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Whether you’re a small business owner, a freelancer, or you have an arrangement with your corporate job that allows for some remote work, you’ve probably come across some raised eyebrows about the concept of “working from home.”
Even though more and more employers are warming up to the idea of remote work, with roughly 43% of employees reporting that they do work from home at least some of the time, traditional beliefs about how and where work should be done still prevail to an extent.
Along with these prevailing beliefs, there are, of course, many misconceptions about what it means to work from home.
Curious as to what they are? Here are 10 of the most common misconceptions about remote work.
10 Common Misconceptions About Working From Home
1. You get to sleep in as late as you want.
With an absent office, coworkers, and commute, you get to sleep in as late as you want, right? Not so. Most people I know that work remotely (myself included) are still ready to work bright and early, starting as early as 7 a.m. Whether you have to make a call to the East Coast in the early morning, or you have a deadline move up, work is work, and it doesn’t discriminate against the early morning hours.
2. You work in your pjs. That is, when you do work.
While I’m sure some people opt to work in their pjs or other comfy clothes, most people that work from home are well aware of the fact that remote work comes down to creating the ideal environment for productivity. This means setting up a space of efficiency for your home office, making sure that where you work is quiet enough for focus, and yes, donning the right attire so you’re dressed to get sh*t done.
3. Taking time off is more than easy.
There seems to be a prevailing belief that when you work from home, you can take as much time off as you like. While there are some people I know that work remotely who are always on the go, if they’re not traveling for their business/work, they’re still working, even if they’re on vacation. When you work remotely, there is no clear distinction between personal time and work. Work kind of just goes wherever you go, so even when you do take a vacation, you’re most likely still going to have to work (sad, but true).
4. You’re available for airport pickups, pet-sitting, shopping, basically anything at any hour of the day.
Ah yes- this one never seems to get old. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been hit up by family, relatives, friends, and even mere acquaintances to pick them up from the airport or run errands for them at any and all hours of the day. For some reason when you work from home, people seem to think that you’re not really working. Deadlines don’t exist, calls don’t have to be taken or made, and you definitely don’t need to actually be at home when you work “from home.”
5. It’s harder to be as productive when you’re at home all the time.
Working from home is not for everyone, so it very well may be the case that it is harder for some to be as productive working from home. However, for employees that work remotely, research has shown that two-thirds of their managers report their remote employees having higher productivity levels. Think about it. When you remove the typical distractions in an office like gossiping at the water cooler, pointless meetings, distracting coworkers, or unnecessary office politics, all that’s left is the time and space to actually work.
6. Working at home means you don’t have to work nearly as hard.
This is another common fallacy, particularly amongst the more traditional office employees. At one of my previous jobs in entertainment, several people in my department were able to work from home for a few days a month, myself included. While this was becoming an increasingly common practice at this company, several people there that did not have a similar arrangement with their manager were quick to criticize those who worked from home. She’s not really working when she’s at home. I’m sure they slept in late. He probably knocked off early to go to happy hour again. Sentiments like these were fairly common, even when it was clear that employees that worked remotely were working just as much, if not more than their in-office colleagues.
7. You have tons of free time.
Yep- on top of being available for airport pick-ups and the odd errand here and there, I also have oodles of time to do just about whatever I want! Said no remote employee ever. Sure- you may be able to squeeze in a walk over your lunch hour, or even run to the pharmacy if you need to pick up that prescription, but all in all, you don’t have the free time to just stop working at any point in the day. When you work at home, you do have more control over your schedule and efficiency; however, this doesn’t mean that you’re totally available for non-work related activities.
8. Not to mention all that flexibility.
Depending on your line of work, you may have a degree of flexibility when it comes to your day-to-day work. However, for most people that work from home, their timetable is inflexible. Deadlines still exist, and you’re still going to get pinged by other colleagues and your manger through IMs, emails, and phone calls. This means being available all day at your computer, which doesn’t necessarily translate to all that flexibility that people commonly associate with remote work.
9. It gets lonely without any social interaction.
There seems to be a stigma that’s frequently associated with remote work where people that choose to work from home are some kind of asocial or socially dysfunctional hermits. In some areas of work you may be more independent and/or less reliant on social interaction. For example, if you’re a writer where your productivity and output solely comes down to you; however, this is not typically the case for most remote workers. The reality of remote work is that there are actually a number of opportunities for social interaction on a daily basis. Many remote teams communicate often on a moment-to-moment basis through apps like Slack or Skype. They may text or call, or hold conference meetings daily either via phone or video chat. There’s never actually that true feeling of being alone or isolated that so many people associate with remote work.
10. Anyone can work from home.
Nope. Remote work is not for everyone, but that won’t stop people from telling you that it’s the best working arrangement out there, even if they have never tried it. To work from home successfully, you must be absolutely disciplined and diligent when it comes to your work. You have to be a creative problem solver as issues arise (e.g., when it comes to any technical issues, you are the first line of IT defense). A lot of people aren’t made for the quiet independence that comes with working from home, and they may actually like having their time at the water cooler, or the sometimes welcome distraction from colleagues when work gets boring or tedious. Remote work simply isn’t for everyone, and if it were, then there wouldn’t be so many misconceptions about it.
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