Why “Work From Home” Isn’t the Ideal Office
We know you’ve heard it said before – “work from home” is the perfect office. There is so much flexibility and you can create your own hours; you save so much time not having to commute; you feel less stressed when you work from home. While there’s truth to these statements, there’s also holes you may be overlooking. There actually might be a better office out there for you than the home office.
We won’t deny it, there’s absolutely perks when you work from home! But we can’t deny that working from home can create new problems that an alternative office setting wouldn’t. But we’re also not saying that you have to give up working from home completely to work in an office.
Is your head spinning yet? Let’s break it down a little further.
There’s positives to working from home:
- No dress codes
- No commute
- Flexible hours
- Privacy
But, there’s also negatives:
- No social interaction
- Feelings of isolation
- No work/life balance
- Distractions
- Lack of equipment
- No ability to meet with clients
- No ability to collaborate with others
That being said, the real ideal work setting would be a place with all the positives work from home brings, without any of the negatives. Does that type of setting exist? Yes! It’s called a coworking space.
A coworking company like CommonGrounds Workplace provides truly ideal workspaces. This is especially true for professionals who work from home and are realizing it’s not quite as great as they expected. A coworking space provides all the comforts of home (with even more amenities) and the resources of an office.
Coworking spaces offer all different membership types, so you can decide if you’d like be hybrid and still work from home a few days a week, if you’d like to work full time in an office, or if you’d like to just pop in just once and a while.
In a coworking space, you can still create your own schedule and work the days/hours you’d like to. Many memberships* allow 24/7 building access, so that you can be in control of your schedule. This will allow you to keep the flexibility the home office provides, without the ever present feeling of “well I probably should get some work done since my computer is just right over there…”
Going back to the office also allows you social interaction and the chance to expand your network. You never know who you’ll meet as you grab a coffee refill or how one single conversation at a coworking community event could gain you a client or a collaborator. Coworking spaces are filled with start ups, entrepreneurs, and business professionals of all trades. You never know how reaching out to someone or starting a conversation could positively affect both of your businesses.
Lastly, one of the biggest challenges work from home brings is distractions. These distractions can appear in the forms of family members, laundry that needs to be done, home projects with impending deadlines, or even mid-day naps that you just can’t resist. It’s so important to have a balance between personal life and professional life. Work from home just doesn’t cut it in that department.
A membership to a coworking space, even one that takes you out of the house just one day a week, can improve the temptation of distractions. It gets you into a new environment, into a new way of thinking, and into a new routine. It sets an example of how the workday should be and how productive you can be without the distractions of home looming over you.
An alternative office solution to working from home really is worth looking into. It can make a huge difference in your workday and in your career. You don’t have to give up any of the things you love about working from home. All you have to do is embrace the fact that an alternative workspace could bring you even better workdays that you’re having right now.
*24/7 building access is only available with certain memberships. Please see your workplace manager for details.
