The three magical words that make an office goer swoon are not “I Love You” but “Work from Home” … It is like a dream come true situation. At least I used to feel that ways. No traffic, no money spent on transport, and no pants if I didn’t want to … Sitting in the comfort of my home, sipping on occasional coffee, with my 2
OR… so I thought…
It has been more than 4 months that I am working from home and I do not like it one bit now.
Yes… obviously, the no spending money and no wasting time in traffic still remains, and I still have the options of wearing no pants, if I didn’t want to; and my doggos and I get to spend scary amount of time together. All of this is good.
But it is not fulfilling…. At least not for me!
My mum calls me “too independent for my own good”, AND that is a topic for another day’s discussion, but the truth is, not getting out of the home on a daily basis, screws my mental balance. Plus, I find that people start taking you less seriously if you are working from home or a freelance person. Apparently, for them, you are not serious about a career if you are freelancing, so the work you do must take a back seat.
I don’t know how many men who work from home face this, but having checked with a few of the ladies, I know that this happens with our gender pretty often. Working from home means the household work should get precedence over the “work” because hey, it is just something you do. Your work may get taken for granted, because how difficult can it be, you are working from home.
And lastly, there is no peaceful sanctuary. In a place like Mumbai where every inch of space cost an obscene amount of moolahs, expecting an inner sanctum of peace and quiet in a house full of people is too much to ask. But the constant noise of loud squabbles between house mates, the whistle of the pressure cooker, the sound of the TV, the boisterous voiced phone conversions never cease to end. Plus, the occasional disturbance for something that is required, most definitely cause a crack in the concentration.
The concept of working from home is honestly like a double-edged sword. If you have at least a room to yourself, where no one is allowed to enter while you work, then it is awesome. However, if you are stuck in a common area, where almost everything else is important than what you do, then my dear friend, you are fucked royally — both mentally and professionally.
Other than this, there are some other not so good things about working from home like you don’t get to go out and meet other people, that you would if you went to work every day.
The 8 hours work schedule NEVER remains that. For me, I end up working even on my weekends because, I want to proactively finish some work for the next week.
What I gathered from my situation is that work-from-home is a great
I feel ya. However, work from home is my dream job. I could paint in between work or the time I save while traveling. But alas! Life doesn’t always give you what one desires.
You my friend need to get out of the house often though!
Agreed 100% with your last point…