Working from home: pros and cons

The alarm clock rings at 6:30 am, which you switch off immediately because you would like to go back to sleep, a glass of water, a coffee, and then run into the shower. Open the wardrobe, choose clothes, accessories, make-up, get ready and at 8:00 am close the front door to reach the office, with a stop at your favourite coffee shop for breakfast. At 8:45 am you sip another coffee, with your colleagues and at 9:00 am you are ready for the usual work day. This was the pre-covid routine for those accustomed to a job from 9:00 am to 17:00 pm. Since we started working from home, the alarm clock rings at least one hour later, you prepare breakfast calmly and make-up is a must only if you have a video call on your agenda. At 8:30 am you are already sitting at the living room table, sipping another coffee, reading your emails, ready for a day of work in slippers.

If remote working has its advantages, especially if the house is a villa in Barbados, at the same time transforming your home into an office has its disadvantages if you do not have the right space, the fast connection and the right concentration.
Here we have outlined, what we believe are the pros and cons of working from home…

Pros
1) Replace your daily commute with an exercise routine such as yoga which promotes good posture.
2) Embrace a stronger work-life balance, giving invaluable time to both you, your family and friends.
3) Learning new collaboration platforms such as Zoom, to stay in touch with colleagues and clients.
4) There’s no more need to submit annoying expenses such as public transport or petrol costs, or taking clients for lunch.
5) You choose when your alarm clock goes off, whether that’s 6 am for yoga or a sleepy 8.59 am to start work at 9 am.
6) Throw your heals into the bin, and realise your comfortable slippers are your new best ‘fashion’ item.
7) Understanding the concept of ‘team’ can be just as effective exercised virtually in the comfort of your own home.
8) You realise that working from home works so well, you consider becoming a digital nomad.  Hello Barbados!
9) Your kitchen constantly speaks to you and invites you to cook a lovely homemade healthy dish instead of a stale Tesco Express sandwich.

10) Feeling a touch of cabin fever?  So change the space. Who hasn’t worked from their bed or your balcony overlooking the world below?

Cons
1) The daily commute from your bed to desk never exceeds 500 steps.  You end up adopting a posture with a bent back and arched neck, one that your physiotherapist would gasp at.
2) There is a questionable separation between work and home life. Your office perhaps now includes a child bouncing around.
3) Self control is a hard discipline and one that is challenged when your work times become your responsibility.
4) Losing your daily dose of social, even during your Monday moods, you would walk away smiling thanks to banter with your colleagues.
5) Forgetting how important taking breaks are for body, mind and soul.
6) No longer do you have a boss breathing down your neck, so you need to try harder to commit to  your targets.
7) Working without an ergonomic chair, desk and infrastructure can mean long term damage to your body.
8) Cabin fever symptoms can lead to a feeling of isolation, decreased motivation and loss of trust in people.
9) Difficulty concentrating thanks to the distractions of TV, smartphone and refrigerator.
10) Zoom Fatigue, which refers to the sense of fatigue and discomfort caused by excessive interaction via video technology.

And are you in favour or against working from home?

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