Working From Home: Good or Bad?

When COVID-19 was creeping in everyone’s lives early this year, we were sitting in our cubicles or stations finishing tasks, running to meetings, and thinking of that sweet, sweet ice-cold beer at the end of the shift. We also have that little thought in the back of our head that how cool would it be to work at the comforts of your home.

Most of my friends have ventured to freelance or someone’s virtual assistant for a while now, and they’ve been trying to convince me in doing the same thing. Yet, I would still prefer being inside an office working with other people on the weekdays. I don’t even believe I said that being the introvert that I am.

I’ve been working at an office since I graduated back in 2012, and I can’t say that I regret it, nor I can say I love it. I am neutral about it. This is because I can see people outside my family and get to enjoy the time with colleagues and friends. Before going to bed last night, I came across a friend’s Instagram story about working from home and still getting excited when the weekend comes. I’ve also mentioned this to a different friend when she asked me how I was coping up with all this pandemic. These two are people I closely work with.

It hasn’t been long since I’ve been working from home. Ironic isn’t it? I just said that I would prefer to be at an office. Everyone is now working remotely, may you like it or not. In the past few weeks, I have been thinking about why I opted to work at an office and not at home. I found the very reason why I didn’t opt to work at home when I left University.

So, as the title asked, is working from home good or bad? They’re both. There are pros and cons by earning a living while you’re at home. Here are the pros that I can think of:

• No need to do your make up. (I don’t do it even at the office.)
• Food is within reach. You can actually save.
• No need to dress up to impress. Comfy clothes 24/7.
• No commuting. No more traffic.
• More time with family.

I kept racking my brain for more pros, but these are the only ones I can press my finger on.

I can list many cons as well, but here is what I think. The reason why I would rather be in the office keeping myself busy, hardly making the deadline, forgot to attend a meeting, and even barely took a bite on the meal I’ve ordered for lunch, is I can leave my stress and worries there.

I tend to overthink and start to panic when work starts to pile up. Then my procrastination starts, then I get irritated that I can’t start to do anything I need to do. Which happens to me during these trying times. (I am sorry. To my superiors, I am trying.) Since I am home, these stresses and worries are creeping in every corner at home more than ever. Unlike when you’re in the office, you can shrug it off like a heavy coat after your shift, and leave it there.

Yes, I am very thankful that I still have my job during the pandemic but you can’t blame me if I would express that I can’t wait for the weekend to come. I want to unwind and do the things I want to do. Take a breather, enjoy the book you’d been intending to read, binge watch the series you’ve been wanting to watch, and do yoga to help release the stress.

What do you think? 🙂