30 Experts Share The Most Common Misconceptions About Working From Home (Hint: It’s Not All Fun in PJs)

What are the first things that come to your mind when you think about working from home?

More likely than not, you probably just imagined these common work-from-home scenarios:

• sleeping in until whenever you feel like it
• working in PJ’s
• frequent breaks to the ‘fridge / the grocery store / picking up the kids / a random household errand

Sound about right?

Well, even though some of these things ARE a work-from-home reality, it wouldn’t be fair to generalize. Because the truth is, working from home is becoming so popular that it isn’t really a fun novelty anymore — not by a long shot.

The Work From Home Movement

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 1/4 of all workers did some or all of their work at home in 2015. And judging from our own workplace insights, the option to work from home and flexible working hours are two benefits that a growing number of today’s top companies are offering to their employees.

Among all companies rated on kununu:
25.1% offer Flexible working hours
9% offer the Ability to work remotely

Of all top rated companies (4 stars or more) on kununu:
51% offer Flexible working hours
17.4% offer the Ability to work remotely

If working from home is becoming so commonplace in today’s modern workplace, we were curious:

• Is working from home all it’s cracked up to be?
• Is the general conception of working-from-home accurate?

We specifically wanted to know the answer to this question:

“What are some common (and biggest) misconceptions about working from home?”

To get some real answers, we reached out to a bunch of experienced work-from-home professionals in a wide range of industries, from C-level execs to freelancers and entrepreneurs and every position in-between, to tell us how it really is. Some of the answers we received were pretty expected, but then some of them also really surprised us.

Check out our panel of experts and what work from home misconceptions stood out most to them:

Meet Our Panel of Work From Home Experts:

• Tyler Benedict
• Grainne Kelly
• Andy Mura
• Elizabeth Becker
• Conrado Lamas
• Slavik Boyechko
• Bobby Bernstein
• Curt Storring
• Shannon Smedstad
• Steve Silberberg
• Jon Lee
• Adrian Lischer
• Lee Silber
• Kenneth Burke
• Lori Appleman
• Branigan Robertson
• Sean Desilva
• Mandy Menaker
• Andy Chan
• Mark Tuchscherer
• Lisa Banks
• Enovia Bedford
• Shireen Jaffer
• Glenn Carter
• Kean Graham
• Kristin Ferguson
• Dave Hermansen
• Alex Reichmann
• Brittany King
• Evan Harris

And the most common misconceptions about working from home are…

The idea of a relaxed, work when I want vibe.

I’ve been self employed for 20+ years now and have used my home as my office for that entire time. I now live downtown in a work/live condo, which provides separate but connected workspace rather than just carving out one (or more) room(s) of my house. That separation makes it easier to keep work life and home life distinct, which became more important once we had kids.

The misconception I’ve heard and see the most is the idea of a relaxed, work when I want vibe.

Yes, it can happen, but I’ve seen several of my friends end up going back to a corporate office environment because they simply couldn’t manage their time effectively. It’s harder than you’d think to focus on work when there’s laundry or dishes piling up, dogs to be walked, bikes to ride, etc. It’s the old college equivalent of having to clean your room before you can study” procrastination technique, and we all know there’s no shortage of household chores to do. Having the willpower to set strict work times or number of hours per day and then sticking to that is key, and having a physically separate work space where household stuff isn’t visible helps.

- Tyler Benedict, Founder of The Build Cycle

It’s easy to arrange down days and down time.

A myth I would like to debunk is that it is so easy and you can take as much time off with the kids as you like. Let me be clear: when it is your own business, no one else can pick up the pieces if there is a drama. That is your job. It doesn’t matter if your kids have sports day or if they are sick, you have to find a way. There is no time for down days.

Another thing that no one told me was that it can be hard to schedule work and family functions around each other. I can plan around some family events, but I do miss a lot of family events, which can be frustrating for the children and for us parents as well. There are also some challenges, such as when to talk about work and how to have the boundaries required for a ‘normal’ family.

- Grainne Kelly, Founder of BubbleBum

The assumption that working from home automatically translates into a better family life.

One misconception I’ve encountered in my career is the assumption that working from home automatically translates into a better family life. Emails, phone calls and deliverables still dictate your time and it’s extremely difficult to have a lunch break with your spouse or manage to pick up the kids from school. You might have more time for breakfast and dinner but, during the day, your colleagues still expect inputs from you and you need to keep up.

Another issue which people forget to include in the equation is the fact that being at home doesn’t mean always working on the couch with the notebook on your lap. Especially for some jobs, you may need to invest money in a home office. Firstly, because it is essential to create a workspace which is clearly separated from a family space where you could be constantly interrupted. Secondly, most jobs nowadays require multiple computer screens, faster or more secure internet access to work with the company’s server, or any other technology you might have access at work on top of furniture and stationery.

On the other hand, many employers erroneously think that by allowing people to work from home, productivity will plummet. Actually, people tend to work more efficiently in a familiar and comfortable environment and concentration is much higher due to the lack of interruptions.

- Andy Mura, Head of Inbound Operations at Userlane

You’re always available to pet-sit, pick up a friend at the airport or free for an early happy hour. And that you’re less productive.

From my perspective, here the the top misconceptions about working from home:

You’re always available to pet-sit, pick up a friend at the airport or free for an early happy hour. Working at home is the same as working in an office — there are meetings, commitments, and work that needs to get done.. Although someone that works from home might have some extra availability, never assume it’s easier for them to drop everything and help you out.

You’re less productive. In reality, working from home results in greater productivity vs working in an office. Think about all those times you have spent chatting with coworkers — you don’t have that luxury at home and that extra time becomes time spent doing work.

- Elizabeth Becker, Client Partner of IT Staffing Firm PROTECH

The idea that you won’t be as committed or as focused at your work if you’re not in the office with your peers

I often work remotely, most days from home. The most surprising misconception about this in my opinion is the idea that you won’t be as committed or as focused at your work if you’re not in the office with your peers.

In fact, my experience says that work output is higher when I’m at home, or working by myself. Why? Because offices can offer too many distractions. In fact, thanks to the current trend of open offices and shared work spaces, you rarely find places in startup offices where you can be by yourself for a couple of hours.

Open spaces have important pros, but the trend usually ignores that human work also needs isolation, with time and space to think. Not to mention privacy.

- Conrado Lamas, CMO at Carts Guru

You get more work done because you don’t have the endless parade of workplace meetings in an office setting

My wife just had our second baby, so now all 4 of us are at home. The main misconception is that you get more work done because you don’t have the endless parade of workplace meetings in an office setting. Truthfully I do have a lot more short bursts of active work time, but finding a solid 4 hour block to work is nearly impossible.

- Slavik Boyechko, Owner & Founder of Gear Dads

You have NO social interaction during the day.

In fact, there’s a sort of stigma associated with working from home where anyone who chooses to do so must be a recluse. But that’s simply not true, as there are as many opportunities for social interaction throughout any given day as you would find in an office or retail setting.

I am in frequent contact with my team of writers through Slack, where we not only chat about who is doing what workwise but also social issues, the big news of the day, and more. And this sort of interaction happens at various points throughout the day, ranging from early in the morning all the way into the wee hours at night; the social interaction isn’t limited to just the hours of 9–5. What’s more, there are frequent face-to-face chats through programs like Google Hangouts and GoToMeeting for things like product overviews. There’s never a true feeling of being alone as is frequently believed.

- Bobby Bernstein, Co-Owner of Nerd Much, LLC

You don’t actually have to work.

I’ve been working from home/coworking spaces for 5 years, both at home near Vancouver, Canada, and in Chiang Mai, Thailand, where I am currently based. The biggest misconception I’ve found is that some people actually think that just because you’re at home, you’ll have loads of time to do non-work things. As if working from home means you don’t actually have to work.

It doesn’t work like that when you’re trying to finish a project, or when you’re an entrepreneur who is building a business.

The worst example I’ve heard is when someone suggested my wife could find full-time employment when our son was about 6 months old (without hiring a nanny or putting him in daycare), since I work from home and would obviously be able to look after him.

I don’t know if her assumptions regarding child care or working from home were worse.

There’s this assumption from people who are typically unmotivated in jobs they don’t enjoy, that since there’s no one there to watch or manage you, you get to do whatever you want. That’s just not the case when you’re the only one responsible for creating the value in the marketplace that will equate to the dollars you need to survive and thrive.

- Curt Storring, Founder of Liberty Grooming

That you’re not working as hard or as much.

For the past 11 years, I’ve worked exclusively and full-time from home. Most of those years were in HR for a Fortune 500 subsidiary, as well as a global management consulting firm. Currently, I am the fourth employee within a 100% virtual, high-growth company.

In the more typical corporate environment, the biggest misconceptions are that you’re not working as hard or as much. I just haven’t found this to be the case.

Everyone I know who successfully works from home, over produces and is more available. They have no commute, do not get pulled into meaningless meetings, aren’t caught up in office gossip or politicking, don’t have to wait for elevators, aren’t walking across campus to get to meetings, aren’t taking hour-long lunches, and don’t have co-workers stopping by for idle chit chat. Working from home offers amazing flexibility and autonomy, but it’s certainly not for everyone. It takes self-motivation, discipline and a reliance on technology to stay connected, as well as finding other outlets for human contact.

- Shannon Smedstad, Principal Employer Brand Strategist at Exaqueo

You don’t work as hard as those on-site.

The biggest misconception I’ve heard is that people who work at home don’t work as hard as those who work on-site.

This is just not the case. People who work from home often work harder and get more accomplished because they don’t get interrupted while they work.

The misperception arises because those who work at home may take breaks to deal with personal business. So while the amount of time they are working is probably less, during the work itself they are more focused and engaged than in an office full of meetings and interruptions.

- Steve Silberberg, Owner of Fitpacking

It’s low stress.

A common misconception that people have about working from home is that it’s relatively low stress.

It makes sense given that there’s a lot more freedom than the traditional 9–5 workplace, but it’s precisely that freedom that makes working from home stressful. Distractions come easily and because there’s nobody to supervise, it’s becomes easy to get side-tracked

— most of the time, you’ll find yourself working until wee hours struggling to meet deadlines.

You’ll start worrying about how others at work will perceive you. Do they think I’m lazy? Do they think that I’m working hard? You’ll find that yourself justifying to others the amount of time you’ve spent working on a particular task because you feel guilty for having that extra freedom in the first place.

There’s just as much stress as a traditional 9–5 hour workplace but most people don’t realize it. It’s just less apparent because it’s more on the way you spend your time instead of the things you’re working on at the office.

- Jon Lee, CEO & Founder at Rabbut

That it’s a great thing.

Everyone thinks working from home is great. But in fact, it’s horrible.

There is no such thing as productivity. Let me give you an example. You wake up and instead of a cup of coffee and bagel then out the door, you’ve suddenly become a Michelin Star chef. For some reason, I now believe I can make red velvet pancakes and a crepe (just like they do at the mall). Once my morning is shot, I try to get a bit of work in. I send a couple emails and feel like i’ve accomplished the world. Suddenly it’s time for lunch and again, i’m a Michelin Star chef. But this time I’m missing fresh basil (it has to be fresh, I know this because I just spent 40 min Googling the recipe). So I run to the store, come back and cook up a storm. But now i’m a bit tired and I can’t actually do decent work when i’m tired.

Normally, at the office, you grab a cup of coffee and get on with it. But when you work from home, you say to yourself i’m just going to take a QUICK nap. You pop on a Netflix movie and close your eyes. You wake up an hour later, and you NEED to know what happens in the move so you finish it. Then you look at the clock, realize it’s 4pm and say there’s not enough time left in the day to accomplish anything, so you flip back on Netflix and binge watch a TV show. Wake up tomorrow and repeat.

- Adrian Lischer, Owner of UP Agency

All your problems are solved.

A big misconception about working from home is that it will solve all common work-related problems — no commute, no co-workers, no (enforceable) rules.

There may be no traffic to fight through, no other people around to distract us, and nobody watching over us, but like anything, working from home can be too good to be true. It takes a certain kind of person who can thrive while left alone at home. Here’s the lowdown based on your brain type (or thinking style).

Right-brainers. Freedom! We like to do what we want when we want, so this is perfect, right? Uh, not exactly. With all the distractions and temptations to lose focus, we will. The best way to work from home for us is to work in short bursts. Set the timer on your phone, turn off the TV, and close your door. Create a work zone that is clear of anything that may tempt you away from your work. By working on short, focused bursts, you will get more done in less time.

Left-brainers. Structure. We like to know what the parameters are, have a clear objective to work towards, and do small things in order so we can check them off or things-to-do list. With nobody around to tell us what to do (and our perfectionist tendencies) we can be paralyzed by fear and procrastinate without direction. We are self-starters and hard workers, but only when we know exactly what is expected of us. We need to ask for direction and create plans to follow when we work alone.

- Lee Silber, Entrepreneur & efficiency expert

It’s inherently different from working in the office.

People tend to think that working from home is inherently going to be different from working at a company office. It’s a common misconception that you’ll either be way more productive by working at home, or way less productive. The reality is somewhere in between.

You’ll have more productive days at home, and less productive days at home — just like if you were working in a company office. There are a ton of distractions at both places (coworkers and chatter, TV and Facebook). And how productive you are in either place ultimately comes down to how disciplined you are. (And how relaxed you are. If being at one place is particularly more stressful, you probably won’t do as well there.)

- Kenneth Burke, Marketing Director of Text Request

There’s no wardrobe and you can work even when you’re sick.

I currently own an e-commerce consulting firm so I have the luxury of working from home most of the time. I was also fortunate enough to be able to work from home for much of the past 15 years. Here are the most common misconceptions and myths about how I work:

Myth 1. There’s no work wardrobe.

Unless you’re holding daily teleconferences, it is true that you can work in your pajamas most of the time. However, you’ll probably need a few shirts (for teleconferences) and a few work outfits for live meetings.

Myth 2. I can stay home and tend to sick family or work when I’m ill.

This one is a maybe subject to both the boundaries set above and, if you’re the one who is sick, how sick you are. Sometimes it is just better to relax and sleep the day away to get well.

Myth 3. I can stay home with my kids.

This one is definitely a maybe. If you have toddlers or babies, this will be nearly impossible unless you also have a sitter to manage them and a door to shut out the noise children naturally make. Regardless of the age of your children, you will need to have clear boundaries set for the hours you work. Otherwise you’ll be subject to interruptions and disruptions that make consistent work nearly impossible. On the flip side, my ability to be home while my kids were in high school was wonderful. I always knew where they were and was able to keep them out of trouble.

Myth 4. Working from home is easy.

It can be. It can also be challenging to remain an involved member of your work team and to get the information and support you need to do your job effectively. You’ll need to be proactive, and at times aggressive, about getting what you need to get your job done.

- Lori Appleman, Co-Founder of Redline Minds, LLC

That people are less productive when the boss isn’t physically overseeing them.

In addition to running a law firm, I also create and sell digital content to other attorneys. I work part-time from home and I currently employ three content writers/creators — all of whom work from home.

When I first started hiring people, I debated whether to let my three employees, one, a busy second-year law student, work almost completely unsupervised. The common misconception is that people are less productive when the boss isn’t physically overseeing them. While that might be true for some employees, my team often produces more content than I can keep up with. They produce a lot more than I anticipated. Plus they are far more creative without me hovering over them.

During the hiring process, I was interested in finding people whose backgrounds involved working independently in the past. One of my employees worked for several years as a journalist, finding stories in the field and spending many hours working without supervision.

Is it all it’s cracked up to be? For my business, I would say it is. If a company succeeds in choosing motivated people, the business will benefit from abundant productivity. Companies shouldn’t underestimate what a powerful incentive a work from home job provides — especially as people are starting to refuse to drive long commutes for work. A motivated employee will appreciate the convenience of avoiding the daily grind of a grueling commute, and will reward the company with hard work to keep that perk.

- Branigan Robertson, Employee Rights Attorney

It’s easy to maintain work life separation.

A big misconception is that it’s just as easy to maintain work life separation. At an office environment you get to turn work mode on or off using your commute as a daily transition. When you work from home, you don’t have that. The convenience of being able to eat whenever right out of your fridge, or take breaks at random intervals just muddies the work/life paradigm further and makes it so your whole day is your workday.

There are steps you can take to minimize this downside though. I’ve created a dedicated home office space and have instructed friends and family that when I’m in that room, I’m at work. I go so far as to tell them to call me in case they need to talk, although I do step out after I get the message. I will still go out to the kitchen and make myself snacks, take a TV break, and do other things that I can benefit from at home. I consider it to be a substitute for the watercooler conversation time I would otherwise spend at the office.

The hardest part for me has been shutting off at the end of the day. There’s always another email to answer or task to check off the list. But then, there’s always tomorrow too.

- Sean Desilva, President & Owner of Every Last Spot Cleaning Service

That it’s lonely.

A common misconception is that working from home is lonely. In 2017, it is incredibly easy to stay connected with your team through Slack and Skype and communicate in real time. In addition, there are a ton of networking apps that can help introduce you to other nearby professionals so you always have someone new with whom to get lunch.

- Mandy Menaker, Head of PR and Brand Development at Shapr

That your time is flexible.

One of the biggest misconception about working from home is that your timetable is flexible.

In reality, you are only saving commute time and end up spending it on your company computer. With company instant messaging (IM) systems and emails, coworkers will still find you when they need to. A manager will still have the same expectations on you regarding deliverables, especially when you and your team are fighting a deadline. Therefore, make sure you are extremely self-disciplined before you opt to work from home.

Also, even if your company allows you to work from home, you should not take it for granted. Technical issues can happen when someone work remotely. For example, not every employee has a work laptop with VPN installed. Then, access to some important company files may be lost. Access to large databases may be better at office than at home, and working from home end up lead to hindrance of work progress due to connection issues or even file crash.

Another misconception is that working at home can save you time because working alone without disturbance means use of quality time. In reality, there are times you would need to work with a coworker, and it is faster to get things done when you troubleshoot a problem together right at the moment it occurs. Working from home will remove the chances to teamwork. This affects overall productivity in many cases.

- Andy Chan, Founder of Prime-Opt

It’s a great time saver.

I think the biggest misconception about working from home is that it is this great time saver and you are so much more productive all the time.

A lot of days t you aren’t as productive as when in the office and get distracted very easy. I also have days that I need to talk or meet with certain people and it would be much easier to do it in person or just walk over to them. It’s not all bad, there is the benefit of not having to commute to the office, which is a big deal and you can start working much earlier. Defiantly pros and cons to working from home but in general I enjoy it.

- Mark Tuchscherer, President of Geeks Chicago

That anyone can do it. And that everyone WANTS to do it.

1. That anyone can do it. Nope. You need to be disciplined in your work and extra diligent in communication with your coworkers and managers to succeed, in fact. Problems can spring up and you may have no idea, because you have to go further out of your way to communicate with someone than if you bump into them in the hall in an office.

2. That everyone WANTS to do it. Nope. Some people need to have the water cooler (we had a candidate turn down a job offer once because she didn’t want to give up seeing colleagues every day in person.)

- Lisa Banks, Executive Editor and Web Manager for Enjuris

You have tons of free time.

People always think since you work from home you have all of this free time. Your time is flexible but that doesn’t equal free. If I run errands during the day then I’m up until 2 am working. I also work more hours when I’m working from home than when I’m in an office since it’s a more relaxed environment with less interruptions. I get way more work done from home also, so yes to me it’s all it’s cracked up to be.

- Enovia Bedford at Hinge Marketing Solutions

It’s distracting.

I am a small business owner and our company just went on a remote culture last June. Since then, I have experienced both the pros and cons of working from home, and would love to share common misconceptions:

Working from home can be distracting.

When my company was switching from an in-office culture to a remote culture, a common concern I heard was how distracting it would be to work from home. But once we got used to the new change, we realized that most team members were much more productive at home. Our culture encourages co-working so team members still get together twice a week, and majority share that while they appreciate the face-time, they know they will get less done in-person due to social distractions or even just through natural conversations versus those that are scheduled and anticipated when working from home.

Working from home allows for lots of flexibility.

When first adjusting to the remote culture, I saw that team members were having trouble syncing for meetings because people were working on different, more flexible schedules. To be effective, we had to align everyone’s schedules so that while place of work is flexible, the timings are more strict and require everyone to be much more accountable.

- Shireen Jaffer, Managing Director of Skillify

Working in your pajamas while watching your favorite tv shows.

The top misconception is work in your pajamas while watching your favorite tv shows. The reality is that slacking off is a recipe for disaster. To effectively work from home one needs a dedicated space with the right equipment. It also requires a great deal of discipline and focus. Look at it this way, at the office there are set schedules and priorities for any given day. At home, you have to set your own priorities and allocate time to finish off your tasks. And the reality is, work is constantly competing with family for attention.

OK, maybe I work a few days in my PJs.

Secondly, it’s a misconception that work from home professionals work less. The opposite is actually true, and it’s not always a good thing. The work-life balance can be non-existent when working from home. Each and every moment feels like you should be working. The best way to counter this is to have a regular schedule and communicate it clearly with your clients and with your family as well. And then have the discipline sticking to that.

I personally give every minute of my day a job — and as soon as the clock strikes 2pm (my end of day), I get into family mode. No questions asked. It’s important to be a dictator of your schedule!

Bottom line: Working from home is a great career move for many people. Take out the hassle and stress of a commute, and you are left with more time to get work done, make more money, and spend time with family. But it also requires a great deal of discipline and focus to pull it off effectively.

- Glenn Carter, Writer & Economy Blogger at The Casual Capitalist

You won’t get anything done. And, people won’t respect what you do.

Below are the top remote work misconceptions:

You Won’t Get Anything Done: While it’s possible to have a distracting work environment especially if there’s young children, with the right planning, working from home can be so much more efficient than working from the office. You won’t have to worry about getting tapped on the shoulder all the time, you will get pulled into less useless meetings and you won’t have to struggle to hear yourself think while others are on calls.

People Won’t Respect What You Do: Remote work is becoming more commonand people are starting to see the vast benefits of having location freedom. Commutes aren’t necessary anymore, harsh winters can be avoided and you can eat healthier at home instead of eating out. More high level positions in companies are remote work friendly and people are starting to notice and respect this choice of work lifestyle.

Negative Spiral of Home Based Work: Don’t worry, after three months you won’t be working in your stained underwear from a pillow fort you made two weeks ago. It takes a little while to get used to remote working but you’ll find your groove and improve your environment so that you can maximize your output. With the restrictions of the office gone, you can focus on perfecting your environment.

- Kean Graham, CEO of MonetizeMore

You can do anything you want, whenever you want.

I think the biggest misconception is that you can do anything you want, whenever you want. In my case, this is NOT true.

I am still in a client facing role, which means I need to be available from 8am — 6pm every single day. I won’t lie, I have taken a client call while walking my dog before, but I much prefer to just be available at my desk when I am needed :)

- Kristin Ferguson, Account Director at The Markey Group

It’s a “lucky” situation.

I can’t tell you how many times people have said to me, “you’re so lucky” when I told them that I worked from home.

Don’t get me wrong; it does have its advantages. More than anything, working from home gives you some schedule flexibility that you might not have in a regular 9 to 5 job. That said, it does have its pitfalls.

One of the toughest things for people to do is set down boundaries for friends and family who think that they can interrupt your day any time they want and that you’ll drop everything you are doing at the slightest whim. Working from home takes discipline and the work still needs to be done. Unless you make everyone aware that you are not to be disturbed during set hours, you’ll never get anything done.

More than anything, the thing that many people fail to recognize is that people who work from home really never leave work. The office is always there; the work yet to be done is always staring at you. If you are as motivated as I am, it’s very hard to not sneak in a little bit more work every chance you get — especially during times when people who work regular jobs would be relaxing with their friends or family. Shutting it down and not thinking about work is very hard when you are always in the office building.

- Dave Hermansen, CEO of Store Coach

It’s always fun.

A common misconception many people have about working at home is that it is always a good time. Working at home can be a challenge for many people because of the potential isolation it can cause. When you work from home it often means not having co-workers to motivate you when you’re having an off day or seeing customers as often if at all as you would in an office building.

With a little effort though you can fight the potential isolation in a number of ways. You can join or form meetup groups (through the Meetup app) or plan to meet some friends for lunch break during the day. Some at home entrepreneurs also put in the extra effort to call rather than e-mail clients to make their work a little more social. By putting in the extra effort you can make your working at home social environment better, but it requires more work than someone who isn’t in that situation might think of.

- Alex Reichmann, CEO of iTestCash

It’s a lax environment and you can’t develop meaningful working relationships with colleagues.

One of the most common misconceptions about working from home is that it is a lax environment. Working from home requires that you be even more focused than if you were in an office because there are so many more potential distractions at home. In order to be effective, employees who work from home must be able to master tasks and complete projects with excellence.

Another common misconception about working from home is that all individuals who work from home lack the ability to develop meaningful working relationships with their colleagues. As someone who has worked from home for some time now, I know firsthand that it is possible, but not easy, to develop relationships with coworkers and engage with others. At home workers must be intentional about building relationships with their team members.

- Brittany King is a Senior Recruiter and Founder of The Career Collective

You’re totally independent.

Many people that want to work from home believe that a home office means more flexibility in data reporting and an independent operating schedule. Often, the complete opposite is true.

As the employee is not physically in the office, the employer often wants documentation of time and evidence of
work completed. While this sounds normal, in some cases the remote employee may be required to document processes that he or she would not have to complete in an office setting, such as phone calls made or emails responded to.

Furthermore, many remote workers’ schedules are booked with certain on-call times where instant connection is mandatory. This often results in a lack of independent working hours.

While employers do not want to micro-manage their remote employees, it is important to collect data make sure that your remote team is functioning at a high rate of efficiency.

Many people also believe that work from home positions do not require face-to-face meetings. This is very inaccurate as many industries require extensive phone or in-person communication to function properly. Many home-based workers find themselves driving to various locations throughout the month to sit in on important meetings.

In addition, it is important that remote workers have access to a strong cell and internet connection so any virtual meetings can also be attended.

- Evan Harris is the Co-founder & Director of HR, SD Equity Partners

Judging from these responses, there’s a whole lot more to the work-from-home lifestyle than meets the eye. And while remote working arrangements won’t likely be replacing your typical office environment anytime soon (or will it????), we can all benefit from having a better and more honest understanding of this rising trend in the future of work.

What do you think — do you agree with these misconceptions about working from home? Share your thoughts with us @kununu_US!

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Linda Le Phan is the Content Marketing Manager at kununu US, a company review platform built on transparency. When she isn’t focused on creating great content around the modern workplace, company culture, and workplace happiness, she is probably going out to get an iced coffee (even in Boston winter), raiding the snack drawer, or jamming to kununu’s Spotify playlist.