In my professional career, to different degrees, I’ve been able to work from home for the last decade of my life. There were times I would work from home for months without going to the office. So when the pandemic forced a large portion of the population to work remotely, for me, it was business as usual.
This article is a message to everyone who’s able to perform their job from their homes. PLEASE, DON’T RUIN IT!
I’m not referring to jobs that demand a physical presence, but for businesses that have the resources to allow for remote work, and it’s still frowned upon.
I understand that for many people, this could be a new experience and challenging to adjust. Nevertheless, as the world is containing this terrible pandemic, we are faced with this unique opportunity to reshape tomorrow, to dictate the future of the professional world.
Job flexibility varies depending on the industry. From my working experience, finance, and advertising were harder industries for remote work. On the other side of the spectrum, working for technology enterprises almost forces you to work from home.
Your manager can also determine flexibility. I’ve had managers in a very flexible company that wanted me in the office every day, even when I was the only member of my team in that location.
Regardless of your previous work situation, if your company has the resources to let you work remotely, you are probably working from home right now.
Thus, while our first responders, healthcare providers, researchers, and other unsung heroes are saving lives and finding a cure for the coronavirus, we, remote workers, have the historic opportunity to reshape the professional world of tomorrow. PLEASE, DON’T RUIN IT!
Let’s be more productive than if we were in the office. Let’s show our companies, especially the more conservative ones, that we can deliver excellent results from home. Let’s work better since a large part of the economy depends on us now. Let’s work harder since so many of our friends can’t even get a paycheck now. Let’s take this opportunity and bring the world to the 21st century. PLEASE, DON’T RUIN IT!
If we are successful at this, remote working will become the standard, not the exception. We live in a world with the infrastructure and technology ready for this, let’s make it happen. Let’s seize this opportunity.
Now, I’m not trying to sabotage offices and teamwork. I understand the value that an in-person team meeting brings to a project. I’m asking for a better balance of working 2 or 3 days per week from home, or an entire week per month. Our five day, forty hours per week schedule, was standardized in 1938 in America by Franklin Roosevelt. That wasn’t supposed to be the ultimate goal but a stepping stone towards a better work-life balance. It’s been more than eighty years since FDR established the standard workweek, and even though many of us can carry all our work in our phones, some companies and managers are asking us to be in the office five days per week for no reason.
The benefits of more work flexibility are tremendous and would have a positive impact on everyone involved. Personally, avoiding traffic has been one of my favorite perks. Not only do you avoid the stress of fighting for an inch of space during rush hour, as well as the uncertainty of if you’ll arrive on time to your early meeting, or the boredom of monotony but more importantly, you save time, maybe even a couple of hours per day, and time is priceless. Also, by working from home at a larger scale, we can reduce traffic and make it a more pleasant ride for those having to drive to work.
I could continue listing more benefits about remote working: saving on gas, working from different locations, being available for family members, taking meetings wearing pajamas (audio only please!), being home for deliveries, cooking for lunch, being home for dinner, etc. However, don’t forget that you are still working; even if you are submitting a quarterly report in your pajamas, your work still needs to be top quality. Don’t forget that although you are home, your primary responsibility is still your job.
During this crisis, caused by the infamous coronavirus, we remote workers have the responsibility and opportunity to continue delivering results and performing at the best of our capabilities. Let’s restructure the professional world, and make sure that when things go back to normal, our new normal is a flexible and well-balanced work life. We can do this. PLEASE, DON’T RUIN IT!
Andres,
This is 100% on point. You’ve put to words what I’ve been thinking.
I’ve also been working from home for the past several years, and seeing all the [serious and non-serious] online talk about how unproductive people have been at home worries me. Here is an opportunity for all of us to demonstrate that so, so many industries can provide flexibility to work from home to their employees, and the worst that can happen is for us to collectively prove that we can’t handle it responsibly.
Gracias amigo,
Rahima
Thank you Rahima! I have faith that remote work will be one of the positive outcomes of this crisis.
De nada!
Andres
I’m in total agreement as a new work-from-home-4-days-per-week employee. I love it! I don’t want to go back to the office (and I only have a 10 minute commute,!) All the excuses that there are so many distractions at home is just as valid at work. Let’s face it, chatting with coworkers in the office about what someone is watching, a recipe, reading the Dear Abbey column and discussing i, not to mention just the distraction of other (noisy) coworkers while we are working… there are distractions everywhere we go. So I’d rather work from home, throw in a load of laundry, start cooking dinner, not get dressed until I have to leave the house, etc. than be distracted at work. It makes a much happier, less stressed employee. I’d agree to go in for meetings or to meet customers 1-2 days per week. Since my office is closed to the public now, I don’t even know why we have to go in at all. And if our IT guys frequently work remotely & say that we could too, I’m in. I just hope that our bosses will agree.
Indeed! Hopefully, flexible work becomes the standard and not the exception!
This is on point! I manage 11 people and this is our opportunity to prove we can be as efficient if not more efficient at home. While I miss the synergy of the office I’ve enjoyed the 1.5 hour i save ona 26 mile commute home. I’m begging everyone out there who has now been forced to work from home let us not fall victim to distractions at home and continue to impress the companies and show them the ne normal! It can be a win win for all paries involved and thank you for taking the time to author and share!