Why do we travel to an office? — reasons why you should work from home or the digital nomad style
How many times did you get up in the morning in order to go to work although you resented getting up? And resented the long way to your workplace?
I have done it numerous times: woken up early in the morning when most people are asleep, went to the bus or train and arrived at my office much later. Often, I told myself I enjoy riding the train for so long because then, finally, I can read or listen to my favourite podcast, see the sunrise or just do some thinking.
At my office, it only counts when you’re there. There is some kind of home office for special occasions but some co-workers envy you when you are allowed to work from home. The boss likes having people around. He’s right, the campus looks a bit sad when it’s empty and you don’t see people. However, even if people go to work, they’re in their offices most of the time. Except on sunny days, then everyone is taking walks.
It’s true that working from home makes it harder to connect to your colleagues and share information. But we live in the future. Tons of great online tools help us to connect to people and share information around the globe. I connected to amazing, inspiring people all around the world online — by text messaging and video conferences — because I didn’t have enough people around myself who shared my views of life and work. It feels like some of them have been my friends for ages although we’ve never met face to face. Age difference, looks and income doesn’t matter when you connect online.
The online world has also helped me to connect with like-minded people locally: I found them online, so we could meet face-to-face.
Isn’t is also true that we hang around and chat with our colleages when we’re not in the mood to work anymore? Nobody can work 8 hours productively. When our productivity time is up, we need to do something different. Even when the daily working time isn’t done yet. When my productivity phase is over in my home office, I can do different things.
And it’s not that I don’t like hanging with my colleagues. I like them a lot. But I also like to go outside when the weather is nice. I like to do sports. I like to have a clean home. I like to eat home-cooked dinner. I like to spend time with friends and family. My day never has enough hours to do all the things I want to do. I need to prioritize.
Another reason why home office rocks: It makes life cheaper. Isn’t it funny that half of the rented space is always empty half the day? When I’m at the office, my flat is empty. When I’m at home, my office is empty. Can’t space be used in a more intelligent way? Working from home saves money both for companies and private people. It’s only bad for those who rent space to others.
When I don’t travel to my office, it saves me 2 hours of travel time every day. So, in the end, I have done more things when I work from home than from my office. And I realized: I don’t just enjoy reading on the train. I enjoy reading at home, too.
The future has arrived. Nowadays, most work that is done on a computer can be done from your home, a café or wherever you like to work. Digital nomads show us how to do it. I know, it’s not possible to to work like this for everyone. Like nurses or kindergarteners or bus drivers. But there will be a new future with self-driving buses.
Not everyone is fond of working the new way. But this is the way I can be my best, most inspired and most productive. And it’s cheaper and more efficient than travelling to an office, that is far from your home.
