While remote work offers many benefits like flexibility and no commute, it’s not for everyone. Here are five facts explaining multiplying challenges Why Working from Home Doesn’t Work for Everyone:
Lack of Workspace and Separation Between Work and Personal Life
One of the biggest challenges of working from home is not having a proper workspace. Many people don’t have a designated office area in their home or apartment. Without a door to close at the end of the workday, it can be difficult to achieve work-life balance. The lines between professional and personal become blurred when you work, eat and sleep in the same place. Some people have a hard time staying focused when home environments have a lot of distractions: pets, children, chores, etc. Having temptations like the refrigerator and TV nearby makes it easy to become sidetracked.
Social Isolation and Lack of Collaboration
Humans crave social interaction and relationships. When working remotely, people miss out on those casual office conversations by the water cooler or coffee machine. Isolation can lead to declines in motivation and creativity over time. Collaboration with team members also becomes more challenging without being able to simply turn your chair around or drop by someone’s desk. Tools like video conferencing help bridge the gap, but it’s not quite the same as in-person discussions. The serendipitous bumping into colleagues that sparks an idea or solves a problem is less likely when everyone is distributed.
Lack of Structure and Effective Time Management
Working from home allows tremendous freedom in structuring one’s day. But some individuals end up wasting a lot of time because no one is managing them. Without set work hours or colleagues around, it’s easy to get distracted by non-work activities. Procrastination can creep up when there’s no peer pressure from seeing fellow team members at their desks working away. Employees have to be self-disciplined when it comes to time management. Setting up a designated workspace, getting properly dressed instead of staying in pajamas, and establishing set hours are tactics that can help avoid slipping into bad remote work habits. Tracking eye motion reveals why working from home doesn’t suit everyone.
Difficulty Unplugging Leads to Burnout
The flexibility of working from home can also encourage workaholic tendencies for some. When the office is just a few steps away at all hours, people feel obligated to check emails and hop online outside traditional working times. Without a commute that physically separates work from home, individuals answering late-night messages or attending early morning meetings start working exceptionally long hours. Staring at screens for prolonged periods without enough downtime also causes mental exhaustion. This “always on” behavior frequently leads to job burnout.
Decreased Visibility to Higher-Ups Can Limit Advancement Opportunities
Out of sight, out of mind is a real concern when managers don’t see remote employees’ efforts every day. Unless individuals are exceptionally proactive with communication, higher-ups are less familiar with their work. Reduced face-time makes it harder to get noticed when promotion opportunities arise. Networking and developing meaningful connections is also challenging when workers are physically disconnected from leadership and decision-makers at an organization. Even workers who produce great work products can stall in their careers if no one is aware, which hurts motivation.
Final Words
The convenience and comforts of remote work make it enticing for many professionals. However, lack of social stimulation, effective collaboration, structure, and advancement opportunities are proven pitfalls. Working from home simply does not provide an optimal environment for every employee to thrive. Understanding these five explanations for why some individuals are better suited to traditional office settings is important when considering a work from home policy. While the right fit for one person, insisting on fully-remote can backfire by negatively impacting the engagement, performance and satisfaction of others.
