I’ve been working from home for years, and in that time, I’ve experienced many pros and cons of this lifestyle.
A lot of the problems with working from home can be averted if you’re made aware of them early on. I really wish that I had this information at my disposal because it could have saved me from unnecessary roadblocks that prevented me from being productive and happy working from home.
This is the main reason why I decided to write this article. I hope that it can help you to maximize the benefits of working from home while avoiding or easily solving the few problems I experienced.
Related article: How to declutter your home office desk
The Pros
1. Flexible work hours
For someone who struggles to function in the morning, working from home on my own schedule is a dream come true.
Ever since I’ve committed to being a full-time writer and content creator, I have structured my work hours around creativity.
It just so happens that my most creative hours are between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m., as well as between 8 p.m. and 12 a.m. at night. Work has become an activity that I look forward to, and the best thing about working from home is that I can tackle my tasks when I feel energized and well rested rather than on someone else’s schedule.
There’s a misconception that working from home automatically means that you can work fewer hours. But that is not true. There are some days in which I work up to 14 hours between researching, writing, filming, and editing.
I don’t dread those days because flexibility allows me to work when I want to at a pace that suits my mind and body.
This freedom also has the propensity to evoke motivation to work more since it’s a choice and not an obligation imposed on me by management or someone else.
2. Comfort and convenience
If I feel like dressing up in my version of work attire, I will, and if I feel like wearing my sweats, I will.
Some days I work at my desk for hours on end, and other days I work from my lounge sofa with a laptop.
What I’ve found is that this level of comfort and convenience is fantastic for an introvert who doesn’t enjoy working around many people or being cooped up in an office.
Also, as someone who lives with an autoimmune condition that requires me to regularly stretch and soothe my joints, it’s a blessing to work from home because I can optimize my work environment for my health conditions.
When I was in law school, I would suffer from excruciating pain in my back and tailbone due to sitting on hard surfaces for hours on end.
That’s not something I have to deal with anymore, and it has drastically improved my flexibility and health because I practice yoga and walk around my home frequently throughout the day.
3. Less expenses
The commute to and from an office on a daily basis can be costly, especially if your workplace is far from home and if you do not utilize public transport.
Similarly, having to buy takeout food because you don’t have enough time to meal prep adds up over a month.
All this is no longer an expense when you work from home because there aren’t any travel costs and you can prepare your food whenever you’d like.
4. No office politics to deal with
As much as I love people, it can be exhausting to deal with the different personalities and power dynamics in an office space.
Quiz someone in the corporate environment about the people they work with, and I promise you that they can spend an entire night venting.
This isn’t an issue that I have to deal with anymore, and I’m grateful for it.
5. You get to sleep more
Because I don’t have to commute to an office nor do I have to prep food for work, I get to sleep until 15 minutes before I start my work day.
The added 60–90 minutes of sleep make a huge difference in my mental clarity, mood, and energy levels.
This is definitely a pro for working from home that I know you would enjoy as much as I do.
The Cons
1. Requires self-management
I’m a huge proponent of freedom of time, but a lack of structure can quickly devolve into poor productivity and poor results.
I ran into this problem back in 2022.
Rather than being excited about my life, I was disillusioned and depressed. This impacted my productivity greatly and affected the quality of my work.
That’s when I realized that freedom without some structure can be dangerous. Self management is difficult because you know exactly how to convince yourself to be lazy and distracted.
That’s the biggest problem I faced.
Since you have nobody to overlook your behavior, it may be tempting to compromise on the things you would ordinarily do in an office space.
Don’t fall into this trap.
Here are a few tips that helped me solve this issue:
- Implement a structure for your week and day.
- Draw up a to-do list and ensure that you stick to this structure.
- Don’t allow yourself to make excuses, and always be accountable for yourself.
2. Too many distractions and disturbances
Because I live with my family and I have many pets, there’s ample disturbance throughout the day.
This is worsened by all the access I have to different devices for entertainment.
There have been days when I tricked myself into watching just one episode of a new show in the morning and ended up binge-watching a season without getting much work done.
It’s terrible!
Temptation is all around you, which is why it’s important to design your work space in a manner that minimizes distractions and disturbances.
You have to find or reserve a space in your home for only work-related tasks. In a small home, this can be difficult to do, but there are some workarounds to help with this issue.
3. Social deprivation
Avoiding office politics is a pro of working from home, but not seeing colleagues or acquaintances often can be incredibly boring and mundane.
I used to take this for granted, but you really start to miss and appreciate the social component of studying on campus or working in an office.
There have been weeks when I didn’t see anyone apart from my immediate family and neighbor.
I felt a painful pinch of loneliness, and my hunger for social interactions skyrocketed.
No matter how introverted one may be, social interactions are a healthy and necessary part of life.
4. Difficult to find work/life balance
When I was unsure about the type of work to do, I struggled with consistency and productivity.
All that changed when I committed to content creation. Ideas constantly flow through my mind, even late at night while I’m trying to sleep.
Rather than working less, I find myself working all hours of the day and night because I can and want to.
That may be great for my work, but without any degree of balance, my mind and body suffer for it.
I love to hustle, but there has to be some time designated for rest, recovery, and play.
It can be hard to maintain balance when working from home, and that can lead you down a path of workaholism.
Work is an important aspect of life, but it’s not the be-all and end-all of our existence. There are other important experiences in life that deserve just as much investment.
I highly recommend reading this article by The Happiness Index on the importance of work-life balance.
As long as you can implement some solutions to these cons, you should absolutely enjoy every other aspect of working from home. Please share your experiences in the comment section below, because I’d love to hear your thoughts on working from home.