Perception versus Reality: Is Working-From-Home Right For You?

My examination of the perception of working from home versus the reality of working from home.

On July 4th, 2014, I moved from Atlanta, GA to San Francisco, CA. I arranged to continue working for my company and became a full-time remote employee with occasional business travel. Now, I've spent over a year working 100% from home with minimal business travel. I've learned quite a bit about the perception versus the reality of working from home. Working from home is something that typically sparks envy in other people. As soon as I say, "I work entirely from home," people usually marvel at how lucky I am and immediately ramble on about how they wish they could have that lifestyle too.

People immediately assume working from home is inherently better and easier than working in an office.

But, while I am a proponent of working from home, I haven't always felt like I was "living the dream." I resented the one-sided conversations about working from home and felt like nobody was willing to accept that perhaps there were serious considerations about working from home that weren't always "easier" or "better." The perception of working from home does not live up to the reality of working from home. In this post, I'd like to address the 3 criteria that have shaped my own perception of working from home. If you are considering working from home, I hope that the lessons in my own life serve to inform your decision. If you already work from home, perhaps my lessons will provide a feeling of empathy or even help you manage your time.

While working from home is a wonderful option, it's more nuanced than a plain and simple company benefit. For me, the joy of working from home very much depends on 3 criteria: the stage of your career, the type of work, and your own personality.

Criteria 1: The Stage of Your Career

Are you early in your career (less than 10 years work experience)?

If yes, working from home may introduce challenges in deepening the relationships you already have in your organization. "Out of site, out of mind" is real. Of course, you can maintain relationships from a distance, but those who have an in person, daily connection to mentors have an advantage over you. For me, being with my co-workers day in and day out provided support for me to explore my own interests, strengths, and weaknesses. Working from home is a huge benefit but the timing is not actually very helpful for me. I'm only 5 years into my career.

Working from home is inhibiting my ability to deepen connections, which is so important in the first 10 years of one's career.

Since I'm in consulting, my performance is often judged by the quality of my relationships with colleagues and clients more so even than my work itself. Of course, I've augmented this by attending Meetup groups, having frequent calls with former colleagues, and being incredibly diligent with client communication. But, being physically distant from your mentors and colleagues does change the game a bit. If you are early in your career, you might consider how working from home will affect your most valuable mentorship relationships.

Are you advanced in your career (more than 10 years work experience)?

If yes, working from home may provide a welcome pause in the need to be everywhere and do everything. While I obviously can't speak to this personally, I feel that being a little more established in one's career would soften the transition to working from home, as one's reputation and role would be more established.

Criteria 2: The Type of Work

Do you primarily perform analytical or repetitive tasks?

Since working from home, the quality and speed of my analytical tasks -such as consolidating data from research results into a presentation- has increased ten fold.

If yes, working from home is heaven - honestly. Without the distraction of other people, it's very easy to focus and simply execute. To me, this is the biggest benefit of working from home. The article about "maker time" versus manager time comes to mind. Working from home essentially increases your ability to indulge in the all-important "maker time."

Do you primarily perform human-centric tasks like people management or relationship building?

If yes, working from home will change the resources available for performing those tasks. I had to increase the frequency and increase the level of detail in all my communication in order to keep my relationships solid.

Criteria 3: Personality

I don't want to simplify this into a basic "extroverted/introverted" debate. Nobody is entirely extroverted or entirely introverted. Humans require a balance of time to themselves versus time with others. I'm referring to which social situation energizes you most: being alone or being with others?

Does being alone energize you?

If yes, working from home will produce joy in your life. If you primarily draw energy from within yourself, a crowded office environment can be very frustrating, and working from home can remedy that frustration.

Working from home increases "time to yourself" but still demands extra focus on building relationships.

Does being with others energize you?

If yes, working from home will change the way in which you draw energy from social situations. When you notice your energy waning, you'll need to reach out for support from your colleagues. My move from Atlanta to San Francisco was coincidentally followed by a series of projects that required zero travel. Typically, that's considered consulting heaven! That never happens!

However, the combination of zero travel and zero human-to-human co-worker interaction in a shared office space produced a loneliness that was very hard to deny.

What have I learned about my own work style?

While there are many benefits to working from home, at this point in my career it is not the healthiest option for me.

After this experience, I've decided the perfect work schedule is 3 days in an office and 2 days at home.

Moving forward, this is my goal. I know I won't achieve it immediately. I've chosen "3 days in an office and 2 days at home" as my ideal because I think that set-up would provide me with the social situations which energize me while still allowing for focused time for work and to be alone. Product Management is an especially people-oriented role that requires being physically present. So, I don't expect to enjoy this work pattern immediately, but plan to work towards it in a few years.

Conclusion

In other posts, I've mentioned my focus on minimalism. I see "over-stimulation" as a huge problem in the traditional office environment. Distributed systems are good multi-taskers - humans are not. I believe focus is one of the most elusive states of mind to achieve in today's society. Working from home allows your mind to rest and more easily focus on, "Ok, what is the one thing I need to do today?" Focus increases quality of work. Overall, working from home is indeed a huge benefit, but should be regarded with the respect it deserves. It's not a cure all, nor is it easy. It requires planning to be successful and will force you to learn your own work style and grow significantly. I'm happy I've had the opportunity to work from home, as it's heightened my appreciation of certain aspects of office environments and taught me which aspects erode focus. In the future, I hope to blend working in an office with working from home for a successful career.

#WFH #WorkFromHome #Remote