Hidden Costs of Working From Home

While this is a distant dream for the majority of workers, some are lucky enough to be able to “telecommute,” or work online from home. However, working this way doesn’t only involve the pleasure and privilege of scheduling one’s days but also the hidden potholes as a result of flexible work arrangements.

The lack of motivation as a result of non-existence of social interaction is one of the hardest parts of working from home. “It was really hard to discipline myself. It was hard to feel like I was a part of a team – since I had never met my co-workers in person,” comments Nadia Kotaishova who worked from home as a vendor manager for a translation company. Her duties included searching for new translators, contacting them and qualifying them.

“The job in itself was fine, but being at home really demotivated me. It was sort of a struggle against myself more than anything,” she continues. This is true for many workers who telecommute – procrastination often wins over trying to get the work done. The employee’s social life is often affected as well, as flexible working hours can lead to doing everything at the last moment and sacrificing other duties. 

Another problem could be the working hours, or more precisely the struggle to document them. People who work from home are nonexempt from overtime working hours and this is when it becomes hard to communicate it to the employer. At the same time, some workers could say they worked 10 hours when in fact they only worked 8 and many companies have no way of tracing the accountability.

Working from home can certainly be beneficial for someone who knows how to plan effectively and doesn’t suffer from procrastination. However, even then, socializing with the coworkers and simply getting out of the house every now and then can win over staying in bed longer each morning. “Telecommuting has its benefits, and I wouldn’t mind doing it maybe in the future, but at the moment I really would prefer getting out of the house!” concludes Nadia.

From YT Editors

One of Youth Time editors works from home, feels absolutely perfect and has no problem to get up early and start work at 8:30 a.m.

And what are your preferences? Are you able to plan work day by your own? Can work from home be same effective as work from office? Let’s discuss it, write to us. Most interesting answer will be published.

And before you start writing, here’s something to think about: Infographics about benefits and opportunities of telecommuting.

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