Working remotely has always been an attractive prospect for people of all ages and professions. Recently, remote workers are increasing worldwide as technology allows global collaboration and many people find it suitable to work from a home or a coffee shop or a work-space they choose, at the times when they can be most productive
Did You Know?
***** Fact 1 ****
The primary reason employees reported choosing to work from home was for better focus and increased productivity. The second reason was to reduce their commute.
(Source: Owl Labs)
**** Fact 2 ****
90% of remote workers plan on working remotely for the rest of their careers, and 94% encourage others to give remote jobs a shot.
**** Fact 3 ****
Loneliness (21%), collaborating and/or communicating (21%), and distractions at home (16%) are the biggest struggles for remote workers.
**** Fact 4 ****
Companies that allow remote work experience 25% less employee turnover than companies that do not allow remote work.
(Source: Owl Labs)
Advantages and Disadvantages of Working Remotely
Advantages:
- Work anywhere and anytime!
Working remotely gives you the opportunity to choose your work space and control your time. You are not limited this way to any geographic location, nor to strict working hours, which will increase your comfort while working, and thus drive your productivity. (This might not sound really interesting if you are from that type of workers who are not really self-motivated to manage their time without some supervision or management!)
- Well No commute!
Waking up early in the morning to head to work so you do not get stuck in traffic this is the main concern for all full time employees! Working remotely helps you avoid a lengthy commute, delays which are beyond your control and/or getting stuck in traffic for hours and arriving late to work. This could be the best way to start your day calmer, with less stress and tension.
- Yes to Diversity
Remote work offers the opportunity to grow and go international! Working remotely is definitely an added value for both employers and employees. Having remote workers from all over the globe who are all working as a team brings cultural, ethical, educational, cognitive and creative additions which will help in enhancing, developing and improving the work environment.
Disadvantages:
Now that we mentioned some benefits for working remotely, let`s talk about the dark side of the moon! Working remotely often brings up some challenges among which we can list the following:
- Distractions are always there!
Full time employees definitely face distractions in office, however these distractions get worse while working from home. Having kids, receiving unexpected guests, cousins and friends coming over, hearing TV noises, preparing lunches and dinners, all of these are some of the many distractions that a remote worker can face when at home!
- No real work-life balance
Working remotely might seem to be opening chances for you to enjoy a work-life balance, however it is not really the case, especially that you do not have any separation between workplace and home space. You are now in a too much comfortable and familiar environment, where you also do your daily home tasks, which will therefore minimize your concentration level.
- Unhealthy Lifestyle
While working in an office, companies are providing ergonomic chairs and suitable desks for your health; however, while working from home it is a little bit harder to set this healthy work space and equip it with the adequate furniture. Some remote workers might like to work lying on the couch, and unless they are informed otherwise, they may be unaware that this may cause them terrible back pain in the future.
Testimonies of some of Cedar Rose Remote Workers:
Many reasons come to my mind of why I like working remotely with Cedar Rose, mainly:
1- Time management is pretty important to me specially that I have my own office. Workload tends to be irregular, so this kind of work helps me juggle all my tasks at my ease.
2- My productivity level increased, noting that I am working in my own comfortable environment.
3- My financials stabilized and increased radically as I control my own income.
Yet, there are challenges of working remotely, but personally, I face only one challenge, which is the lack of social interaction. And in order to not feel isolated, I try to take breaks, go for walks and sometimes work from public places like a coffee shop or work with a friend.
Anna Maria Hbayter, Arabic/English Remote Worker
Among the reasons why I enjoy working remotely with Cedar Rose:
- The team is very friendly and always willing to help.
- I get to manage my own working hours, without having to miss out on other work opportunities.
- I found the guidelines and tables provided by the company to be quite helpful, and they are updated regularly.
Challenges:
- Losing focus after working too many consecutive hours.
- Thinking I will have time to do things later and ending up working late to get everything done.
- Solutions:
- Take many breaks.
- Engage in sports and work in a coffee shop to avoid feeling isolated.
- Write a to-do list every morning and setting a maximum number of hours for every task before moving to the next one.
Guitta Njeim,Arabic/English Translator
Working online has brought about an interesting opportunity that has never been an option for our fathers. You can now work and travel freely as you do not have to show up every morning at a bricks-and-mortar workplace. Besides, you can decide about the working hours and how much money you want to earn. Cedar Rose has provided its remote workers with all these options.
Nevertheless, there are also challenges involved. Not everyone has the willpower and self-discipline minimum prerequisites for working online.
Possible solutions might be working on your willpower by employing a system of positive and negative reinforcement and by dividing the tasks into smaller chunks.
Babak Firouzzadeh, Persian/English Translator
What are your thoughts? Do you work remotely? If so, we`d love to hear your experiences, tips and advice in the comments below.
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*** The sole purpose of the article above is to generate public discussion, it has no intention to constitute legal advice. ***