5 pros and cons of working from home

The Covid-19 pandemic changed many aspects of people's lives in urban cities like Lagos and Abuja. One of the ways life changed was working remotely.

Working remotely showed the world that life can go on without everyone physically assembling at the office.

In urban cities where a lot of time and money is spent commuting, remote work offers a break from the rigours of traffic.

But each system of work, either remote or physically in an office has its pros and cons.

It increases productivity

One strong advantage of working from home is increased productivity. In a study carried out by Stanford University, 16,000 workers who work from home were studied in nine months.

It was discovered that productivity increased by 13%. The reason for this increase in productivity is a quiet working environment and because those working from home do not take many days off for health or other reasons.

2. It blurs work-life balance

Working from home is a two-edged sword. It can either offer the opportunity to have an effective work-life balance or blur the lines of your work and life.

Depending on the nature of your job, working from home can allow you run errands in between work, work from a friend’s house or even travel.

3. It is distracting

On the other hand, some people can easily be distracted by many things when at home, but even with this, taking regular breaks when working increases productivity.

For Fatima, “When working from home, I get up so many times to do different things, I would rather work from the office.”

4. You do not have to commute

Samuel loves the fact that he can just get to work immediately when he wakes up without commuting.

5. You home isn't a sanctuary of rest anymore

However, if your work is quite hectic, you might roll off the bed and start working until you fall asleep. Your home used to be a sanctuary of rest, but now you barely get enough rest there.

Communication when working from home might have been an issue if not for sites like Zoom and Google Meet, thus bridging whatever added advantage working in the office.

So is the future of work remote? It depends on the nature of the work, some jobs can be carried out in the comfort of your home.

Although, some companies are resuming full physical work in the wake of vaccines and relaxing Covid-19 restrictions, others are adopting a mix of the two.