What Are the Pros and Cons of a Home Office?

There’s a lot to be said for going to work everyday in an office that someone else has to pay for. You can simply drop everything, shut it all down and leave it there when the clock strikes quitting time. And the camaraderie of an office setting is hard to replace. In fact, belonging is one of the five pillars of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Having a place to go to work is why many people go to work at all — to make friends and build social relationships.

According to a 2018 Forbes piece: “Strong social connections make people happier and physically healthier, which can translate into work performance.” This implies that those who work at home have a tendency to work less and even live unhealthy lives of desperation! Could it be true?

We Know Better

Whether you’re a freelance or contract worker — or your corporate boss has offered you remote access and the ability to work at home, you may find that it’s an ideal solution for your lifestyle. Maybe you already have enough friends and need some alone time to keep your sanity. For many who savor their work at home situation, the florescent lights, constant chatter and ringing phones are more of a distraction than a comforting atmosphere in which you can be productive.

As entrepreneurs and writers, the principals of Ray Access spend most of their time in isolation. They gave the office thing consideration, but the accountant said an emphatic “No.” One of the most important benefits for small business owners is the savings that comes with a home office. The tax write-offs are just as astute as if paying for a brick and mortar office space.

Work at Home Benefits to Beat the Band

To those workers who’ve done the work at home bit for a long time, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages. Many could never return to an office shared with other people. They’re spoiled. In addition to saving a bundle on monthly bills, some of the most outstanding benefits of working from home include:

• Flexibility. Unless your keystrokes are monitored by your boss, you can get up when you want to, have lunch at any time, take a two-hour break and go work out, move your laptop outside, call a friend in the middle of the afternoon and just darn well work whenever you want. As long as you fulfill the tenets of your contract, you set your hours.
• Dress code. There is none! Big savings on wardrobe updates and dry cleaning.
• Family time. Removing a commute from your workday gives you an enormous chunk of time you can spend with your family. You can be there when the kids get home from school and return to work as they settle in. Make dinner for the gang and then work some more in the evening if you need to.
• Health. While some people need the discipline and socialization found in a workplace to be mentally healthy, when you work at home, you have a much better chance of eating more healthfully. It’s just as easy to throw together a salad for lunch than to go out to get a burger and fries. And back to that mid-day or early morning workout: you don’t even have to shower when you get back home. It’s just you in the office!
• Less meeting time. Even if you do have to sign in for the daily office meeting electronically, you can always mute your end and turn up the radio. Entrepreneurs who work at home set meetings at coffee shops on their schedules. Just remember that meeting clients means you have to put on some decent clothes. But at least you can write off the coffee.

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