working at home you can really develop a healthy habit by keeping yourself fit and in very good shape which will have a great impact on your health as well as happiness long term.
ALLOCATING MORE TIME TO WHAT’S MATTER THE MOST
Wherever it’s a hobby of yours, time with family or some side hustle you are working on, you will appreciate extra time available to do this. While working and travelling to office you are simply too tired to think about anything, too hungry, so you stop and spend even more money on some junk but well deserved only in your mind, food.
With all these minutes that turn into hours you can start having all your hobbies or really whatever matters to you back. This will help with your work-life balance which is absolutely crucial in order to have a good life.
LIMITING DISTRACTIONS FROM YOUR OFFICE
Everyone keeps saying about workplaces productivity but whichever work community you are in you will always find people chatting, eating, laughing and doing unproductive things which takes time. Time is running quickly and at the end of the day if you are honest you will see that at least 50% of your time was simply wasted. I will go as far as saying that workplace is a full of distraction and something which can have negative impact on your work.
When working at home, you can still have little chats, coffee breaks and whatnot but you will keep it short and to the point as your mind will be more focused at given tasks.
FEELING OF INDEPENDENCE AND AUTONOMY
If you are able to work at home, you will know exactly what I mean, there are tasks which you are expected to complete but you are doing that in your own time at your own rules which you set to yourself. You are becoming a boss of yourself and you need to keep that self discipline but I’m sure you can relate on how good this all feels especially if you meet your targets and complete given tasks.
I can promise you that if you like what you do and if you continue working hard from home you will succeed and you will become better on what you do!
RECEIVING A FEEDBACK FOR YOUR ACHIEVEMENTS
There is absolutely nothing better than receiving recognition for all your achievements, if it a simple feedback provided by your boss, colleagues or maybe if its is a bonus or salary increase, this is all caused by your determination and hand on task.
Can you name any other benefits of working from home? Feel free to comment in the dedicated section below.
All the best,
Lucas
