7 Reasons to Work From Home

We’ve all heard of remote work by now, right?

Since 2021, less than one-third (30%) of global knowledge workers work from the office every day. So chances are if you don’t already work from home, you know someone who does.

Thanks in part to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the popularity of remote work is booming. We witnessed the rise with 200 startups hiring remotely in 2016 jumping to 14,000+ startups hiring on Remotive now.

According to Buffer’s 2022 State of Remote Work report, the majority of people describe their remote work experience as very positive. They sing the praises of working from home: the flexibility, the naps, the ability to live anywhere you want. They’d shout it from the rooftops if they could! 😻

If you need convincing to jump on the remote work bandwagon, here are 7 advantages of working from home:

• No Commuting
• Napping
• Flexibility
• Productivity
• Health
• Location Independence
• Inclusivity

No Commuting

The most obvious and appreciated benefit of working from home: No more commuting to the office!

I spent years taking public transit into Manhattan for school and work. Rats, pee, cockroaches. Not to mention long train delays, packed subway cars, and armpits in the face. 😖

Commuting is physically and mentally taxing. Why put all that energy into getting to work when you can put it into doing the work? If you only need one reason to work from home, this is it.

No more distracting yourself with music, audiobooks, or podcasts as you suffer through rush hour traffic. Brew your favorite tea or coffee, do some yoga (or not), and ease into the workday. 😌

Napping

Enough said…haha just kidding!

But seriously, if the only thing this article accomplishes is to get you napping in the middle of a workday then I will have won.

The most underrated benefit of working from home is the ability to take a break whenever you want. Naps are known to boost learning and performance and can help you focus when you have a long day ahead of you.

So no more waiting for your 45-minute lunch to take a 10 min catnap. No more pushing through the after-lunch food coma or chugging caffeine to get through your neverending to-do list. Take a nap, then get back to work!

Flexibility

When you work from home, you can design your work routine to fit your lifestyle.

The same way you can choose when to take a nap, you can choose the best work schedule for you. This is true for moms who want to make breakfast and drive their kids to school before work, and for twentysomethings that like to sleep in. 😴

You are the master of the schedule, not the other way around. Many remote companies allow you to take hours, or even a whole day off with little notice. As long as there’s nothing urgent on your to-do list, you can go on that hike you’ve been putting off, chaperone your kid’s field trip, or go grocery shopping at 12pm on a Wednesday. 🛍️

Productivity

Piggybacking off the last point, being the master of your schedule means you work when you’re most productive.

For employees working from home at remote-first companies like Remotive and Doist, the focus is on performance. Nobody’s looking over your shoulder forcing you to work on that marketing presentation when you really need a 20 min nap and a cup of coffee. Your manager knows you’re getting work done because the work is getting done. Which means you decide how and when the work gets done.

In your own home, it’s possible to tailor your environment to suit your work needs. No more small talk with Bob in Accounting to throw you off your game. Without the distractions of a normal office environment, maybe you’ll find the elusive Flow State people are always talking about.

Health

Mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, gynecological, you name it.

One of the common pitfalls of modern society is a tendency to pretend we care about our health vs. actually prioritizing a healthy lifestyle. As a work-from-home employee, you realize quickly that an unhealthy lifestyle leads to weight gain (I’m looking at you covid 15 👀), burnout, and decreased productivity. Bad habits that were easy to ignore between the 1-hour commute and in-person office politics are hard to miss when you’re sitting alone with your laptop all day.

Working from home gives us time and energy so we can make an effort to stay healthy. No more putting off that cardiologist appointment until your schedules line up in 3 months, and forget about using work as an excuse not to go to the gym.

Location Independence

Another benefit of working from home is that you don’t actually have to be home to work. “Why work from home when you can work from Cabo?”, that’s what I always say. 😉

For example, Airbnb’s CEO, Brian Chesky, made the not-so-controversial decision to live in a different town or city every few weeks.

Thanks to remote work, people no longer have to live near big cities for great job opportunities. Remote workers are taking advantage of that by moving into smaller, less expensive cities and towns. And a lot of countries are starting to take advantage of the trend by offering Digital Nomad Visas.

If you want to travel the world, this is the best time to start!

Inclusivity

Women, working moms, caregivers, ethnic minorities, and individuals with disabilities.

If you fall into any of these categories, chances are you’ll be more satisfied and feel safer working at home than working full-time in an office. Black, Latinx, and Asian workers feel a greater sense of belonging when working from home. Women with child-care needs are less likely to leave their job if they can work remotely. And workers with disabilities say their employer has done a better job supporting them since they started working from home during the 2020 pandemic.

Remote work eliminates barriers for businesses to employ people from all walks of life- age, cultural background, religion, etc. That increased diversity brings unique perspectives and enhances innovation, creativity, and problem-solving. Diverse workforces also allow people to feel comfortable being themselves which leads to a happier work experience. Win-win for everyone! 🎉

There you have it! Working from home is awesome. 😉

Of course, it’s not all sunshine and roses. There are a few challenges to working from home. However, those are manageable problems compared to the daily grind of commuting to an office to sit in back-to-back meetings that could’ve been emails. 😤

Remote work is here to stay, climb aboard and ride the wave with us! 🏄

(Are you looking for a remote job? Start here: “How to Find and Land a Remote Job” )