Main Challenges of Work from Home Job

The popularity of work from home jobs has increased over the last couple of years. Many people are choosing remote work over the on-premise office work. I have been working as a work from home employee for some time after a certain tenure of being a regular office employee. Everything has it’s own perks and perils and those things may depend on each person and their circumstance. Working from home is a perfect way to achieve a work-life balance and just like that it also comes with several difficulties. Just as working in an office has a different set of difficulties, a remote employee can also have some.

When I tell people I work from home, some are often jealous and some say that they won’t miss the social life in an office. When you are a mother, everything else can stay back but the same factor can become a distraction while working at home. As I said in a previous blog the main advantages of a work from home employment are cutting off the commute, homely food, working in pajamas and most importantly no need to make essential chit-chats. Whatever let’s move on this time to check out some of the challenges faced by work from home people.

Lack of Time Management

Actually while working from home people think they have a lot of free time. It is not right, we can save the time used for commute and some communication, but that will be converted to family time or for household chores.
And we think that we have a lot of time that time will be moving faster than expected and may go unnoticed. And the time comes to submit some task we must be rushing. When you work from home, you have to take into account all your other duties you may need to perform, such as cleaning, cooking, caring kids and elders, etc. that may affect you if you didn’t handle it well.

Consider starting your day with a walk or some exercises thereby promoting focus and mental engagement. Follow a time schedule and manage home chores in the same way you handle if you are an office going person. Give importance to overall wellbeing.

Different kind of Distraction

Why I said a different kind of distraction you know, here in this case when you are working from home your distraction depends on who you are like if you have kids they will disturb even though you have directed them not to during your working hours. Another is guests, delivery people, maids, and SNACKS. Yes craving for snacks increase, at the office you will have fixed timing for eating and snacking. Here you know that you are the boss, then the refrigerator and pantry will also become a distraction.

The only solution is to be clear and have a frank discussion with your spouse, children and other family members about disruptions during work hours. Certainly, working from home is likely a benefit to your family, but be sure to set limits. If you need, keep a “Do not disturb” signboard. Hope you remember the BBC daddy who broke the internet!

Your Home Becomes Your Office

If you are working in an office sometime in the evening you can leave work there and go home until the next morning. But working from home posses a different situation totally. Your home life automatically becomes mixed with your work life and vice versa. No matter where you are in your home, the attraction of checking if you have any new mails, or sending an email, or discussing projects with your colleagues becomes forceful; and it also grows difficult to suppress this urge. That sometimes may spoil beautiful moments you completely want to commit to your loved ones.

Family Members May Show Dislike

If you have conventional or old people at home they may not be pleased to see you in front of a laptop for nine hours a day! Things are changing though. If you are a parent, they think that you are not taking care of the children. To them real “work” is when you step out of home at a fixed time, go to your office, and return at a specific time. Therefore if you stay at home you are not working. This lack of understanding can stir up a level of irritation that can cause serious family arguments if it is not discussed on time.

Overdoing the Office work

Remote workers are more likely to overwork. When your personal life and your work are both under the same roof, it’s harder to “switch off.” And if you work for yourself, he adds that you might be in never-ending work mode, which can be tiring.

A lot of work from employees admits they have trouble forgetting to take breaks, ending work at the right time. As someone who has been working from home, I feel to go back to my laptop after the day has ended or during a weekend for a quick proofreading or topic research.
There is always some work pending and when you have an office cycle, it’s more relaxed to leave what you do at the workplace. When you work from home, your office maybe your living room or your bedroom. Which means you carry your work in that space too.

Less Social interaction

During the working years, the co-workers are the social circle of each individual to an extent. Earlier I mentioned a problem of distraction when there are people at home. If you don’t have family members at home, you might have exactly the opposite difficulty, loneliness.

When I started working in an office after long years of being a homemaker, it was challenging for me to get used to people around all the time and keep communicating with them. It was hard to step out of my comfort zone. Now again I am at home even though I am working I got used to its comforts. Obtaining the nerve to go out into a world and talk about a topic without being awkward will be difficult again.
People who work in a co-working space encounter unprepared interactions like for example discussion on random topics, team lunches or short walks with colleagues and more, thee make you less isolated even though you are a person who likes solitude.

Technology Issues

Nothing makes a work from home employee concern as much as an internet blackout. Or, maybe, when your computer crashes. So it is good to have a backup plan. A mobile hotspot device or a cell phone plan can save you when your internet goes out. A backup computer or a tablet also can get you through the day till you can get your machine repaired.

Health Issues

While working from home you may overeat or skip meals. Both are unhealthy. Exercise might also fall by the wayside when you’re burdening yourself with work, and you might forget to go outside enough making you deprived of enough Vitamin D. So make sure to have a healthy diet, exercise and step out of your home regularly.

Despite the difficulties described above, remote work is very satisfying. From my experience, I can assure you that. A few disadvantages will be there for everything we do. If you continue, you’ll experience adaptability, independence, the chance to work in your best circumstances, and moreover higher productivity and maybe more time for a life outside of work also. Ayoti can assure you such rewarding remote work. Work from home opportunities of Ayoti is bringing more and more women back to work.