Working from home vs. working at home
Whether you love it, hate it or are just about getting used to it, we’re all doing it – working from home. But that isn’t actually what we’re doing. We’re working at home, not from home.
When you work from home, your children are generally at school or nursery, your significant other is in the office and your home environment is all sunshine, rainbows and – vitally – silence.
Working at home is not the same thing at all. Not by a long stretch. Everybody’s here. Everybody’s a bit bored. Everybody’s going just-a-little-bit stir crazy. Oh, and there is no silence. That is not a thing. That is what we’re all doing right now – working at home.
This is not the environment they talk about when they offer you remote working days, or in fact offer you a remote working position. Nobody can be expected to work in these conditions.
If you can – props to you, because in my experience, children, pets and work do not make for a very productive party. So for most of us, productivity is fluctuating. But there is a way forward…
Because it’s not only productivity that is in danger of taking a hit right now, it’s mental health too. For me, I’m balancing (feels more like juggling) childcare during the day whilst taking calls and being on conference calls or webinars. This has left me picking up the laptop before breakfast and after dinner most days, just to get things done.
I’m not for a second saying I don’t love my children or my job – but right now it’s a lot. And I think it’s important to acknowledge that we are all under an unusual amount of strain right now. Because it’s only by talking about it you can start to release that burden. It won’t change what you have to get done, but it will help make you feel a bit better about it, so in the first instance let’s make sure we’re all talking about this.
I am both a business owner and a father, but at the moment the scales seem to be tipping dramatically in favour of one or the other and it’s difficult to find an equilibrium. But this isn’t something I can change – the children don’t understand the pressures of working from home, and it would be unreasonable of me to expect that they would. Equally, if we are all to survive and thrive, our businesses need a lot more time invested in them than normal. Neither side of the scales is about to offer me a let up, but I know what I need to do to come out of this situation stronger than I went in.
That’s what’s driving me forward right now. Because when this ends, I not only want my business to be powering forwards so that I can reap the benefits of the time I am investing now. I also want to continue to have a fantastic relationship with my children – because really, what’s more important than them?
This business was officially formed on September 12, 2001, when the world was just entering into a dark place, just as it is now. But we came through it then and we will come through it now. Now is the time to be bold, to make good decisions and ensure you are the strongest version of yourself. It’s time to not only survive, but thrive.
Stay Safe.
