Every type of work has its pros and cons and the same can be experienced with work from home. These work from home jobs were a rarity before the pandemic was hit but after a nationwide lockdown, businesses started dealing with major losses in COVID-19 and began their work from home mandatorily. Now, 70% of people are working from home and this gives employees resilience which is missing in the workplace. You can cultivate better resilience by adjusting your mindset and habits.It has also blurred the lines between home and work leading to increased employee stress and diminished overall well-being.We can set our own time to start/end the work as this is easier because we can work according to our comfort.

Let’s go through some advantages of work from home

Advantages of Working from home for Employee and Companies

1. You can work from any place and from anywhere, there are no restrictions.
2. There is no restriction about dress-code; you can wear what you want.
3. Some people really enjoy working from home because there are no time bounds.
4. You can spend more time with your family.
5. According to surveys, children are happy when they spend more time with their parents. Working from home is the best option for ladies who have kids, so that she can manage home and office work at the same time.
6. Money keeps rotating in the market so that there are no losses and shutdowns in the business industry because of this work from home facility.
7. The companies were also able to save overhead expenses including the rent and utility bills, allowing them to draw attention toward business growth rather than on the parts of expenditures.
8. Less communication and less office politics.

As we know, everything with pros also comes with cons. So, let’s explore what are the challenges faced during work from home jobs :

9.   Employers get a habit of a monotonous routine.
   
10. Working comes at a cost as there were some challenges faced by the employees such as, unreliable internet connection, and infrequent power outages, which hampered the team connectivity.
11.   Background household noises and disturbances may interrupt important meetings. 
12.  Loneliness and not mingling with friends and co-workers may lead to depression.
13.  Long work hours can cause physical health issues like lower back-pain and spinal diseases.
14. Forgetting professionalism and discipline.
15. Lack of tech support.

My Work-Life experience during Pandemic

I started working from home on 17^th June 2021 at ProDT consulting services and felt that working from home is ‘the beginning of an era’. I can handle meetings from my bed by wearing pyjamas and slippers instead of wearing shoes and formal outfits. Also, on every Saturday, we arrange hangout meetings to make a bond with the team members by playing games and other interactive activities.

                                               Working from home gave me the chance to spend time with family. Work from home gave us a chance to experience work without the hassle of communicating. Many of us at ProDT learned new habits such as singing, cooking, working out and the ability to control our expenses.Working from home is safe for ladies who are working the night Shift.  There is an increase in traffic during office hours, but work from home saves travel time and helps to reduce pollution and accidentsIt prevents people from contacting each other in COVID-19 this helps to control risk and rate of infection.

So, these are some advantages and disadvantages of working from home.We have to accept the new normal and go with the flow. ‍

‍Conclusion - A recent survey stated that employees are interested in continuing to work from home.The global pandemic locked us all in and it created a new normal. It has unlocked for us the value of family in such crippling times. That pause helped us realise the importance of personal space, creativity within us, and of course the value of our family. Work from home proved more effective.