The Shackles of Offices

When I was approached to join the team here at CareerJunctionLtd, one of the things that intrigued me most about the opportunity was the ability to work from home and create my own conducive work environment. Having previously been based in Auckland’s CBD along with almost all the other IT specialist recruitment agencies, I was growing increasingly tired of having to wake up at an ungodly hour, only to spend an hour in traffic, where I would then be forced to spend a small fortune on parking, before enduring 9 hours in stale office, where I would then leave to spend another soul-destroying hour in traffic. Repeating this 5 days a week, year on year, wears you out about as fast as you can imagine and for me personally, was putting me in a poor frame of mind before I even walked in the office door at 8am. Fast forward to today, almost a year on from joining CareerJunctionLtd and I have freed the shackles of the office and have never looked backed once!

When I spoke to people about the prospect of working from home, I received a variety of responses ranging from envy to caution. Those that weren’t salivating at the prospect of working from home in their own roles were quick to caution me about the pitfalls of being left to my own devices and the impact this new found freedom would have on my productivity. “With all those distractions you won’t get anything done” was a common response I would get, along with “you’ll miss the social interaction working at home by yourself” — this couldn’t be further from the truth.

For me personally, I have always been someone who is motivated by output, rather than input and the results I actually achieve, rather than the work I put in. Despite that, when it comes to work I am well disciplined and have a series of processes I follow to ensure I stay focused and on my game. Here at home, I am not distracted by office politics or difficult characters and there are no meetings about future meetings to distract me from what I am trying to achieve. Just because I no longer have someone keeping an eye on my work input, doesn’t mean it decreases, because at the end of the day I know what is required in order to achieve the outputs I want/need to.

Although I am by no means an extroverted person, the perceived diminished social aspect of working from home was something I was most concerned about when taking this role on. Almost a year on and this hasn’t been an issue at all. Here at CareerJunctionLtd, although we have all freed ourselves from the shackles of offices, we all still feel very much a part of a team. We catch up at a local café every week and speak on the phone several times a day. As recruitment is such as social career, I am still out and about meeting people, so my concerns about a lack of social interaction haven’t materialised at all.

For me the biggest challenge working from home currently presents is the perception other people have of me and my job. My girlfriend for instance see no reason why I can’t mow the lawns or do the washing “since I’m at home all day” and I’m constantly called upon to run errands. While it’s true I have the freedom to manage my own work schedule, I still have a full time job! Sadly the phrase “Eamonn is at home so he can do it” doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon, despite my protests.

The ability to build my own work environment tailored specifically to me is perhaps what I love most about working from home. The convenience factor is huge, but being able to manage how and when I work, with output being the sole measurement of success or failure is something that suits my working style perfectly. With the increases in technology being what they are, working from a single office location is no longer a necessity for a large number of organisations and industries. Working from home, I am happier, healthier and more productive than I have ever been in an office environment, while still feeling like part of a team that is striving towards a common goal. Although I am defiantly in the ‘pro’ camp, working from home isn’t for everyone and I can see where people will get tripped up with the new found freedom they suddenly have. Here are some tips I have found help me with working from home.

1. Understand you are measured by your output
2. Ensure you are dressed and ready to start working by 8.30am every morning
3. Set a goal for the day and establish time slots for your work.
4. Do what it takes to meet your daily goal and targeted output.

Working from home isn’t for everyone, but unless I absolutely had to, working from an office is no longer for me. Provided you are disciplined and motivated to achieve, freeing yourself from the shackles of the office will prove to be the best thing you ever did.