Pros and Cons of working remotely

It's my third week at my new job today. So am I? I'm loving it so far. I was supposed to work for this company in 2020, a month before the pandemic started, but right before the interview, the cat at home broke my laptop, hence I was unable to proceed with my application. Almost 2 years later, I quit being a volunteer teacher and decided to look for a new job that will allow me to work remotely.

In this day and age of pandemic, being able to work from the comfort of your own home can be considered a blessing, especially if you are someone who doesn't like associating with other people that much. And more importantly, it helps to be more protected from being infected with the deadly Coronavirus.

Working remotely has both positive and negative sides. Let's talk about the positive things first.

Less stress caused by the hassle of commuting. One of the difficulties I had to deal with when I was still working outside was commuting to and from work. I barely spent 3-5 hours a day at home when I worked at a BPO company on the graveyard shift because it was difficult to commute at night and I had to go back to the office right after having a little rest. Traveling alone in the middle of the night makes me feel uneasy as well. Furthermore, there are times that even though you woke up early, prepared early, and yet you will still arrive at work late because of some unprecedented circumstance such as encountering an accident on the road which causes traffic, or the public transportation vehicle getting a flat tire and other hassles. It is also energy-draining if you are traveling almost 4 hours each day. It is very exhausting and will eat all your energy. But you will not deal with these issues if you are working from home.

Saves more, spending less. Perhaps, some workers would agree that almost half of their salary is spent on transportation fees and food. That's my dilemma before too. On food alone, I spend more or less Php. 200/ more or less 4 US dollars and another $2 on transportation fees since I live quite far from my workplace. Considering that I live in the province and the rates here are lesser than the rate in the big cities, just imagine how much will be left if the basic salary is just more or less $200 a month. And there are employees who barely get $150 a month. But working remotely helps save more from paying for transportation fees. And the food at home is free! Unless you live alone and pay for the food with your own money.

Save time from dolling up. Taking a bath early in the morning is a challenge especially if the weather is cold. Then you'll also have to worry about what to wear. But if you are working remotely, you can go to work even with boogers on your eyes! You can also enjoy the perks of working from the comfort of your own bed, like what I do sometimes. And you can work with your cozy clothes on!

Those are just a few of the positive things I enjoy while working from home. Now, let's talk about the negative things or the disadvantages.

Distractions. This is the reason why I rejected the chance of being an online English tutor. It pays more, but since there are a lot of distractions at home, I declined the job offer. The problem here is that I live with 8 more people at home and that means noise! It is too noisy that it always brings distractions. You can't even tell them to minimize their voice and you'll have to adjust for them. So here I am stuck with a work that will only make me communicate through chats and a little call from time to time.

Dealing with connectivity and power interruption issues. When you're working and suddenly your screen will say no internet, is one of the challenges that you will encounter when working remotely. This is what it means to work remotely in the Philippines, constantly dealing with intermittent power supplies and internet connection issues.

Communication challenges. When you are in the office, you can directly ask your colleagues for help if you encounter some problems. You can solve some issues right away by talking to your boss, manager, or leader. But working from home hinders that. Since you only rely on technology for communication, there are times when you have to wait for a few more hours before someone can answer your queries, hence also impeding productivity.

Whatever your work is, it may be working at the physical office or working remotely, I must say that everything has its own pros and cons. For us to be happy about our work, we just have to look at the brighter side of the picture.