Pros and Cons of a Home Office
The office is evolving, but not all offices are equal.
Working from home in quiet New Jersey towns like Teaneck, Bergenfield, and Paramus—it’s the dream setup, especially when you work alone and for yourself, right? Well… no, not quite. Ever heard the saying: The grass is always greener on the other side? There’s a lot of truth in that. And dreams will never work unless you work them.
Now don’t get me wrong, the home office has its place and it works great for a lot of happy people. But it’s not all smooth sailing, as this piece explains.
So is the home office a good fit for you and your lifestyle? It could be the perfect solution, but then again it might not. That’s what you’re about to find out. It’s not the purpose of this piece to sway your thinking one way or the other. All I show here are the realities of the home office, good, bad, and ugly.
Good Reason to Work from Home
There are all kinds of reasons why people want to work from home. You can be an employee with a remote boss or an independent worker fending for yourself.
Here are the most popular reasons why people want to work from home in Northern New Jersey towns like New Milford, Englewood, and Teaneck:
- Have more control over your schedule
- More time for personal pursuits and/or parenting
- Escape from the daily commute—it’s wasted time and unpredictability
- Save on travel costs
- Wear what you want
At a glance, everything on that list sounds perfectly reasonable. But as pointed out earlier, it’s easy to crave after something you haven’t got. And when you get it, all might not be as it seems. It could be much better too, but you won’t know until you look into your situation.
We’re going to get into the pros and cons of the home office in four key areas.
- Schedule
- Environment
- Expenses
- Relationships
Now let’s look at each of these in turn.
1. The Flexible Schedule
THE PROS
Everyone jokes about the joy of working in their pajamas yet few actually do that. One of the top reasons why people like the idea of working at home is the flexible schedule.
Releasing one’s self from the shackles of a 9-5 is the dream of many. It allows you to organize your work around your lifestyle instead of the other way around.
You can also take a nap when you need one. This is not something you can do in a conventional workplace. You’d be amazed at how a short power nap can reinvigorate a person from the inside out.
There are no cons to this as the flexible schedule can be anything you want it to be.
2. The Home Work Environment
THE PROS
You can dress how you want. It might sound trivial, but wearing what makes you most comfortable can have an indirect impact on mood and productivity.
Most people who work from home still like to maintain a certain dress code and grooming routine. But it’s their choice, and that’s the point. Being in charge of clothing saves time and takes less effort too.
Some people—though not all—find that working from home makes them more productive. The reason is because they are in a position to adapt a style of working that suits them best.
The final pro with using the home as an office are potential tax incentives and tax deductions.
THE CONS
Despite the positives, there’re plenty of cons with the home environment. The longer someone works from home, the more challenging it can become. Here’s a shortlist of the most common disadvantages:
- Distraction: in all its forms, from kids to laundry to the kitchen
- Temptations: TV, comfy sofa, daytime TV, and many more
- Lost motivation: often triggered by bad days, boredom, and isolation
- Lack of professional office facilities and amenities
- Difficult to balance family and work life under the same roof
- The address and location doesn’t impressive prospects and clients
Your list may differ somewhat, depending on your situation, type of work, and outlook.
3. Expenses
THE PROS
Not having to commit to a costly office lease is a major attraction. Eating lunch and drinking coffee at home is another of those things that can save you a small fortune over the course of a year.
Having fewer car maintenance costs and no more commuting is a huge saving of both money and time for some people. The American commute is eating into more personal time than ever before.
THE CONS
You have to invest in your own work space at home.
Typical home office expenses include:
- Dedicated space to work
- Furniture, including a desk and economic chair
- Business dedicated phone and number
- Fast internet
- Utilities
- Printer and supplies
These expenses come with headaches too when you set them up and when things go wrong.
4. Relationships
THE PROS
Not having a boss or coworking hovering over and distracting them is a huge deal for some folks. Not being dragged into office politics as the “water cooler” can be a great stress reducer for some.
THE CONS
People need people. We may not think so at times, but we do, especially in the longer term. Working alone from home can—and often does—bring its own set of problems.
It’s hard to network and form important new relationships from the home office. You’re also more low-profile. That means you have to go looking for clients rather than them finding you.
And finally, you have to manage your relationships with others in your home to allow you be productive. It becomes harder to define boundaries of when you don’t want to be disturbed when your home office is in line of sign from family members.
Office Evolution Hackensack — A Shared Offce Center in Northern New Jersey
It’s not the purpose of this piece to put you off working from home. The idea is to get you to think about it carefully before you make a final commitment.
We’re Office Evolution Hackensack, a Shared Office Coworking Center near Teaneck, New Milford, and River Edge, NJ. We understand all the unique challenges that working from home raises. Many of our members once worked from home, and some still do on a part-time basis. We offer everything a conventional office provides but without the commitment.
We can provide local businesses and independent professionals with many workspace and virtual office options. We offer plug-n-play private offices, micro offices, dedicated desks, conference rooms and open shared workspaces, as well as virtual office services—like a live virtual receptionist service and business address with mail service.
Whether you live in Teaneck, Bergenfield, Maywood, Teterboro, Hasbrouck Heights, Moonachie, Little Ferry, Rochelle Park, Dumont, Bogota, River Edge, New Milford, Hackensack, Englewood, Paramus, Tenafly, Fort Lee, and other communities nearby in Bergen and Essex counties, choosing Office Evolution Hackensack in New Jersey will help you be more professional, productive, and profitable.