5 REASONS THAT WORKING FROM HOME IS KILLING YOUR PRODUCTIVITY
When he was CEO of Pixar, Steve Jobs knew that he had to build one of the most collaborative workplaces to get creative ideas out of his staff. He had an absurd idea to increase collaboration, putting all the bathrooms in the central atrium (something he later carried on to the design of Apple Park) to allow more spontaneous conversation.
Why was this important? The cross-pollination of new ideas would allow individuals to “think different.” He believed that having people (from different backgrounds and ways of life) take some time off their day to chat encouraged new ways of thinking and solutions to help the company.
As we later saw, the company made some of the most brilliant films that have revolutionized filmmaking and animation.
Fast-forward thirty years and a good amount of workplaces are switching to having flexible arrangements, allowing people to work from home and have the option to go to the office — some companies are even entirely remote.
Some people thrive working at home, it’s likely that they have a routine or system set in place that encourages them to stay active constantly chat with their colleagues.
Unfortunately, that isn’t the case for everybody. Sometimes remote working can lead to a string of bad habits that’ll cost you time, money, and bring on more stress. Here are just a few of the ways that working from home can kill productivity.
It Becomes Easy to Develop Bad Habits
Working-at-home gives people access to all of the things that make people comfortable. Too much comfort can lead to a string of bad habits that will have people loafing around their homes in pajamas all day.
Though some of these may sound silly these bad habits can start adding up and affecting work and life. Here are some examples of bad habits to be mindful of when working from home:
Becoming unhygienic.
Procrastinating.
Dozing off and visiting enjoyable websites.
Keeping the TV on all day long.
Abusing company time.
Sharing too much information when chatting with coworkers.
The list can keep going on-and-on. A lot of these behaviors can change simply by having a place to go to work. If you are someone that is looking to avoid working from home — suggesting a coworking stipend from your employer could be a viable solution. It’ll give you the ability to work with people and it gives your employer the ability to have a satellite office. And, hopefully, you won’t be in pajamas all day.
Working in a Silo
Working from a couch or a home office can get a bit redundant; it can get a bit stressful seeing the same four walls every day.
While a home office setup will keep you comfortable, it’s both a gift and a curse; though you’re in a comfy environment, you’ll be missing out on opportunities to actively communicate with others and ask questions that will help you be productive.
Sure there’s a nice amount of internal communication tools, but if you’re looking to start a conversation with a peer, the fact that you don’t know if they’re available might cause a bit of anxiety — the last thing you’d want is to interfere with someone’s work.
Not being around your colleagues will make it hard to stay connected with them, so you’ll have to try harder to participate.
If your company believes in cross-functional teams and open communication, working from home might cause a bit of a delay with those efforts. So it’s vital to speak up a bit more during virtual meetings and insert comments into chats, e-mail chains, and documents.
If you’re in a completely remote organization, visit a coworking space to hold meetings and get some face time with your staff. Even if it’s for one day, you’ll avoid being siloed and discuss priorities for your projects, big and small.
Lack of Social Interactions Taking a Toll on Mental Health
This has been one of the most talked-about issues with remote working. As we’ve already hinted, a lot of people feel isolated when working from home for an extended period of time.
The feeling of isolation and disconnection can put individuals’ mental health at risk. There are a lot of employees that need the feedback and encouragement loops that exist in a traditional environment. When they’re not receiving that, not only does it cause anxiety and stress, but it hinders professional development.
According to Jane Sudder (a career coach), being that you’re not present in an office makes you feel pressure to be online every hour and make yourself constantly available to work on tasks, or prove that you’re spending time in a productive manner.
Once again, the flexibility and independence of remote working can be liberating and productive for some, so it’s important to be self-aware and really think about if working from home is good for you.
Too Many Distractions at Home
Being at your house gives you the option to get away from your desk and handle other non-work related tasks. For example: If you have kids or family members at the house, you’ll naturally feel inclined to check-in or take a prolonged break to spend time with them.
Spending time with friends and family is not a bad thing, per se, but it’s one of the dozens of distractions that can mess up productivity. Other distractions can be self-inflicted for example things like spending too much time e-mails, social media, having a lot of noise in the background, can create frequent pauses. Some people are even guilty of having a television on throughout the day and constantly dozing off.
Look into getting a small private office outside of your house to rid you of the distractions and behaviors that are killing your productivity.
It Can Reduce Your Motivation to Work
All of those distractions, bad habits, siloed work, and lack of face-to-face interactions can be taxing and it’ll eventually reduce your motivation. Being in a (metaphoric) island by yourself will eventually lead to disengagement — according to Harvard Business Review’s study on remote work. If you aren’t familiar with the term, being disengaged means that a worker is at a point of no return and they’re likely to leave the company in the immediate future.
Believe it or not, one of the other reasons that people might lose motivation is because they have trouble unplugging from work, leading them to feel more stress and ruin the prioritization of work and life tasks. So, if you choose to work-at-home and want to attempt to stay productive, it will come down to setting that routine and keep active in group conversations.
If you choose a physical office space make sure that its one that will benefit your company, your career, and even your mental health for the long-term.
The Case for a Coworking Space
Here at Minds CoWork, we house solopreneurs, small businesses, and companies with satellite offices. We have seen our members be productive and make waves throughout the neighborhood, but more importantly, we give people a community.
We have events for professional development, along with events that are just for fun. If you’re in the South Florida area and looking to get out of your home office, contact us at info@mindscowork.com and we’ll give you a tour of our space.
