homeworking or home working

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Before jumping into something new, we often weigh the pros and cons. During the pandemic, many workers were forced to work from home and, unfortunately, didn’t get this luxury. But since then, the dust has settled, and many are considering making working from home (WFH) their primary way of working. If you are one of these workers, you're likely in the process of evaluating the advantages and disadvantages of this work style and what it does for you.

It's often helpful to hear from people with prior experience who have seen the benefits and challenges of working from home firsthand (outside of ourselves). To help, we reached out to the work-from-home, remote work, and digital nomad communities to get their perspectives on remote work and WFH. Plus, we included tips for combatting the most common challenges of working from home.

Pros and cons of working from home

Pro: remote workers feel less stressed, con: working from home can be lonely, pro: no daily commute, con: communication + collaboration can be a challenge, pro: remote workers have flexibility in their schedules, con: it's challenging to build a remote company culture.

In 2023, remote workers reported being less stressed than their in-office and hybrid counterparts . This could be due to a number of factors, such as no commute time, less overall spending of money, more time to focus, etc. In fact, hybrid workers - who have the option to work both in-office and from home - say that working from home is best for tasks like working independently, focusing, thinking creatively, and balancing work and life.

That being said, some workers thrive in a typical office environment. If you're new to WFH and struggling to focus, we have some productivity tips and music playlists to help you focus .

Pros: less stress, greater ability to do focused work, being there for my family, more time for pretty much everything that matters (fitness, creative pursuits) Cons: have to be far more intentional re: social engagement. It's easy to put systems in place to deal with other cons — Scott Dawson (@scottpdawson) January 7, 2020

When you work from home, you're likely flying solo most of the time - this may be why 20% of managers say their top workplace concern is employee loneliness . Being alone can create feelings of isolation and loneliness and can often hurt your health and productivity. It's important to build in time for social interaction, even if it isn't in-person.

To combat these feelings, schedule a virtual coffee with a coworker or join a Slack community to socialize with other people who share similar interests as you. If you need even more inspiration, check out these tips to combat the work-from-home loneliness you might be feeling.

If you work in a city, you've likely experienced the hassle of commuting. Whether you're taking public transportation or stuck in traffic, your mind might wander and think about all the other things you could be doing during your commute time. Studies have shown that commuting negatively impacts health and happiness - and in 2023, 33% of workers reported commuting 31-45 minutes (one way) every day . When you work from home, not only will you have more free time in your day, you're likely to see an improvement in your well-being too.

Pros, loca tion freedom, no commute, time to spend with my people, in community, enjoying hobbies. Personal experience, better Comms, more intentional focus on trust. Cons, isolation, career progression, stigma from those who don't understand remote "but do you really work?!" 🙈 — Rose Barrett 🌹🍀 (@RemoteRose) January 7, 2020

Effective communication and collaboration can be hard to achieve when you and your colleagues are distributed across different locations. This means that the tools and strategies you use to communicate need to be thought out and intentional.

Determine which asynchronous communication tools you'll use (e.g., Slack and email) and make sure you have a consistent schedule for face-to-face conversations via video conferencing . When everyone's clear on the methods of collaboration, miscommunication will become less frequent.

Synchronous tools are also important. If you are working from home, you will likely have telecommuting calls with others in the office. In-office employees need to ensure they have the right hardware in place to have collaborative discussions. Consider tools like a 360-camera to capture everyone in the room , along with a dedicated whiteboard camera for brainstorming sessions.

Love this! Landing a consistent style of collaboration and actively promoting inclusion are areas companies need to explore for a positive experience for remote workers. These are key challenges for “hybrid” companies (HQ-based office workers, periodic wfh, and compete remote). — Julie Carey (@jcarey2424) January 7, 2020

Raise your hand if you have responsibilities and obligations outside of your day-to-day job. I'm sure most (if not all) of us have our hands up. Depending on your organization's remote or hybrid work policy , you can schedule your day to accommodate aspects of your life outside of work.

Need to run to a doctor's appointment in the morning? Go for it! Have to hop offline for an hour to pick up your child from school? No problem! Remote work gives you the flexibility to manage all aspects of your life, whether they're directly related to your work or not.

My parents are in their 80's. I can travel to their home, spend time with them (and clean out the refrigerator) while working. The only con is they don't believe I'm working 😂 — Kitt Miller (@netbaby1997) January 9, 2020

If you have a remote team, there are certainly advantages and disadvantages of employees WFH. For one, company culture needs to be more intentional. The ways remote teams get to know one another and collaborate are different than they'd be if everyone worked together in the same office. Luckily, there are remote culture tools and resources that can be used when team members aren't able to get together in-person. Remote leaders and managers need to remember that transparency is key for employees to have the information they need to work independently and feel engaged with their work.

We love our remote workers! Pros: -Communication is more purposeful -Flexibility of time encourages diverse hires Cons (unless you're @GAPartners ): -Losing out on company culture -Collaboration can be a challenge #remoteworkers #digitalnomads #wfh — G&A Partners (@GAPartners) January 8, 2020

With most of the working world experiencing remote work during the pandemic, it is no surprise that many want to WFH full-time. If employers are to take away anything from our 2023 State of Hybrid Work Report , it’s that flexibility reigns supreme. If companies offer their employees the flexibility to work from home or the office - or a combination of both! - workers will be happier and more willing to go the extra mile. That said, it’s important to set employees up for success when they work remotely.   

If you’re trying to make the transition to remote work, check out our tips for asking your manager .

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• How to work from home in 2023: 30 tips ...

How to work from home in 2023: 30 tips for success

While working from home gives you flexibility (goodbye, commute), it often means less structure and more distractions from your housemates. As such, you may have to switch up your schedule and learn new ways to succeed in a remote work setting. Get 24 tips to help you find balance—including ways to set boundaries, create productive routines, and virtually connect with your coworkers.

With the rise in both part-time and full-time remote work opportunities, you can say farewell to long commutes and office cubicles. 

Thriving in these new circumstances can be challenging, so we’re covering 30 work from home tips for boosting productivity .

Build remote communication best practices

Remote collaboration can take some getting used to, but you can overcome this hurdle by setting clear communication norms. Here’s how:

1. Set communication guidelines

To ensure everyone on your team is on the same page, establish guidelines for the frequency, timing, and means of communication. Additionally, determine how cross-departmental communication will work. 

Decide which communication medium would be best in a given situation. For example, if questions or issues can be addressed in an email or chat message, there’s no need to set up a meeting. 

Conversely, if the situation calls for frequent back-and-forths in real time, a quick call would be more ideal. 

2. Set project goals and expectations early

To account for the delays in communication, it’s best to set expectations early, especially when you’re working on highly cross-functional projects. Be clear in setting individual and team priorities. Provide detailed guidelines, goals, and dates for projects. 

After setting initial expectations and goals, be prepared to address questions or clarify things as they come up. Once projects are underway, provide regular feedback to ensure expectations are being met.

It’s also important to be flexible and prepare to shift dates around if needed.

3. Overcommunicate when working in different time zones

Work-from-home jobs may provide remote employees the flexibility to work from anywhere. However, when people work from different time zones, response times are prolonged. To avoid losing time between exchanges, be as detailed as possible in your messages or emails. 

Here are some ways to do this:

Provide as much information upfront as possible

Specify project deadlines or when you need to hear back by

Link to resources or related discussion threads 

Supplement your message with images or screenshots 

Let team members know when you’ll be away ahead of time

Getting the hang of asynchronous communication will help you avoid losing time on projects and ensure your team has everything they need to move forward on their work. 

4. Record team meetings

Larger team meetings or all-hands meetings are good opportunities to connect with other team members and get company updates. However, not everyone may be able to attend these meetings due to time zone differences or if they’re out sick or on vacation.

To ensure that all team members feel included and have access to the same information, record and share these virtual meetings with everyone. 

This also goes for training sessions or other important presentations. Make the recordings and slide decks accessible so team members can review and get up to speed at their own pace.

Create ways to stay productive at home

Just because you're not in the office doesn't mean you can't be productive. Try these strategies to boost your focus while working remotely:

5. Find your productivity window

It’s helpful to knock out high-priority tasks in the morning, but working from home gives you the freedom to do your most important work when you’re at your most productive. 

Are you a morning person who loves to knock out tasks before lunch? Do you get your energy late in the day and even into the night? As long as you’re getting enough sleep and making time for yourself, schedule your high-priority work during your best windows of productivity. Then, you can do lower-priority work whenever you want. 

Recognize when your peak production hours are and schedule that time to do uninterrupted work. If it’s outside regular working hours, talk to your manager about creating a schedule that works for you. 

6. Combine your to-do list with time blocking

It’s easy to get off track or procrastinate when you’re working from the comfort of home, so it can be helpful to use time management or task management strategies. For instance, you can use to-do list software and time blocking to schedule tasks in order of importance.

Visualizing your tasks can help you stay on track and get things done on time. If you start the day with a clear idea of what you want to accomplish, it’ll help you focus on finishing one task at a time and prevent multitasking. 

7. Limit distractions

When your personal and professional lives intertwine at home, external interruptions during work hours are inevitable—understandably so. That said, you can also take steps to limit distractions as much as possible.

Here are some things you can do to reduce distractions when working:

If you don’t need your phone, set it to silent or airplane mode

Disable app notifications during designated focus time

Wear noise-canceling headphones to block out distracting sounds 

8. Commit to heads-down time

Even when working from home, it’s necessary to tune out coworkers sometimes. If you need to commit to a project for a little while, turn off chat and email notifications so you don’t find yourself scatterbrained.

Take advantage of status updates in chat to let your team know when you’re in focus mode. Make sure you’re scheduling head-down time the same way you would a meeting.

9. Tackle high-priority tasks in the morning

As Mark Twain once said, “If it’s your job to eat a frog, it’s best to do it first thing in the morning.”

When this quote is applied to task prioritization, it’s a sound piece of advice. By eating your “frog”—or tackling the biggest or most important task—in the morning, you’ll feel more accomplished and less stressed throughout the day as you move onto less demanding or time-sensitive tasks. 

You’ll likely be able to direct more of your undivided attention to a task first thing in the morning, since there will be more distractions later on as other tasks and notifications start to come in.

Optimize your space and your life

When transitioning to work from home, it’s important to create a space and routine that will support your productivity. Try these techniques to optimize your work environment and schedule:

10. Create a morning routine

Transitioning to remote work might have thrown off your schedule, so getting back into a daily morning routine can help you feel ready to start your workday. 

Set up your own “commute” to ease into your workday. For example, get dressed like you’re going to work, take a shower, and make a cup of coffee. If you’re intentional about “going to work,” you’re also more likely to be productive . 

Similarly, you can also create a routine to wrap up your workday and decompress. For example, you could review what you finished for the day, change your clothes, and take some time to meditate or clear your mind.

11. Stick to a schedule

Telecommuting, hybrid jobs, and other home opportunities can come with the perks of flexible hours and convenience, but keep in mind that it may take longer to get things done if there are constant disruptions to your workflow. 

You don’t have to work a strict 9–5 day, but you should designate work hours and stick to them when possible to keep up a continuous workflow. 

Don’t forget to schedule breaks so you have time to recharge. Taking regular breaks lets your brain relax and refocus, helping you remain productive throughout the day.

It can also be easy to lose track of time when you’re working online, so using time-tracking software can help you follow your schedule. 

12. Define a separate physical workspace

It may be tempting to work from your bed or the kitchen, but your productivity might take a hit since there are distractions all around you. It’s better to separate your home life and work environment so there are clear boundaries. 

If you don’t have a separate room to use as an office, carve out a section of any room as your workspace. Invest in a good desk and chair so that you can work comfortably and focus. 

Having a designated workspace can get you in the right mindset for work and signal to other members of your household that you’re at work. 

13. Create your ideal office

Working from home gives you the power to create the office of your dreams. You can get the standing desk you’ve always wanted or finally play your working music out loud without distracting anyone. 

Being the architect of your own office allows you to craft a space where you’ll be happy, and therefore more productive. The most important thing is to create an office where you’ll be comfortable and focused. Limit the distractions around you but also design a space you won’t dread going to every day. 

14. Declutter your workspace

It can be hard to focus on work when your desk is messy. Research has shown that clutter can make us feel more stressed and anxious. 

To avoid this, take the time to come up with a system to organize your workspace at home. A tidy workspace will save you time in cleaning and finding things you need.

Here are some ways to stay organized:

Develop a digital or physical filing system for organization

Organize your browser’s toolbar with bookmarks and frequently used features

Declutter your desk during breaks

At the end of the day, leave your desk the way you’d like to see it the next day. 

15. Communicate expectations to your housemates

To keep everything running smoothly both at work and at home, it’s crucial to set expectations for your housemates. 

Let them know your work schedule as well as how to reach you while you’re working. 

If you’re a parent and you’re sharing caregiving responsibilities, coordinate your schedules accordingly. For example, you can divide the day into shifts, alternating working and focusing on child care.  

It’s a good idea to set expectations for your housemates on how to get your attention during work hours. For example, when your door is closed, it means they should slide a note under the door instead of knocking. 

Communicating this will help prevent conflicts at home and hopefully set clear work expectations. 

16. Align your skills with a WFH role

If your current job doesn’t let you work from home, consider exploring some roles that let you stay in your pajamas. There are a number of ways to work from home, so look for a position that matches up with your skill set. Some popular work from home jobs include: 

Blogger: One of the most popular and inexpensive work-from-home jobs, blogging truly offers the freedom to work whenever and wherever you want. However, you have to be patient, as it can take some time to build an audience and bring in revenue. 

Online educator: Online education provides an alternative for teachers who prefer to work in a virtual classroom. This profession ranges from tutors to K–12 and adult learning teachers. 

Virtual assistant: Virtual assistants handle administrative tasks like scheduling appointments and booking flights. Working largely behind the scenes, virtual assistants can perform their duties from the comfort of their homes. 

Transcriptionist : Transcriptionists transcribevoice recordings into writing. This job requires training and certification, as it demands precision and patience. 

Editor : Being an editor requires focus and precision. Editors are experts in refining written work so it reads well, speaks to the correct audience, and is free of grammatical errors. 

Website tester: Web testers gauge the performance and user experience of a website. If you have an eye for good web design and a background in computer science, you’ll likely be a good web tester. 

Bookkeeper: Bookkeepers manage financial documents and offer recommendations on spending trends. You don’t need a degree or certification to become a bookkeeper, as most gain experience and training on the job. 

Support your remote team

Even if you can't see your teammates in person, you can still connect with them virtually. Here are some ways to stay in touch with your team and make sure they feel supported:

17. Recognize your team’s successes

It’s important to recognize and celebrate team members’ contributions so they feel valued and motivated. Whether it’s through an email or a public shout-out on chat or during a meeting, find ways to show your appreciation and support.

This type of recognition is also a way to model positive behavior and performance for other team members to follow.

18. Provide opportunities for team engagement

Working remotely can get lonely since it can be harder to connect with other team members. But it doesn’t have to be that way. To keep your team engaged, create opportunities for social interaction. 

Here are some ways to engage your team:

Do virtual team-building activities

Schedule social hours

Share some team motivational quotes

Connect through virtual lunches or coffee breaks

These activities not only help team members feel connected but are also good ways to strengthen team bonds, which improves cohesiveness and collaboration.  

Configure your remote collaboration tools

When working remotely, the number of emails you send and receive will likely go up, so you need to make sure you can access your work email from home. 

In addition to emails, every team uses different tools to collaborate. Your team should decide on what tools to use for messaging and video conferencing, as well as keeping track of projects. 

Agree on the remote collaboration tools your team needs and check that all your login credentials work ahead of time. Make sure you have solid Wi-Fi so you don’t risk losing your work or cutting out of meetings.

20. Implement a team collaboration tool

Managing remote teams requires a lot of flexibility when it comes to scheduling. You might have to learn how to use a new set of tools, embrace asynchronous communication , and get creative with problem-solving. 

It’s also beneficial to set up a centralized project management platform where you can plan and track your team’s projects and tasks. You can do this by building spreadsheets, creating shared folders for each project, or using project management software to automate processes. 

With a robust project management system setup, team members will be able to find the information they need and submit deliverables in one place, reducing the number of extra emails and meetings.

21. Schedule regular check-ins

Communication is key when it comes to collaboration, and even more so when working in remote teams. 

To maintain communication, schedule regular meetings with your direct reports, whether it’s daily, weekly, or every other day. By holding these check-ins, team members will be able to address things that are hard to convey over email or chat. You’ll also be able to get more detailed updates on how your teammates are doing. 

Here are some talking points you might want to include in the meeting agenda :

Get updates on current projects

Give feedback on past or current projects

Check on teammate’s overall well-being

Discuss upcoming projects 

Provide additional resources or training

These can help create a more productive and engaging meeting. 

Prioritize your mental health

Remote work can pose challenges to our mental health—like unclear boundaries and a feeling of isolation. Here are some strategies to nurture your mental and physical well-being while working from home:

22. Reach out to other team members

The isolation of remote work can take a toll on our mental health. Having a network of people that you can reach out to can be immensely beneficial.

Find a work buddy that you can connect with and reach out to share challenges and successes, work- or non-work-related. That way, you can also continue to build work relationships even when you can’t meet each other in person. 

Additionally, bring up any concerns with your manager. They’ll be able to readjust your workload or provide mental health care resources as needed. 

If you need to rearrange your work hours or have questions about taking mental health days, reach out to your human resources team for support. 

23. Schedule time for yourself

Setting up a structured routine is important when balancing work and hobbies. How detailed you get with your plan is up to you, but in general, creating a rough schedule of daily tasks can be helpful to keep yourself accountable. 

It is especially important to make time for the things you love. It can be easy to make work your first priority, but penciling in time for yourself can decrease the likelihood of burnout in the long run. 

Your personal schedule could include tasks such as:

Take a 15-minute walk

Read a chapter of a book

Call a friend or family member

It’s a good feeling when you get to cross those activities off your list at the end of the day, and it can help fuel your passion for work the next day. 

24. Practice gratitude

Without face-to-face collaboration, it’s easy to feel like the work you’re doing is less personal, and therefore less important. 

When reviewing work or collaborating on a project, let your coworkers know that they’re doing a great job. A simple kudos or short message celebrating someone’s progress can go a long way. 

25. Be patient with yourself and those around you

This tip applies to both working parents and those without kids. Whether you have distractions around you or are merely distracting yourself, patience is key. 

You can only direct your attention to so many things at once, so at times you may need to ease up on rules. For instance, it’s OK to allow yourself to take incremental breaks. Just don’t drop the ball on work deliverables.

Balancing work, self-care, and relationships with those around you can be tough. Planning in advance is immensely helpful, but even so, unexpected things can always come up. Let your team know when that happens and figure out a backup plan. 

Above all, be patient with yourself. Accept the fact that some days will be better than others, since everyone needs time to adjust.

26. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule

As work hours become more flexible, it can be tempting to stay up later to watch Netflix or sleep in until noon. However, disrupting your circadian rhythm might leave you with varying energy levels or fatigue throughout the day.

It’s recommended that adults get seven or more hours of sleep each night. Stick to that rule of thumb so you’ll be able to feel your best at work and maximize your concentration.

27. Set work boundaries

When the boundaries are blurred between home and work life, it can feel more difficult to separate the two. In fact, 71% of workers experienced burnout in 2020. Plus, 87% of employees report working nearly two hours later every day.

To prevent burnout and achieve proper work-life balance, it’s crucial to set clear boundaries, which is where creating a schedule comes in handy. Define your work hours and when people can contact you. 

Once you’re done with your workday, leave everything work-related until the next day—even those emails that come in after work. Take time to focus on yourself, your hobbies, and your relationships. 

28. Take breaks from screens

Staring at a screen for hours on end and processing large amounts of information can be physically and mentally exhausting. 

Whenever you have a longer break, step away from the screen to give your eyes and your brain a rest.

Cut back on social media

Go on walks during breaks

Turn off work notifications until the next workday 

Put away your work equipment after work

A change in scenery can also help you get your creative juices flowing. 

29. Prioritize exercise

While working from home allows you to spend more time on the couch, it’s important to implement regular exercise into your schedule. 

Whether it’s a run before work or a walk during your lunch break, exercise gets your endorphins flowing and keeps your brain sharp throughout the day. Try starting your day with a workout or doing some midday yoga. See if these changes affect your productivity. 

30. Take time off

Just because you’re not going into an office every day doesn’t mean you don’t deserve time off. 

Time off is more important now than ever. With looser hours and fewer boundaries, it’s pivotal that you schedule time off and take mental health days. If you take a mental health day, try to stay active. You can do activities like:

Exercising 

Reading and writing

Meditating 

Catching up on tasks around the house 

Calling a family member or friend 

Doing one of your favorite hobbies 

Make sure your team is prioritizing time off and mental health days, even in the era of remote work. 

Boost your productivity at home

It takes some time to get the hang of balancing home and work life, whether you work at a startup or enterprise business. Stay flexible and communicate your needs with your team as you go.

Once you’re equipped with the right tools and home office setup , you’re ready to settle into remote and tackle working from home. Don’t forget, work-from-home jobs have their benefits, especially when you practice some of these remote work tips.

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What is a workcation? (And when should you take one?)

6 ways to develop adaptability in the workplace and embrace change

How to work from home: everything you need for remote working

Our guide to everything you need to make working from home a breeze, including the mouse, monitor, keyboard and router for you

The best mouse for working from home

The best keyboard for working from home, the best monitor for working from home, the best webcam for working from home, the best printer for working from home, the best laptop for working from home, the best network extender for working from home, best office setup for working from home, best software for working from home.

With many of us around the world continuing to work from home in 2021, you may be looking at exactly what hardware you'll need to be productive, and where to start.

In this guide, we'll walk you through all the essential kit you need to work from home successfully, as well as giving you tips and tricks on working remotely.

The need for the right equipment to make sure you're productive and happy is higher than ever given recent news, and it's not just a case of making sure you have the best laptop for working from home or a smartphone to stay in contact with your bosses, co-workers, family and friends (although this is still important) but also the multitude of other items and services that will make working from home a breeze.

If this all seems a bit overwhelming, and you don't know where to start, never fear - here's our guide to everything you need to know about the tech needed to be working from home.

If you left your trusty mouse in the office and are feeling a little disconnected, don't worry, as a new desk buddy can be yours with our best mouse and best wireless mouse guides.

Picking the best mouse for your needs when working from home is important, as it's one of the most common ways of interacting with your PC or laptop.

You can spend hours using your mouse when working from home, so you need to make sure you have one that's comfortable to hold, as well as being fast and responsive. Even if you have a laptop with a touchpad, you may find getting a mouse will make things more comfortable.

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Microsoft Classic IntelliMouse

Specifications, reasons to buy, reasons to avoid.

While it seems like all of our peripherals are either being fitted with unnecessary lighting or morphed into odd shapes, there are still some mice out there that you can take seriously from looks alone. 

The Microsoft Classic Intellimouse, for example, touts a classic design and appealing white lighting, and it is a breath of fresh air. It also beefs up the sensor, allowing users to ramp up the DPI to 3,200. It’s not wireless, and it’s hardly made for gaming, but if you’re in the market for a mouse that’ll help you get all your work done when working from home, the Microsoft Classic Intellimouse will be the best mouse for you.  

As with mice, having the best keyboard for working from home is also important. You'll want something nice and comfortable, as again, you'll be using it for long periods of time.

If you're looking for an external keyboard to give you a bit more flexibility, our best keyboards guide is here for you. We've also got our guide for the best gaming keyboard , if you're looking for something that can keep up with best AAA games as well as your productivity needs.

Logitech K780

With its latest keyboard, Logitech is targeting smartphone and tablet owners who prefer to use their device while sat at a desk. And, if you were a fan of the predecessor, the K380, the Logitech K780 should be right up your alley, especially with its added number pad. 

This keyboard still has the ability to pair with three devices using Bluetooth or wireless, so you can swap between all your gadgets on the fly. And, thanks to its comfortable rounded keycaps, it’s still a pleasure to type on. The keyboard’s base is the star of the show, however, as it can hold mobile devices up to 11.3mm thick in an upright position. This places them within arms’ reach to make anything from replying to WhatsApp messages or reading a digital magazine easier than ever. 

If you're one of the lucky few who enjoys a multiple-monitor set-up in the office, you may be feeling a little short-changed in home working from home has minimised your screen options. 

Luckily, adding an extra monitor is easier than ever these days, particularly if you have a docking station alongside your work laptop. Most external monitors can now be connected via HDMI, USB-C or DP ports, so if you're looking for an extra bit of screen space, check out our list of the best business monitors .

BenQ GW2270H

Again, if you've just started working from home, then you don't want to spend loads of money on a monitor. Instead, you'll want something that's affordable, yet allows you to work comfortably from home.

That's why we think the BenQ GW2270H is the best monitor for working from home. It offers the most affordable full HD monitor with an HDMI connector, and it's small and stylish that means it'll fit nicely into your home.

It has some standout features as well, to ensure you're comfortable while working from home ; one that reduces flicker (PWM technology) and a low blue light mode which may help with headaches and sleeping disorders. The stand design gives it a more expensive feel and its three ports (including two HDMI ones) are worthy of a mention, as is the two-year warranty and the VESA wall mounting option.

When working from home, you'll probably find you're holding just as many meetings – if not more – via video conferencing services like Skype and Google Hangouts. With these meetings, it's important to have a good quality webcam. Working from home can sometimes feel a little isolating, and video conferencing can give you some much needed human interaction.

While laptops usually come with webcams built-in, if you're using a desktop PC, you'll want to invest in the best webcam you can. Laptop owners may also want to buy a standalone webcam, as the one included in their machines might not be up to scratch, so let our best webcams guide help you out there.

Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000

The Microsoft LifeCam Studio is one of the best webcams out there, and ideal for home working. Aimed at pro users with large displays, it features a familiar configuration of 1080p recording and 720p live video calling. It rotates 360 degrees, and can be mounted on a tripod with autofocus. 

The wideband mic delivers crystal clear audio, and Microsoft’s TrueColor system will shift the exposure dynamically to keep you well lit, making it a great choice for business conferencing and presentations.

If you're now working from home, one of the devices you may find you miss the most is the office printer. They're not the most glamorous of devices, but if you need to print off documents or labels, you'll soon get frustrated if you don't have a printer.

The good news is that you don't need to spend a lot of money on a great printer for day-to-day work. We've listed the best value printer below, and make sure you check out our guide to the best printers for more buying advice.

HP Deskjet 2622

HP offers plenty of choice when it comes to all-in-one printers at this budget end of the market and this glossy white model is one of the cheapest. Nonetheless, it can print, scan and copy and offers both Wi-Fi and USB connectivity. There’s no auto duplex mode and printing is rather slow, but the design is quite compact and practical. Like some other low-cost inkjets, the three coloured inks are combined in the same cartridge, which is a slight disadvantage, but the black is a pigment ink which means more durable black and white printed pages. 

If you're really serious about getting the best working from home setup, then you may find you want to purchase a new laptop. After all, if you're using it all day, every day, then you'll want something that is powerful, dependable and comfortable to use.

Our best laptops for working from home guide will highlight some of the top devices you can buy right now, but when it comes to working from home we thing the laptop below is the best choice.

Acer Swift 3

Beyond the Acer Swift 3's modest exterior, you'll find an excellent laptop that boasts plenty of power for working from home. The Swift 3 is an inexpensive laptop; however, that plain chassis is all-aluminum and packed with beefy components. 

In terms of performance, it gets surprisingly close to the far more expensive Microsoft Surface Laptop. Its display is a little lower-res, but the two are otherwise strikingly similar - other than the price. 

This laptop is incredible to use as well, with its roomy trackpad as well as its backlit keyboard that offers a comfortable typing experience with decent travel. If you're going to be writing a lot as part of your day-to-day life working from home, this is a great choice.

If your home office is a bit too far away from your home router, you might benefit from a Wi-Fi extender, which can boost the signal across the rest of your house. We've selected the options of the best Wi-Fi extenders here.

These are important as when working from home, your internet connection is essential. If you struggle to get a dependable network connection where you work, then you'll soon get very frustrated. A Wi-Fi extender, or using any of the best powerline adapters , is an easy way to fix this.

• Or get one of the best wireless routers instead.

Netgear AC1200 WiFi Range Extender EX6150

Over the last couple years, Netgear has essentially turned itself into a household name in the networking world. And, they’ve put their extensive expertise to impressive use with their AC1200 Wi-Fi Range Extender EX6150.

This terrific extender is a simple device that you can discreetly plug right into any electrical outlet, and definitely has our vote for one of the best Wi-Fi extenders. As an additional bonus, the EX6150 boasts quick and easy installation, free of any hassling installation software. Just follow the easy-to-read instructions and you’ll have fast and dependable Wi-Fi covering your entire home or office.

It may sound obvious, but having the right office set-up can make all the difference to your working from home productivity - and this can start with your chair and desk.

Making sure you're comfortable whilst your work isn't just a good idea for your fitness and general well-being, but will also make it less of a chore to sign in every morning - and help you stave off the temptation to slope off to the sofa after lunchtime.

We've rounded up our choice of the best office chairs in our guide, focusing on ergonomic desk chairs that should ensure you don't end up with cramps or strains - and a list of the best standing desks for those looking for something a bit different.

IKEA Markus

For those whose wallets are cowering at the price of some of the more expensive ergonomic chairs out there, IKEA’s Markus is doubtless a welcome spot of fiscal relief.

Unsurprisingly, you don’t get much in the way of fancy adjustments, but this is a sturdy chair which is well liked by many people, and offers a comfortable upright sitting position, with a long back and integrated headrest. The back is made of a mesh material to let the air through and provide better breathability.

There are some adjustments available to the user: you can adjust the seat for height, tilt, and the back can be locked in place, or it can be reclined. Other than that, this is a fairly basic chair, but well-made for the money – it costs a fraction of some of the higher-end seating options.

An unexpected bonus in this price bracket (around the £150 mark – that’s about $190) is that the Markus comes with an impressive 10-year guarantee.

• You can buy the Markus at IKEA

If you're feeling particularly active, and missing those lunchtime gym sessions, there's also the option of a standing desk, which can help bring a bit of variation into your new home office set-up. 

FlexiSpot ClassicRiser Standing Desk Converter

If you're working from home and don't want to spend a huge amount of money on a standing desk, then check out the FlexiSpot ClassicRiser . This is a manually adjustable model, which is obviously where a lot of the cost-savings come into play, but it’s still a nifty solution nonetheless, despite being considerably cheaper.

The ClassicRiser is easy enough to operate when raising or lowering the platform, which is achieved with a light squeeze on a lever at the side, and like the Uplift, it has a wide keyboard tray below the main platform (although this is removable).

You can select from different-sized platforms from the smallest 27-inch (M1) offering up to 47-inches (M3), with a range of various options available including monitor arms, anti-fatigue mats, and indeed an under-desk exercise bike. The M1 model is unsurprisingly the cheapest, but it doesn’t cost much more to ramp up the size to an M3.

Once your new hardware is all sorted, now it's time to make sure that you have all the right software and services to make working from home a breeze.

Many of you will have already been set up with online office suites, collaboration tools, videoconferencing software and the like, but for anyone working from home for the first time, you may be missing some crucial options - so here's our guide to the software you can't be without.

GoToMeeting

With employees around the world all now working from home, staying in touch is paramount to ensure all the usual company work gets done effectively and on time. With face-to-face meetings off the table, videoconferencing is now the best bet to help you all stay up to speed.

There are a number of popular tools out there today - and many of us will have used the likes of Zoom, Skype for Business or Google Meet already. But new measures may call for new tactics, so if you need a run-down of the best video conferencing software out there today.

Microsoft Office 365

It isn't just meetings that need rescheduling - everyday messaging and contact also needs a working from home makeover. Now we can't just walk over to somebody's desk to get an update or have a chat, the need for real-time collaboration tools is key. 

The likes of Slack and Asana are already popular choices, but if you want more options, check out our guide to the best online collaboration tools around.

Lastly, keeping track of all your projects is again trickier without face-to-face interaction, but luckily there are a raft of options available to help ameliorate this. 

Our best project management software guide has all the tools and services you need to keep your team up to speed with progress.

Mike Moore is Deputy Editor at TechRadar Pro. He has worked as a B2B and B2C tech journalist for nearly a decade, including at one of the UK's leading national newspapers and fellow Future title ITProPortal, and when he's not keeping track of all the latest enterprise and workplace trends, can most likely be found watching, following or taking part in some kind of sport.

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New to HomeWorkingClub? Start Here.

Welcome to HomeWorkingClub, where our mission is to provide honest, free advice on the many different ways you can work from home and create the exact lifestyle you want.

Since 2017, we’ve published over 300 articles and helped over one million people.  This page is here to help you quickly find the most helpful content for your own, individual situation.

Below, you have seven sections, each listing some of our most detailed and popular content.

Whether you’re looking for advice on finding a home-based job, want to move into the exciting world of freelancing, or simply need to find ways to make some extra money, you’ll find lots of answers and support right here.

Looking for a Fully Remote Job?

Do you like the idea of having  the security and stability of a full time job, without leaving the house?

For many, a remote job offers the best of both worlds, and we’d love to help you find one.

• We recommend checking out FlexJobs ( read our review here ), and Virtual Vocations ( review here ), both of which make it much easier to uncover remote, teleworking roles.
• Check out our comprehensive and regularly updated guide to companies that employ staff to work from home .
• Some companies go a step further than simply employing remote staff. For a list of fully remote companies, click here.
• Here, you’ll find some general tips to help you find remote jobs .
• This episode of our podcast talks about the pros and cons of remote working .

Struggling to Pick Up Jobs and Interviews?

• Consider looking into Zipjob , who can revamp your resumé and guarantee you will score more interviews. (See our review here ).
• Take a look at some eLearning sites and learn some new skills (often possible for FREE).

Keen to Start Working as a Freelancer?

For the ultimate in freedom and work / life balance, working for yourself as a freelancer can’t be beaten. HomeWorkingClub is run by freelancers, and we love helping people to join us.

• Read our guide to freelancing for beginners .
• A full review of Upwork .
• A podcast introducing how it works.
• A guide full of expert tips – for making more money and winning more guides.
• If you’re looking to move from a full-time job to a freelancing career, here’s a guide to making that transition.
• Find out which freelance skills are in most demand .
• Find some alternatives to Upwork here , and a huge list of other freelancing sites .
• This article talks about what to charge your clients – a thorny issue for many new freelancers.

Still Need More?

• Our freelancing tips guide is (probably) the biggest and best on the internet!
• Read this article on lessons we learned about freelancing last year.
• All freelancers need clients! So we wrote an article listing 50 ways to find them .

Interested in Freelance Writing and Blogging?

When we surveyed HomeWorkingClub readers, we were intrigued to find that a huge number were particularly interested in the idea of writing and / or blogging for a living. We’ve created a HUGE amount of content on this subject.

• Check out our recent podcast on WHY everybody seems to want to be a writer .
• Read this step-by-step guide describing how to start a successful writing career.
• Find out what’s involved in starting your own blog here .
• This looks at some places where new writers can find wor k .
• Prefer editing and proof-reading other peoples’ work than writing your own? Read this guide to editing for a living. 

Are your Writing Skills Not Yet Up to Scratch?

• This feature talks about how to be a better writer.
• Try a free version of Grammarly , for minute-by-minute help with spelling, grammar and writing quality ( review here ).

Would you Like to Teach Online?

Online teaching is hugely popular. There’s plenty of work out there from numerous different companies, the hours are flexible, and the pay is pretty good too!

• Read our guide to teaching English online .
• Find out all about VIPKid , one of the leading online teaching companies. Not only do we have a full review , we also have a guide to passing their interview process .

Want Advice on Online Jobs and What they Pay?

There are MANY online jobs to choose from, and they go way beyond writing and teaching. If you fancy doing something else entirely, we have you covered!

• Look at our list of 50+ online jobs for some initial inspiration.
• Get a glimpse of how many different ways there are to make money from home with just one company by reading our ultimate guide to Amazon .
• Take a look at the world of data entry work .
• Check out our case studies section , to see how some of our readers make their money.
• Good with graphics? Learn about online design work , or how to get paid for designing merchandise .
• Studying at the moment? Look at the array of different jobs students can do .

We have LOTS more home working ideas here .

Keen to Earn Some Extra Money from a Side Gig?

Many people come to this site looking for ways to make extra money, not to start a whole new career. There ARE many ways to top up your income online, and plenty require no specific skills or experience.

• Look at this list of side gigs anybody can do .
• Explore user testing sites , one of our favourites ways to make extra money.
• Online surveys…love them or hate them, plenty of people make extra cash from them. We give our opinion and some advice here. 
• If you’re happy to grind away at “microtasks,” you can make some solid and consistent income. Check out our reviews of Amazon Mechanical Turk and Clickworker  for starters.

Need General Advice on Working from Home?

We have a huge amount of general information and advice around home working. Here’s a hand-picked selection of some of our most-loved articles.

• We’re big advocates for mental health awareness at HomeWorkingClub. Check out our articles on home working when you suffer from anxiety or depression .
• Struggle with procrastination? You’re not alone. We have some help with that here .
• Need more skills to pay the bills? There’s lots of free training available .
• Struggling to decide whether you want a home-based job or a freelance career? We have a frank discussion about the pros and cons of each here.
• Unsure what exactly it is you want to do? This article is designed to help you work that out.
• If your level of motivation is letting you down, we can help with that too .
• Check out this article for some advice that will  definitely  help you move your career forward!

Founder of HomeWorkingClub.com – Ben has worked freelance for nearly 20 years. As well as being a freelance writer and blogger, he is also a technical consultant with Microsoft and Apple certifications. He loves supporting new home workers but is prone to outbursts of bluntness and realism.

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3 thoughts on “New to HomeWorkingClub? Start Here.”

I very much appreciated the wealth of information in this article. I discovered your site while reading your review of Writers.work.

I wonder if you have written about changes in the writing and home-working climate as a result of Covid-19. I’m a writer who has been encouraged to try to work from home by my doctor, which puts me back into the freelance market. I’d be interested to know how much new work-from-home competition the coronavirus has created. (I’ll be check g your site, but I’m also being lazy and posting the inquiry here.)

Again, thank you for great advice rendered so far.

Hi Doug, That’s a great question.

There’s an argument that the freelance market thrives during tough times such as recessions, because companies prefer to use freelance resources than commit to hiring employees. On the other hand, there are thousands of people entering the job market resulting in more competition. Broadly I think it evens out, but the realist in me suspects it probably does place some downward pressure on rates, even if there’s still plenty of work out there.

Ultimately, the freelance market is a meritocracy – the people who stand out will always find work.

I think you’d definitely benefit from listening to a couple of our podcasts (link) 🙂 Especially the one with the CEO of Freelancer.com

Awesome job. Keep up the good work! I have been looking into remote jobs for a couple of years and your website is honest and comprehensive. Maybe Iʻll actually do it one day! Your site gives me a great background. But, now I understand that I have to really take the plunge.

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Top 10 Advantages and Disadvantages of Working from Home

Table of contents.

Let’s be real, no matter where you’re working from, you’re still doing just that: working.

So, should you work from home or work from the office? It honestly comes down to the environment you’ll be most effective in, along with the industry you’re in. (And how nice your home office is.)

With that said, let’s take a look at some of the classic benefits of telecommuting!

Top 10 Advantages of Working from Home

• Flexible schedule. You can take breaks at any moment, feel no rush to hang up on your family members when they call, and eat lunch at any weird time you want.
• Custom environment. Set up your noise level just the way you want it — somewhere between insanely quiet to being at the front row of a Lady Gaga concert. And if you’re mindful of your workspace ergonomics , you can create a stronger rhythm for your workflows.
• Cozy clothes. You get to wear those sweatpants from college with the letters peeling off, or the leggings your friends don’t know you own. (And hopefully never will.)
• It’s easier to make calls. You won’t have to scramble to find a conference room or deal with a particularly chatty co-worker. (Granted, kids and pets at home can make this tough for some remote employees.)
• Knock off some weekend to-do’s. That Mt. Everest laundry pile waiting for you? That thing you set a reminder to get from the store 11 weeks ago? Cross. It. Off.
• No office distractions. Avoid co-workers debating the merits of cryptocurrency, sirens wailing outside your window, the AC kicking in as you hide your icicle tears.
• Zero commuting. From bed to … bed? Hey I’m not judging, it’s nice.
• Save money. Lunch is expensive if you work in a city or downtown. In San Francisco, it’s not crazy to see a $15 sandwich or $4 coffee. At home, you can save big time by going to the store and preparing food.
• Forget crowds and traffic. No stuffing yourself into a rickety transportation tube, having people scuff your new shoes, or walking behind agonizingly slow people who apparently don’t know what a straight line is. (Am I bitter? No … not bitter … )
• More time with loved ones. Take care of a sick significant other at home, be ready for your kids earlier in the day, get some extra snuggles in with your doggo, or simply get some quiet time to yourself!

Top 10 Disadvantages of Working from Home

• Willpower. Gotta get jamming on this new project, but Netflix says you still have 4 episodes of Tiger King to watch…
• Difficulty sticking to a routine. The order you do things at work is almost never the order you do things at home. It can be tough to mirror your schedule and processes once outside the office.
• Missing important calls or pings. Oops, my phone was on do not disturb and I missed a meeting! Or my boss slacked me and asked to prioritize something else and now it’s 4:45pm …
• Calling UberEats anyways. You thought you were saving money, didn’t you? Blam-o! $20 minimum and a $5 fee for the higher rated Thai place. Should’ve remembered to buy bread …
• Power naps. This could arguably could be in advantages … unless it accidentally lasts 45 minutes after your delivered double entree Thai lunch.
• Boredom. Those office convos? Kinda missing Susan’s cat stories, eh? How long can you go without seeing another living human being?
• Working slowly. Sometimes the office has an energy. Sometimes your home does not.
• No second monitor. How did I ever work without two giant screens looming above me??? All 74 of my tabs are essential!
• Iffy WiFi. At home or in a cafe, when the wifi start to spaz and you switch locations a couple of times but honestly spend more time parking and ordering a 6-shot mint mojito coffee with coconut milk and 16 grains of sugar than doing work.
• Waiting for an answer. You need to ask a super quick question, but it’ll impact how you do something for the next hour or even the rest of the day. And there’s no response. (Cue “The Waiting.” )

FOMO at Home. FOMO at Work.

The grass is always greener on the other side.

When you’re at work, nothing sounds more amazing than a toasty day indoors with your favorite blanket. When you’re at home, you reminisce about making jokes with your co-workers and wonder if the coffee machine made good coffee that day.

Either way, it’s important to choose the environment you’ll be most successful in. After all, each person has their own unique experience with remote working and finding what works and doesn’t work. One person’s productivity booster can be another’s distracting disaster. As you begin to work longer and build more experience, learning to focus in any surrounding is a valuable life skill, and will only help your professional career in the long run — especially as remote-first companies are gaining traction. If you’re still newer to the remote workforce , start by simply finding out where you do your best work and why.

To Thine Own Self Be True

Some important things to consider are what environment you stay focused in the longest, how long it takes you to get back on track, and how you best communicate. If you’re self-motivated, adhere to a routine well, and enjoy minimal distractions, then working from home is the right choice for you.

If you thrive on social interactions, feel inspired by seeing others working, and stay on track best if others see you, then working from the office is the way to go.

Occasionally there are projects that require more quiet time or more collaboration and resource planning . It’s important to be able to mix it up, depending on where you think you’ll be most productive!

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• Our 14 favorite gadgets and hacks for working at home

From mesh networks to lap desks, here’s how The Verge’s staffers create their workspaces

By Verge Staff

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If you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.

It’s been over two years since many of us started working from home due to the pandemic, and if you haven’t yet adjusted your workspace to accommodate your needs, then it’s probably time to get to it.

Whether you’ve set yourself up in the guest bedroom, on your living room couch, or in a walk-in closet, you may need a little extra effort to make it possible to type comfortably, meet online, or just concentrate. Sometimes it means buying a new desk, lamp, or monitor; sometimes, it just means finding a household item that will make life a little easier.

We asked the staff of The Verge what they’ve been using to make their work-at-home situations more practical, more pleasant, or simply more possible. Here are some of the answers we got.

Tech products

Apple airpods pro.

I basically live in my AirPods Pro during the day. They let me listen to music, catch Slack pings, and take calls, all with the added benefit of some noise cancellation to help drown out outside noise. Their range is also great for my apartment — I can be anywhere in the house without losing connection to my computer, which is really nice if I need to step away from my desk to, say, microwave my second cookie of the afternoon. — Jay Peters, news writer

AirPods Pro (first-gen) with MagSafe charging case

The last-gen AirPods Pro improve upon the regular AirPods with better sound quality, excellent active noise cancellation, and immersive spatial audio.

Phone as webcam

Webcams are no longer a struggle to find in 2022, but if you want to save money, turning your phone into a fully functional webcam is surprisingly easy, cost-effective, and can yield good results. I already had a  Nexus 6P  sitting around, and  with these steps  that work on most Android and iOS devices, I now have a phone-meets-webcam. It’s got picture quality roughly on par with a standalone webcam, which might cost you around $100. If you want a stand that can angle it during calls, I’d suggest picking up one of  these Joby GorillaPod tripods  that includes a phone clip. — Cameron Faulkner, reviewer

Joby GripTight GorillaPod Stand Pro

A handy tripod for your mobile device that includes a phone clip.

Satechi Aluminum Multi-Port Adapter V2

While I’m working off a MacBook, this Satechi hub has been a lifesaver for plugging in podcasting mics and any other gear I’m suddenly using on my own. — Adi Robertson, senior reporter

Rechargeable batteries

I go through tons of batteries with my flash when photographing at home, and I find that these rechargeable batteries last so much longer than regular single-use batteries. Not only do they save me trips to the store and keep more batteries out of the landfills, but they also save me money in the end. — Amelia Holowaty Krales, senior photo editor

Panasonic AA NiMH 2,550mAh rechargeable batteries

Caldigit ts3 plus thunderbolt 3 dock  .

This Thunderbolt 3 dock lets me switch my whole desk setup (keyboard, mouse, speakers, ethernet, display, external storage drives, and microphone) from one computer to another by just moving one cable. I plug all of my peripherals into the dock and then just use the one Thunderbolt cable to hook up my Mac or whatever Windows machine I need to test at the moment. It also has a very useful high-speed SD card slot on the front, which is great for whenever I need to dump images from my camera onto my computer. [Note: the CalDigit TS3 Plus is no longer available; it’s been replaced by the TS4.] — Dan Seifert, deputy editor

CalDigit TS4 Thunderbolt 4 Dock

The CalDigit TS4 is the king of Thunderbolt docks. The 98-watt dock features a whopping 18 ports, including eight USB ports, and is compatible with a wide range of PCs, phones, and tablets.

Google Nest Wifi router

Last year, I installed a Google Nest Wifi router with a mesh point. I’ve had a lot of networking equipment over the years, and this was immediately the best. And it was extremely easy to set up. A year later, my system with one router and three points is still going strong. — TC Sottek, executive editor

Google Nest Wifi bundle

Google’s Nest Wifi router and Point extender have an unassuming design. The router has two ethernet ports, while the Point can be used as a smart speaker.

  Ultrawide monitor

An ultrawide monitor is the best purchase I ever made for working from home. It’s so big I have to physically lean from side to side to see it all. I can have three full-size windows up at the same time or countless windows overlapping. (Right now, I have nine different windows open, and it doesn’t feel cramped at all.) Mine is an old LG 34UM94-P that they don’t make anymore — it looks like there is an updated version, the LG 34WN80C-B. However, any monitor that is at least 34 inches in size with 1440p or better resolution is what I recommend. — Dan Seifert

LG 34WN80C-B 34-inch WQHD IPS display

Home office helpers, fully jarvis bamboo standing desk.

We heard from two staffers about this desk:

I love my Jarvis desk from Fully. It’s a solidly built desk that looks great in my office, and it’s really handy to have the option to sit or stand while working. If you’re considering one, I highly recommend spending the extra cash for the extended-range height, which lets the desk get lower for sitting and higher for standing, and the programmable height switcher, which lets you preset heights that you can switch back and forth to just by pressing a button.

I also sprang for the $29 casters so I could wheel the desk around my apartment, which lets my wife and I use it as a mobile entertainment system. When we’re done working for the day, we can roll the desk over to our comfy chairs and watch Netflix or play Animal Crossing on the desk’s monitor. — Jay Peters

I have the Jarvis, too, just in a larger size. It has served me well for about four years now. It’s a comfortable, stable, spacious desk that has more versatility than typical desk options. — Dan Seifert

Fully Jarvis Bamboo Standing Desk

This popular standing desk quickly and quietly adjusts from a top height of 50 inches to a level low enough for you to sit on the floor.

LapGear designer lap desk

I should work at a desk more, but I spend a lot of time working from a couch. It’s bad for me, but also very comfortable. Using a lap desk like this one helps me at least pretend to be a little more conscientious about my posture; plus, it’s helpful for writing on physical paper (or when my laptop gets too hot). — Chaim Gartenberg, senior reporter

Huanuo monitor mount stand

This monitor mount brings my screen up to a nice height so that I don’t hunch over, and it’s the tallest one I’ve found. Other monitor arms I tried just weren’t tall enough for me when I was standing while working — and I’m not that tall at 5 feet, 11 inches. The mount also lets me adjust my monitor to exactly the right height for movies or Animal Crossing when I’m using my desk as a mobile entertainment center. (Note: This monitor mount is no longer available; however, there is a similar model.) — Jay Peters

Nespresso Inissia espresso machine

I’m hopelessly addicted to iced lattes, and I finally invested in this espresso machine with my stimulus check. It makes waking up in the morning a little more exciting when I don’t have to French press my coffee. And it came with a milk frother! — Makena Kelly, reporter

Ello Devon glass tumbler

I never drink enough water. I just seem to forget to, and I get headaches from dehydration, but something about this bottle helps remind me. Maybe it’s the design? I love it! — Amelia Holowaty Krales

Herman Miller Sayl chair

The desk chair that I use is the Herman Miller Sayl, which used to sell for around $500 — the low end of that company’s lineup, believe it or not. I almost purchased this chair in mid-2020 when the chair I had was really causing me physical anguish, but Vox Media allowed me to borrow it from our NYC office. So I immediately drove there, stuffed it into my car, and brought it home. My cats and I really like it. (Note: The chair now costs over $900, but you can still get it for around $600 if you eliminate several of the adjustable features.) — Cameron Faulkner

Notebook and pen

While all of my work and most of my writing happen on my computer, sometimes it’s easier (especially for sudden phone calls or when I don’t want to switch out of a video) to simply turn to the notebook I keep next to my laptop and jot down a note or two. And I’ve found that using a classy pen is not only good for my morale but makes it a lot less likely that I’ll find myself out of ink (or with a hand cramp) when I need to get something important written quickly. Currently, I’m using a True Writer ballpoint pen from Levenger that I got as a birthday present, but any pen that makes you feel good will do. — Barbara Krasnoff, reviews editor

True Writer Classic Sea Glass ballpoint pen

Update May 16th, 2022, 5:30PM ET: This article was originally published on April 28th, 2020, and has been updated several times to include changes in prices and add some new models.

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Homeworking sounds good – until your job takes over your life

Some may want an escape from the office grind, but remote working could eat into downtime and increase inequality

T he supposedly looming return to normality – whatever that is – may have almost squashed the hopes of a more equal, mutual-aiding, communitarian country that briefly flared to life during the first lockdown. But for those lucky enough to have a job that can just about be done without leaving the house, perhaps one alleged source of optimism still burns bright.

Big companies seem more open than ever to the idea of homeworking arrangements staying in place even after the worst of the pandemic is over and restrictions are lifted, and for some people the old grind of commuting and congregating in offices may at least partially be over. What this could mean for the smaller businesses that depend on the presence of large employers is clear from our emptied-out city centres, but “hybrid working” is the season’s most fashionable corporate concept, often talked up in the same la-di-da tones as all those lockdown-based articles about Zoom fatigue and the trials of baking bread.

In more sober tones, the Financial Times recently reported that some of Britain’s largest employers are in the midst of “reviews of working practices” and that most of the companies its journalists had contacted said they expected to soon introduce employment models split between the office and home. They included the professional services company PricewaterhouseCoopers, NatWest, HSBC (which apparently expects to cut its “property footprint” by 40%), Virgin Media and the online retail giant Very, whose “chief people officer” sounded less like a bringer of good news than someone cracking the whip: “We want our colleagues to be hyperproductive at home and hypercollaborative in the office.”

The current push for homeworking is tangled up with such genuinely liberating possibilities as the four-day week, but the differences between them are obvious. Long before the arrival of Covid-19, technology was blurring the distinctions between leisure and work, as demands on people’s time poured into their homes via laptops and smartphones, and ambitious twentysomethings were sold a new dream of apartment blocks that come with state-of-the-art workspaces.

In Europe, there is rising noise about the so-called “right to disconnect”, whereby workers can enforce the separation of work and downtime. But the pandemic also seems to have created the perfect pretext for the two becoming fatally blurred: if your home now doubles as your workplace, you should not be surprised if your job seems to have taken over even more of your life.

In September last year, researchers at New York University and Harvard Business School published their analysis of the emails and online meetings of 3.1 million remote workers in such cities as Chicago, New York, London, Tel Aviv and Brussels, in the very early phases of their countries’ first lockdowns. They found that the length of the average working day had increased by 8.2%, or nearly 50 minutes, “largely due to writing emails and attending meetings beyond office hours”.

The researchers acknowledged the possibility that longer days might sometimes be the result of people having “freedom over their own schedule”, but also talked about a possible “blurred distinction between work and personal life, in which it becomes easy to overwork due to the lack of clear delineation between the office and home”. Here, perhaps, is the key to the widely held belief that homeworking makes people more productive: it may well do, but only because it makes them put in more hours. A subsequent report by the British thinktank Autonomy saw in the research something insidious and perhaps unstoppable, “society’s shift away from synchronous to asynchronous work, where hours are put in at any time, and the week expands bit by bit”.

If this happens, the negative consequences will snowball. Recent UK reports have found that more than a quarter of people working from home do so from either a sofa or a bedroom, and that more than a third have developed musculoskeletal problems. And what of the psychological effects of technology that enables companies to monitor homeworkers’ activity, or the lack of it? Tracking software is becoming a common feature of remote-working setups, and the names of the apps on offer are often less than subtle – one package offering “work time tracking, productivity measurement, all activity tracking [and] absence monitoring” is called StaffCop .

It is not exactly a revelation that the stresses and pressures of homeworking fall disproportionately on women, who are often faced with an impossible pile-up of childcare, home schooling and the demand to be constantly on call. Again, research from the US is instructive here, showing that men are far more likely than women to experience homeworking as a boost to their productivity and career prospects (and if you want to instantly understand the gender politics of this crisis, consider that 3 million women have dropped out of the American workforce in the past year). To those privileged and self-confident enough to embrace the idea of a life without them, workplaces might be bywords for tedium and anxiety, but they are also where efforts to tackle inequalities acquire coherent shape. If employees are scattered, these things will often either founder, or not start in the first place.

Clearly, the rising prevalence of working from home also threatens new dimensions to class inequality. The daily commute and eight or so hours spent in a workplace at least denoted some kind of universal experience. Now, we seem to be on the cusp of a new economic model that splits people between those allowed – or positively encouraged – to work from home, and others who simply can’t. Moreover, those supposedly able to embrace homeworking will have drastically different experiences according to their domestic environment.

Space and quiet are likely to become new determinants of status, which will surely further increase the disadvantages piled on to the young: there is, after all, a big difference between labouring in a shared house and creating a home office in some expansive residence in the suburbs or countryside. We also need to think about the way that weakened ties to the office might dilute employers’ obligations to some of their staff – today’s homeworker could easily become tomorrow’s freelancer, with the loss of rights that usually implies.

Freedom and flexibility are nice words to put on motivational posters, but no one should overlook the eternal tensions between those old adversaries capital and labour – and how people are likely to accept demands from their employers in the midst of raised unemployment and difficult post-pandemic times. After-hours Zoom sessions and endless emails might eat into time once kept free of work, but if the alternative is either universal credit or the gig economy, will anyone want to complain? This, I fear, is the perfect way to lay a path to a future that would be hellish: phones trilling long into the evening, surveillance software following our every domestic move, and the barrier between work and leisure dissolving into nothing.

John Harris is a Guardian columnist

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The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a mass retreat of white-collar workers from the office to home amid economic turmoil. While some have found it a relief to give up the daily commute and work at their own pace, others find it stressful, feeling remote from the office at a time when companies are making cuts and furloughing workers.

Disrupted sleep, difficulty controlling moods, and dysphoria [a generalised unease] are common problems, says Richard Chaifetz, chief executive of Chicago-based ComPsych, which provides employee assistance programmes to companies around the world. “Even someone who is relatively healthy mental health wise is going to feel the effects of an abrupt change of their lifestyle: not being able to go out [and the fear of] the unknown, fear of losing their job or having lost their job.”

Nick Bloom, a senior fellow at Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, who has researched the impact of homeworking on productivity, says “forcing everybody home, often around kids, in shared rooms or bedrooms and no escape socially in non-work time will be generating major mental stress”. “This typically leads to loneliness and depression,” he adds, “which is mentally costly and often leads to physical health declines too.”

In the UK, Bupa, the private healthcare provider, reports that workplace psychologists are fully booked for virtual consultations and its health and wellbeing advice line has received 300 per cent more calls since the coronavirus crisis unfolded. In response, they are hiring more professionals trained in mental health. ComPsych says calls sharply rose in Asia when the pandemic took hold, while in the US there was a 20 per cent increase in requests to discuss mental health issues. “Obviously people are feeling the effects economically, people are losing their jobs, spouses are losing their jobs and [they are] concerned about the future,” Mr Chaifetz says.

More drinking, more anxiety

A snap survey of 500 home workers by the Institute for Employment Studies found that 20 per cent of respondents admit to increased alcohol consumption, a third say they are eating less healthily, 60 per cent are doing less exercise. While 64 per cent report problems sleeping due to anxiety and 48 per cent are working irregular work patterns and long days. A third feel lonely.

To combat isolation, employers have instigated virtual meetups, such as online happy hours, talent competitions and quizzes. Goldman Sachs offers cooking classes via Zoom, virtual prayer sessions and virtual story time for children. Linklaters, the law firm, launched virtual choir workshops.

This is a “culture shift”, says Kate Dodd, an employment lawyer who advises law firm Pinsent Masons on diversity and inclusion. “Who’d have thought a law firm would be having guided meditation sessions [to help] people to distinguish work from home. We’re learning as we go on. In week one, we were advising that people turn on their cameras in meetings and then realised some people find it quite overwhelming [and] were struggling with this.”

Lloyds Banking Group offers access to its Your Resilience tool. More than 8,000 colleagues have registered and can access new Covid-19 related content in the form of articles, animations, podcasts and webinars. Linklaters has virtualised some of its existing mental health resources such as on-site psychologists in Hong Kong, Singapore and the UK. Other online resources include webinars on the psychological impact of working in isolation. Some departments have set up a weekly working parents call to share ideas on working patterns, home schooling, occupying younger children, challenges for carers, and keeping in good mental and physical health.

A survey by Mercer found that 43 per cent of workers thought their company had addressed the issue of psychological stress at this time. But only 15 per cent of employers had surveyed staff to understand their needs. As Trent Henry, EY’s global vice-chair for talent, puts it: “You don’t change culture overnight.”

Mental health on everyone’s agenda

Jonathan Moult, a lawyer turned counselling psychologist whose private practice clients are predominantly City workers, says that for many employers the “inescapable reality [is] that sometimes the demands of jobs are so considerable that they don’t match wellbeing” goals. “Prior to coronavirus, mental health was seen as someone else’s responsibility, part of diversity and inclusion. but now it applies across the board. Maybe [a small percentage of us] will get coronavirus but 100 per cent of us are psychologically affected by it.”

Dealing with remote workers’ concerns is hard. Line managers are having to adapt at speed, says Poppy Jaman, chief executive of City Mental Health Alliance. They are struggling “to recognise stress when not seeing people face to face”. Key, she says, is being attuned to behaviour changing and asking people how they are repeatedly, including through one-to-one chats.

Rachel Suff, public policy adviser at the CIPD, the body for HR professionals, says “anxiety can be quite complex and nuanced.” With so much economic uncertainty, the fear of losing their job, says Ms Suff, can “alter people’s behaviour”. Moreover, if they feel their job might be cut or pay reduced they will feel unable “to raise their hand and admit to struggling”. In response, some companies have introduced a buddying system whereby employees are paired with someone outside their department to check on their mental welfare.

Long term impacts

The mental health fallout of coronavirus will be uneven among workers. The Lancet review of the psychological impact of quarantine through studying past epidemics including Sars and Ebola, found that those on low incomes showed “significantly higher amounts of post-traumatic stress and depressive symptoms” because a temporary loss of income had a greater impact than on wealthier peers. Overall, it noted that “separation from loved ones, the loss of freedom, uncertainty over disease status, and boredom can, on occasion, create dramatic effects”.

Those with pre-existing poor mental health would be particularly vulnerable. Frontline workers, such as health professionals, risking infection and looking after vulnerable patients and their distressed relatives, are particularly susceptible to burnout and anxiety.

Employees’ home lives vary considerably. “The issues differ significantly,” says EY’s Mr Henry . Even if employees are able to work safely from home, their spouse might be facing unemployment or be a key worker; they might have to care for vulnerable relatives. “The mental health challenge is very hard,” says Mr Henry. “Some of our employees live by themselves. That is different to someone with three generations under the same roof. Some people are putting in too many hours and over the long-term that’s not sustainable.” Others are “not feeling busy enough” and are worried about the future of their job.

As the social isolation extends, he says, they have observed workers finding it “gets tougher and tougher”, especially for those cooped up in small flats. Mr Chaifetz of ComPsych says that relaxing lockdown rules and then reimposing them may have a “deleterious effect”. It is, he says, like an organisation laying people off. “We always say that you should do it quickly, the drip drip effect is probably worse.”

The challenges of lockdown

Isolation has prompted a rise in domestic violence cases. Refuge, a UK charity helping those affected, has reported a 700 per cent rise in calls to its helpline in one day. Anna Purchas, head of people at KPMG UK, has distributed guidance on domestic abuse to managers. “The main advice is to ask open questions. Open the conversation and signpost help.”

Angela Ogilvie, global human resources director at Linklaters says junior members are typically in smaller flats, have lots of housemates and struggle with finding work space. “It’s trying to make sure that junior staff are adding value and that they have discrete work that they can deliver on so they don’t feel adrift. There are different challenges for the younger workforce.”

Lucy Doubleday, managing partner of Wearesocial, a social media creative agency, says that many of the company’s young workforce are living in flatshares with friends that “have been laid off, [some] done in really horrible ways . . . and that affects them”. The company’s shadow board, a group chosen by staff, is a useful sounding board on the workforce’s mood. “We get feedback from them on how some of the communications have been interpreted.”

Furloughed staff and anxiety

For furloughed staff, there is a huge amount of uncertainty. “It’s creating a lot of anxiety,” Mr Chaifetz says. “They don’t know what they’re coming back to — there’s a lot of ‘what-ifs’ [with regard to] the status of the business. It’s hard to be definitive if you are experiencing financial crush as a CEO.”

Even those on paid leave, Ms Suff says, it is no holiday. “[They’re] in limbo which can breed a lot of anxiety. If you’re working, you’ve got a purpose. You still have a duty of care to them, they still need to feel valued.”

Research found that working just eight hours a week can preserve people’s mental health. “There’s a massive difference in terms of mental health between not working and working,” says Brendan Burchell, reader at the department of sociology, University of Cambridge and one of the authors of the report. He proposes that government furlough schemes could allow people to do some work, perhaps for the public sector — or redistributed tasks within companies.

“Work imposes a structure to people’s life, so you have something to do, so [you are] not ruminating all the time. Maintaining contact with people outside the house,” he says. “The most important factor is having meaningful goals. It can be altruistic, [such as] helping nurses, or [it] can be goals like selling. It just has to be important to you and that’s what keeps you going.”

Anthony Wheeler, professor of management at West Chester University of Pennsylvania, says that “typically, with a furlough, employees will experience morale problems that will fuse with stress and burnout”. It can also be divisive. “If some employees are called to work while others get furloughed, companies should have articulated policies around why they make the decisions they make relative to who works and who does not,” he says.

Generally, if people believe that the processes are applied fairly, they might not like the outcome but will feel that the outcome was justified, Prof Wheeler adds. “People can handle that. What they can’t handle is when the processes lack fairness and transparency. In those circumstances, companies will experience a host of negative outcomes related to its employees — poor performance, more turnover, counterproductive work behaviours.”

Get comfortable with discomfort

Cate Murden, founder of Push, which provides coaching and counselling to companies, says that many employees are finding it hard to cope with uncertainty. “When this first started we continued to go at 100mph to make ourselves feel safer. We’re not very good at sitting in discomfort. The solution is to get more comfortable with dealing with uncertainty. People are desperately trying to plan their way out of it. We can’t.”

Pinsent Mason’s Ms Dodd says that they have learnt from Asian colleagues not to plan too far ahead. “It’s so counter-intuitive for law firms. We’re trying to say don’t plan in future. Let’s take things week by week. Don’t make too many predictions. People are saying they are worrying about six weeks’ time. We try to say, don’t ruminate on that.”

And some good news

For some, working from home is a chance to spend time with family or pause to reflect. Mr Moult says, “often in the chaos of daily life we don’t have an opportunity to think about our purpose.” The pandemic has exposed the fact that the best-paid are not essential, triggering soul-searching among financiers and lawyers. “There’s a recalibration,” says Mr Mount. “We have had a society that has privileged moneymaking, agency and self-determination.” Now public service and social connections are prioritised.

Ollie Dearn, who works in marketing at Havas, the advertising group, says that as an introvert working in an industry dominated by extroverts, he has found he has “more energy, my head is clearer and I’m getting a lot done.” Though by week four, the novelty had worn thin and turned into a “slog”.

While technology allows him to do the majority of his work remotely, it doesn’t replicate the day-to-day human interaction the office brings. “I miss gossip, laughing, bouncing ideas off people and general small talk. That’s difficult to replicate on Zoom. Everything has become diarised, to the detriment of spontaneity,” he says. “For me, ‘work’ and ‘life’ has begun to blend into one — although I am now fiercely protecting my weekends. While everyone has adapted to working from home remarkably well, the longer it goes on, the more exhausting it gets.”

‘Humans saved me — including my employers’

In the past four years — in the UK alone — nearly 20,000 people have committed suicide. That’s a terrifying statistic for anyone; but it’s especially poignant for me because, following a mental breakdown in September 2016, I was very nearly one of them, writes Josh Roberts .

There are lots of reasons why I didn’t end-up killing myself; but if I had to summarise them in a single word it would be “humans”. Humans saved me — my parents, my family, my friends, my girlfriend and, perhaps surprisingly, my employers.

When I am speaking about my book about the experience, Anxious Man , business leaders often ask if there’s anything they can do to encourage mental wellbeing among their employees. And these concerns have only grown more acute in recent weeks.

The answer, of course, is yes. There is a lot that businesses can do to both prevent and cure mental health problems like mine.

They can, for example, implement comprehensive employee assistance programmes that provide access to counselling. Or they can provide medical insurance that emphasises mental as well as physical health. Or they can insist on ways of working which promote mental wellbeing (no emails after 8pm, no weekend working).

Most importantly, businesses and their leaders can embed a culture of honesty when it comes to mental health. Mental health problems — be they anxious, depressive or obsessive — are cancers of the mind. The longer they are left, the bigger they become and the harder they become to operate on. Early intervention — getting folks to admit they need help — is key. And businesses can play a vital role in encouraging this.

‘ Anxious Man’ , by Josh Roberts, is published by Yellow Kite, £14.99

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International Edition

Why Does Working from Home Vary Across Countries and People?

We use two surveys to assess why work from home (WFH) varies so much across countries and people. A measure of cultural individualism accounts for about one-third of the cross-country variation in WFH rates. Australia, Canada, the UK, and the US score highly on individualism and WFH rates, whereas Asian countries score low on both. Other factors such as cumulative lockdown stringency, population density, industry mix, and GDP per capita also matter, but they account for less of the variation. When looking across individual workers in the United States, we find that industry mix, population density and lockdown severity help account for current WFH rates, as does the partisan leaning of the county in which the worker resides. We conclude that multiple factors influence WFH rates, and technological feasibility is only one of them.

For the financial assistance that made it possible to conduct our Global Survey of Working Arrangements (G-SWA), we gratefully acknowledge the British Academy, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Asociación Mexicana de Cultura A.C., the Becker Friedman Institute at the University of Chicago, the ifo Institute, King’s College London, the Smith Richardson Foundation, and the Templeton World Charity Foundation. We thank Ralph De Haas for helpful comments. Views presented are those of the authors and not necessarily of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

I own more than $5,000 in stock of Charles River Associates.

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I took a higher-paying job instead of one where I could work from home. I'm not sure it was the right move.

• Erik Bernard chose a government job over one where he could work from home most days.
• Salary transparency, overtime pay, and investment plans influenced his decision.
• Bernard values the one remote day he has for additional sleep and more flexibility with the gym.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Erik Bernard, 26, who lives near Brisbane, Australia. He recently took a government job that paid more than another role where he would have been able to work remotely four days a week. He's limited to one day a week at home in his new role. While he likes the job, he has a long commute, so some days he's not sure he made the right decision. The following has been edited for brevity and clarity.

When I got the offer for the government role I have now, I also had an offer to work at a nonprofit. I was lost because I didn't know which job to pick .

The difference in salary between the two jobs was about 20,000 Australian dollars — about $13,000 — plus the superannuation. I think you call it a 401(k) in America. The superannuation was a bit higher with the government job, and it was 20 grand in extra pay, but I had to be in the office four days a week instead of working from home.

To get to the government job, I have to drive an hour each way. I was like, "Man, it's so hard to pick which one to do." And I thought, " I'll ask Reddit ." It was it was 50/50. A lot of people said to take the government job for the stability. They also said earning more would make it easier to borrow money from the bank.

But other people said, "If you're happier to work from home, then take that." It was really hard. And, to be honest, every time I sit in traffic for that hour, I think, "Man, should I have taken less money just to not have to sit in this traffic?"

Why I took the government job

I decided to go for the government job partly because they're very transparent with your pay increases. And, when you do overtime, you get paid for it. You do so many extra hours working in the private sector, and it's expected of you.

The other job was at a nonprofit. With that kind of work, you don't always have as many opportunities to excel financially.

And I really like the work I'm doing now in this new job.

Plus, I've got a house, and I'm looking at investing in another. So my thought was, "I'll stick it out and go to the office every day even though I love working from home." When I get a bit older and specialize in something else, I will try to find a remote job even though I like what I'm doing now.

At my last job, I worked in IT at a law firm and didn't know what I'd make in the future. But with the government, we've actually got several years of income already planned out. Everyone can see how much we're going to be paid, and it gets updated every few years.

Related stories

In my role, I'm kind of like tech support, but at a higher level. I do events and some system administration stuff as well.

I get more sleep, and I'm closer to the gym.

On the day I now work from home, it's really nice to get that extra hour of sleep.

Also, I fight. I do MMA. I coach it as well; I teach jujitsu. It's just a hobby, but it keeps me mentally sound. So, on the days when I work from home, I can train in the morning at 6 a.m. If I leave any later than 7 a.m. for work on the other days, the traffic is just insane. But if I train from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. on the day I don't commute, I can come home, shower, and be ready to start at 8 a.m. It's about quality of life. I want to train; I want to get more sleep.

I have friends in the office. We can get lunch, or I can meet other friends who work nearby. But I'm also a little bit introverted, so I don't mind being at home most of the time.

I don't need too much social interaction. People online said, "You'll hate working from home because you'll be lonely." But when my social battery runs out, I just want to be alone. I can put a face on, chat, and make jokes, and I'm happy to do that. But as soon as the day is over, man, I just want to go home and relax. Plus, I have two cats, and my girlfriend's here sometimes, so I'm happy.

How I got my remote day

When I was at the law firm, I found another job that paid more and would let me work from home for two days. At that point, I had zero days. But the law firm said they couldn't match the salary. Then, about a month later, someone from the firm called and said, "Hey, we actually kind of want you back. What if we matched the salary and gave you one day working from home?"

So, I had to quit to get the one day. They wouldn't have let me otherwise. Maybe they were under the assumption that I would train during the day or something.

But IT is ones and zeros. If the job is being done, you'll see it being done. If the job isn't being done, it's obvious who isn't doing their part. So you can't really muck around. You can't be like, "Oh, I'm happy to work from home," and then do absolutely nothing because it's so obvious. I've got tickets that I work on. And if I've got tickets open from God knows when, my managers will be like, "Why aren't those tickets closed?"

I get more done at home.

I loved my one day at home at the law firm so much that I was applying for many work-from-home jobs.

It's so nice to just sit at home and just churn away. If I have to make calls, I'll make calls. But, otherwise, I'm sitting here in the peace of my own house just fixing stuff, doing tickets. I'm on a roll — I'm in my zone.

But when you're in the office, people are chatting around you and making jokes. It's fun, but I smash out a lot more IT work sitting at home than in the office. It's just quieter, and I can relax. People aren't coming up to my desk every two seconds.

Some of the IT questions I get could be a very simple fix. But when I'm in the office, I'll walk down two flights of stairs to go to their desk because that's the kind of service I like to provide. I won't say, "Go back to your office and give me a call." So, it'll take 20 minutes to chat and then fix something that could have taken one minute over the phone.

It's not just that. You're also tempted by going and getting coffee and by going out and getting lunch when in the office.

Monday is the day I work from home. It's so nice going to bed on Sunday, knowing that I don't have to drive in the next day.

I still haven't decided if the extra money is worth losing those additional days of working from home. Job satisfaction-wise, it's really cool. But the traffic sucks.

Watch: Nearly 50,000 tech workers have been laid off — but there's a hack to avoid layoffs

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Commentary | Of home work, hybrid or traditional office…

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Commentary | of home work, hybrid or traditional office hours, the last is the worst of all worlds. here’s why | opinion.

Research has consistently found that hybrid workers exhibit an increase in productivity of 5% to 13% and report greater job satisfaction. A randomized control trial demonstrated that productivity in these settings is improved by approximately 4%. Self-assessments by hybrid workers corroborate these findings, with 3% to 5% increases in productivity . The international findings are similar, with positive reports from around the world.

The picture for fully remote work is more complex. Using traditional, office-centric approaches to remote work introduces significant hurdles that can undermine efficiency. In such cases, communication difficulties and a lack of immediate feedback can slow down project progress, reduce collaboration and diminish the quality of outputs.

For example, consider a study by economists that observed two groups made up of 235 data-entry workers — one working from home, the other in the office — in Chennai, India. They hired these workers for eight weeks and compared the productivity of both groups. Their finding? Low-skilled contract workers hired for a two-month gig working from home proved 18% less productive, based on net typing speed, than those working from the office.

By contrast, an earlier study by scholars at Stanford looked at 250 call center employees of a sizable multinational corporation, split into two groups: those working remotely and those commuting to an office. The researchers uncovered a startling 13% surge in productivity among remote workers. The differences might stem from the fact that the latter study focused on permanent staff invested in their careers at the multinational company, compared to the short-term contract workers evaluated in the other study.

The evidence does show that fully remote work undermines collaboration and learning, unless you adopt best practices for remote work management. One study looked at software engineers at a Fortune 500 company with a main campus split across two buildings. Engineers stationed in the same building as their entire team benefitted from receiving 22% more online feedback compared to those with teammates in different buildings. The researchers concluded that the lack of such feedback indicates that working remotely undermines collaboration and learning.

However, remote work indisputably offers much better cost savings. Remote employees require no office space and can be hired at lower wages. Specifically, consider FlexJobs’ 2024 Work-From-Anywhere survey of  over 4,000 U.S. professionals. The findings revealed a significant willingness among workers to trade financial gain for geographic flexibility: In order to secure the ability to work from anywhere, 26% of respondents would accept a 5% reduction in salary, while 24% indicated they would agree to a pay decrease ranging from 10% to 15%.

In any case, the debate is clearly between a flexible hybrid model or a fully remote model — the traditional office-centric model is toast. Hybrid work definitely offers higher productivity than office-centric work. Productivity in remote work is more nuanced and context-dependent, with negative implications for learning and collaboration, unless organizations adopt best practices. At the same time, fully remote work offers major cost savings. Either hybrid or fully remote work is better than office-centric work, and there’s never a reason to adopt a Monday-Friday, 9-to-5 modality.

Gleb Tsipursky serves as the CEO of the hybrid work consultancy Disaster Avoidance Experts and is the author of several books including “Returning to the Office and Leading Hybrid and Remote Teams.” He lives in Columbus, Ohio.

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Definition of 'homeworking'

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homeworking in British English

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• Expenses and employee benefits

Expenses and benefits: homeworking

As an employer providing homeworking expenses for your employees, you have certain tax, National Insurance and reporting obligations.

Homeworking expenses include:

• equipment, services or supplies you provide to employees who work from home (for example computers, office furniture, internet access, pens and paper)
• additional household expenses, such as gas or electricity charges, for employees who need to work from home

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