Working from home isn’t exactly the walk down easy street many imagine. You still have to actually work, meet deadlines, finish your reports, make your clients happy, make your boss happy, really it’s just as much work as working in the office, only you can reach down and pet your dog every once in a while.
Even if working from home doesn’t exactly work out to be the freewheeling vacation many imagine, it does certainly have its advantages. There are some very specific ways that working from home can really work for you.
Working from home can save you money. If you work from home full time, you’ll probably be able to save some money in several different areas. One of the first is food and coffee. When you don’t go to an office every day, you’re going to be less tempted to eat (and drink) out so much. You can make soup, salads, and sandwiches at home during your lunch break. That has the advantage of not only saving you money but helping you keep healthier too!
Another place you can save money by working from home is on commuting. Just how much you save depends on where you live and what your lifestyle is, but working from home may give you the opportunity to sell your car altogether. If not, you should at least save on gas and maintenance. Not to mention other headaches like parking fees.
You may also find that you save on your wardrobe. Sure you’ll need to have some sharp business outfits for the occasional Zoom video call, but you’re not going to have the same pressure to keep up an expansive work wardrobe, because when people are only looking at your shoulders and your face, they’re just not going to notice that your wardrobe is fairly static. That means you can save your money for your social and weekend clothes, which is probably the part of your wardrobe that most expresses your personality anyway.
Money-saving isn’t the only advantage of working from home. Working from home also allows you to save time. For instance, you’ll probably be able to save time on elaborate hairstyles and makeup routines in the morning. We’re not saying you shouldn’t do your hair or keep up with regular grooming, but you can generally tone things down as you don’t need your hair or makeup to stay perfect for ten hours.
Your breaks from work are about to get a lot more productive too. When you were in the office, your morning coffee break was probably just about decompressing for fifteen minutes while you pounded caffeine, but now you can start a load of laundry, throw dinner in the crockpot, do the dishes — there are lots of quick household chores you can do during your daily breaks. That means you’ll have more free time when your workday is over because you’re not coming home to a bunch of household chores before you can go out to dinner or a movie.
Don’t forget about the time you’ll save on commutes as well. Lack of commuting will pay big-time dividends that you can now spend catching up on your favorite TV show or tending your garden, going out with friends, or whatever it is you’d rather do with your time than spend it commuting.
