(ThyBlackMan.com) Working from home sounds like a dream come true for many. You can get up later, and work in a comfortable environment. Working from home means not having to deal with rush hour traffic, nor disgruntle co-workers and supervisors. You can work in a state of Zen without having your peace disturbed in your favorite comfy chair, and life is simply peachy. I hope you are laughing because I would be as plenty of this isn’t the case at all depending on your job. Let’s keep it real…there are some perks to working from home, and no one should deny that.
However, there are some myths, and even some challenges. We all know nothing in this life is perfect. Working from home can cause a melding of several spaces that, for some, are best handled when compartmentalized. Yes, there are those that see working from home as a cage by which they are unable to focus and function. In a time whereby many people are being forced to work from home it is a good time to talk about a few myths.
1. When working from home you can’t work without regard to time. Look depending on the kind of work at home job you have there will be things that must happen on a schedule. Time is still the ruler of all. You can’t just get up when you feel like it, clock in when you feel like it, move around or log off at will, and no you can’t just dress any kind of way. Granted no one really has to know what pants you chose, but when the team meeting happens, via video conference, you don’t want to be in your bonnet. Work still has deadlines, and sometimes there is more work piled on because you are working from home.
2. Working from home does not mean you don’t have to deal with people that will work your nerves. Okay, maybe you don’t have to see them in person, but know that email and meetings can still be frustrating. There are still team issues to navigate and sometimes it can be difficult when so much of the interaction is via email. Depending on your environment at home dealing with work situations could add to the pressure being felt before work as you juggle work alongside many other things.
3. Working from home cuts off the physically social aspect of a job. For some that are introverts this might be great, but for extroverts (and even some introverts) this is detrimental. They find it hard to focus because home is not associated with work in a functional capacity. They battle with feeling like too many aspects of life are running together. Work bleeds into home, and it bleeds into personal space. Sometimes they have a hard time shutting work off and being present at home because they needed the physical barrier.
Working from home is great for some, hard for others, and have it’s set of challenges for all those that embark upon it. The myth that it’s an everyday peachy state is incorrect, and the idea that one might work less is absolutely misguided information. Work will always have its hurdles to overcome no matter where you clock-in.
Staff Writer; Christian Starr
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