In my last post, I talked about why I’m looking forward to getting back to the office. At the end, I said I’d mention some positive aspects about working from home. Well here you go…
I am not naturally an early riser, but my youngest takes a bus to school. I have to get up really early to make her lunch (a huge effort involving hummus and pitta) and drive her to the bus stop. My favourite part of the day is driving home from the bus stop (sadly it only takes 2.5 minutes!), listening to the Today programme on Radio 4. When I pull up outside , I turn off the engine and stay in the car. I continue to listen to the radio whilst watching neighbours going out to work early. It’s interesting that the “news” through the rest of the day tends to simply repeat the early morning headlines.
When I get indoors, rather than having to make lunch and travel to the West End, I creep back to bed with a laptop and a cup of tea to start work early from a comfortable position. My first emails are generally written lying down!
Concentrated work without delay or interruption
Without delays caused by travelling to work and chatting to colleagues, I manage to get through most of my tasks at a faster rate. Rather than working late, I will often finish by mid/late afternoon.
I manage to work in a pretty concentrated way throughout the day. Without delays caused by travelling to work and chatting to colleagues, I manage to get through most of my tasks at a faster rate. So rather than working late, I will often finish by mid/late afternoon, when the children return from school. My homeworking haven is then turned upside down with family fun & tribulations (mostly the latter).
Flexible working without the guilt
We can now work flexibly without feeling guilty about it. Refreshingly, work is no longer so prescriptive.
Reading this back before posting it, I don’t think there is anything miraculous about working from home we didn’t already know about. But the huge step forward, in my view, is that we can now work flexibly without feeling guilty about it. Refreshingly, work is no longer so prescriptive. We simply do not have to be in a certain location, sit in a certain position, or wear certain clothes in order to work fruitfully. Hybrid working in a nutshell: who’d have believed it?
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Ian Kitchener
Ian has advised Central London office occupiers for over 20 years - fighting their corner and making sure they get a great office on the best terms. He has a diverse client following, often working with creative companies.
