Confessions of a Remote Worker: 9 Things I Learned About Work From Home
Work from Home? Nooooo!
Work from home full-time? Me? Never! I admit it; I was one of those people who preferred to go into the office and did not like working from home. Back in the day, most employees could only work from home on a few designated telework days per week. It was just too much trouble to lug my laptop home and make sure I brought everything I might need home too. It was awkward and inconvenient. Until it wasn’t!
I enjoyed going into the office to work. I liked the ritual of getting up, choosing my outfit, and doing my hair. It made me feel prepared to accomplish the day’s work. I liked seeing my coworkers (most of them), and my supervisors. I enjoyed my relationship with colleagues and getting to know the stakeholders. My office and didn’t mind if people dropped by with questions or just to chat. Because I was in the office, while my peers were on telework days, I was frequently tapped to accompany my boss to meetings and help with special projects.
Teleworkers missed things going on in the office. They had to be “back briefed” on meetings they missed, and “filled in” on topics of casual discussion. Including a teleworker in a meeting meant setting up the conference call on the phone in the middle of the conference table. Most of the time, the people in the meeting would forget that there was anyone on the phone. Teleworkers couldn’t see the presenter or the presenter’s screen during meetings or training and be lucky to get the slides in advance of the meeting to follow along. It all seemed like such a hassle that I only worked from home on random occasions like waiting for a delivery or cable service!
A Family Emergency and a Condemned Office Building Helped Me to See Things Differently
The first time I teleworked regularly was a few years ago, when my dad was sick, and he lived with me before he passed. Because of telework, I took him to his chemo treatments and medical appointments and could stay home with him while I worked from home. I am so thankful that I had understanding supervisors and coworkers, and that I was able to work from home a few days per week while taking care of my dad. I cherish the time I spent with him before he died. Caring for my dad while working a full-time job, was the catalyst that opened my eyes to the value of telework in improving work-life balance.
The second major shift was in April 2019 when after 5 months of working a new job, building engineers discovered a structural flaw that made it unsafe to continue to work in that building. All building occupants were displaced, with nowhere to go, except to work from home. The good news is that office renovations were already in the works, and the new offices would be ready by April 2020! YAY! Well, the COVID-19 shutdown happened 2 weeks before we could move into our new offices. BOO! So now everyone everywhere became remote workers.
Because we had been working from home for a year, my coworkers and I had no problem working in the 100% remote work world. I was glad we had such a smooth transition. In addition, I was also available to help with my granddaughter who went to virtual school. COVID-19 virtual school was especially difficult when both parents did not have fully remote jobs. It was a blessing my granddaughter could come over to my house and go to virtual school while I worked remotely.
By 2022, Working from Home Was the Norm
In the two years since the COVID-19 shutdowns, my life and my coworkers’ lives changed dramatically. People got married, had children, moved, lived in multigenerational households, and were caretakers of family members in situations made possible by working remotely. There was no loss of productivity in our virtual workplace. By early 2022, when given the option to continue to work remotely or return to the office on a reduced schedule, almost everyone opted to continue to work from home. Although we all longed for the days when we could get together, the work-life balance created by working remotely had become ingrained in the way we lived and worked. Although most of us never got the chance to work in our beautiful newly renovated offices, we are thankful to not have to choose between our jobs and our lives outside of work.
What I Learned About Working from Home:
- Remote Workers Have Easier Wardrobe Choices
Let’s get the most popular advantage of working from home out there up front. It’s business casual day every day baby! No, I don’t mean casual like the idiots we’ve seen online who don’t have on anything at all from the waist down. I mean casual, as in a nice blouse or shirt is usually acceptable, suits are occasionally required (the top half) depending on your job, and your shoes don’t matter ever. Just in case anyone was wondering, working from home does NOT mean you can skip basic hygiene. However, at least if you do, nobody has to smell you or your breath! HaHa! - Time – I’ve got more of it!
No commuting time, no commuting concerns! This is the absolute best part of working from home! Before I started working from home full-time, I didn’t realize how much commuting to and from work controlled my weekday life. Whether there was a train delay, or a traffic jam was a daily issue that dictated what time I had to leave my house in the morning, and what time I arrived home from work. Picking up my kids from daycare, going to night school, or keeping evening appointments was always an anxiety-provoking experience. “Beating traffic” was my daily goal! Working from home has eliminated these time concerns! Nothing, short of an overnight power outage, impacts my commute into my home office space. ?
In addition, I don’t have to account for time in-between meetings to get to and from the meeting location. I’m there in an instant!
Just in case you were wondering, working from home does NOT mean that you can use your work time to do hobbies, side hustles, and other things besides doing your job! My advice to you is don’t try it! Remote workers are sometimes scrutinized more closely than onsite workers. Many organizations have IT-run data analytics to see if you are online and what you are doing. If your productivity declines, or if you are not responsive or online when you should be, you can be subjected to performance actions or terminated for failure to do your job! - Weather is bad? I don’t care! I Work from Home!
Like most working people who work on-site, I would not go to bed at night without listening to the weather report. This served two purposes. First, the weather was the most important thing that could impact my commute the next day. Based on the weather, I would plan to expect commuting delays and gauge how severe the delays might be. As a remote worker, the daily weather usually has no bearing on my ability to work the next day.
Yes, there may be the occasional severe weather day that causes a power outage, or temporarily interrupts internet service. However, those interruptions are rare and rarely last a full day. I keep my laptop fully charged up, and in an emergency, I can always use my phone as a hotspot for my laptop. The second weather-related issue for onsite workers that doesn’t matter for remote workers is outdoor attire! Working from home means I don’t need to put on a coat, or hat, carry an umbrella, or wear shoes or boots to work – ever! Nuff said! - Scheduling appointments is Way Easier When You Work from Home!
Near your job or your house? That is the question. Where are your service providers? There are two schools of thought about the location of medical and other service providers. There are people whose doctors and other service providers are near where they live or people whose doctors and other service providers are near where they work. If you are lucky enough to work close to your job, the answers are the same. However, for most people, it’s one or the other. For non-medical providers, I prefer them to be near my house but could go either way. However, for medical providers, I’ve always been squarely in the “near my house” camp. Generally, I never wanted to go through the same commute when I am sick because the doctor was close to my job. If I am going to do that, then what’s the point of taking a sick day? This brings me to my next point – I use less sick and annual leave as a remote worker! - Remote Work Saves Sick Leave and Annual Leave!
After becoming a remote worker, I have used much less sick and annual leave. Because I am not in the workplace, I am not in contact with nearly as many people daily. Therefore, I’m not getting sick as much. Unfortunately, many people go to work sick every day. I realize that staying home when you are not well is easier said than done. It is especially tough if you don’t get paid when you don’t come to work or have something due that can’t be put off until the next day. I confess that I have been in both situations and have gone to work sick when I shouldn’t have.
Now that I am working from home, I don’t get sick as frequently as I did before. Also, if I do get sick and don’t want to spread it to anyone else, I don’t have to take the entire day off. If I feel well enough to work, I can. If I am not feeling well and I’m already at work, I don’t have to worry about commuting home. If I take sick leave to go to a medical appointment or annual leave for a non-medical appointment, I use fewer leave hours. - Work-Life Balance is Balanced in My Favor
My work-life balance was good before, and now that I work from home full-time, it is fantastic! Earlier in this article, I described two situations where I cared for my dad and helped care for my granddaughter because I worked from home. I also noted the time savings of not having to commute anymore and not having to take so much leave. All these benefits tie together to add to my overall fantastic work-life balance. I use less leave by being closer to my service providers and getting to appointments faster. As a result, I feel less stressed or anxious about missing so much work time when I have appointments.
It’s easier to go to an appointment at the end or beginning of a workday or go and return to work with ease. Because I have fewer distractions when I am working, (no going out for coffee, traveling to meetings, or random chit-chat) I feel more focused when I’m at work. I give work my 100% attention when I am at work, which allows me to close my laptop on time, at the end of the workday. I make it a point not to work evenings and weekends (except in cases of a work-related emergency) and reserve that time for family, appointments, hobbies, and relaxation. I’ll admit that the back-to-back virtual meetings and calls do get exhausting, and I miss the social aspects of working at the office! However, the convenience of working from home just can’t be beaten and I wouldn’t trade it for anything! - Working From Home Saves Money!
I’ve saved a considerable amount of money by being a remote worker! Here’s how:- No commuting costs (no gas, tolls, or transit expenses)
- No impulse buys from dropping by the store during lunchtime or on my way home from work
- No paying inflated prices for lunch, coffee or snacks, or food
(well, that’s assuming I’m not driving to the Coffee Shop, or using any food delivery services). - Less money on work clothes and shoes
- Less money on car maintenance
- You Can Live Where You Choose!
It had not occurred to me to move away from Maryland when I started working from home in 2019. The move to Texas was something that my husband and I talked about as a retirement plan. That was years down the road. However, by 2021, we had both been working from home for over a year and were using more future-focused thinking. The move to Texas was possible because of a few factors. 1) My team had already been working remotely for over a year; 2) we maintained excellent performance while working remotely, and 3) COVID-19 community spread levels were still too high for my employer to allow us to return to the office.
My boss left for a new job at the end of 2020. In 2021, I was lucky enough to have an Acting Director that had been a remote worker for many years. I didn’t have to convince her of the value of remote work. She allowed me to move and become a remote worker. We moved to Texas in the Spring of 2021. The cost of living here is lower than in the DC metro area, so that has worked out well. In addition, now that we are in Texas, we started building our retirement dream home. Working from home has allowed us the flexibility to attend new home construction appointments. You can see our construction progress and get tips on building your dream home in the New Construction section of this blog, and on our YouTube channel. - Health Implications of Working from Home
Ok, here’s where it gets a little murky! I wish I could say that I used all that saved commute time to exercise. It would be nice if I used that saved time to make healthier food choices at home. Ummm, that’s not what happened. I sat down most of the day, and I ate whatever, whenever. If there is any good news here, it’s that I don’t buy a lot of junk food. Once I started working from home, I started making my own junk food. If it’s homemade it’s not really junk food, right? Well, it didn’t take long for the homemade apple pies, cookies, and banana bread to catch up with me. The scale and my blood pressure started creeping upwards. My doctor told me I needed to lose weight and that sitting is the new smoking. Yikes! I started to make some small changes in 2022.
I don’t have enough space on my desk to put an adjustable lift for my laptop, (and those are expensive). Instead, I got a stand-up tripod. It’s a tripod with a small platform for your laptop and another platform for your keyboard. I also use a wireless headset and walk around during meetings where I don’t’ have to be on camera. Now, I’m not sitting down all day. I also got a new chair cushion, a lumbar support roll, and a heating pad for my back when sitting. If you want to see what that these things are, check out my post on Best Gifts for People Who Work From Home.
I go on walks during lunchtime and set an alarm for myself to stop and stretch when sitting. I don’t make junk food (during the work week). Instead, I order low-calorie food from a weekly prepared meal subscription service.So, overall, I give working from home full-time an A+!
There are a few things I miss about working onsite. I miss the routine of getting ready and going to work and knowing what’s going on in the office. I also miss my coworkers, and I really miss not being in my awesome brand-new office. However, I won’t go back to working onsite. I have the best work-life balance ever! A great side effect of working from home is that I am more productive because I have fewer distractions. I am still willing to go the extra mile at work when needed. It’s easier to do now because the extra time is less imposing and impactful on the rest of my life.
Well, those are all the confessions of a remote worker! I hope you find the information helpful and that it inspires you to become a remote worker too! Best Wishes on your Success Journey!
