Benefits of remote work: How you can work from home

Work from home – The News Mill

Work from home culture is catching up in this part of the world as well. According to many people, the future of work is remote. Remote work is working from home.

Many large corporations have their head offices located in densely populated areas; it makes sense considering the talent pool to hire from is deeper. There is a problem though. A growing problem is, big cities and densely populated areas are growing too fast and there is not enough space and housing to accommodate everyone.

Big cities are growing as more and more people are moving from the countryside to work and live in the big city where the opportunities are.

What happens in normal market dynamics; where demand exceeds supply, prices tend to rise.

So with a large influx of workers and a limited amount of places to live, inevitably the prices for living will go up. In a perfect world, the salaries of workers would reflect such increases in living costs but in the real world this is not the case. While salaries do generally go up, it is at a much slower pace.

Catch-22

The problem comes when most companies are unable to pay the wages needed to cover employee’s costs of living. At the same time, the work opportunities are usually located in the big city where the employee can’t afford to live. This is a paradoxical situation where the two so important aspects contradict each other, or else what we call a catch-22 situation.

Solution: Remote Work

The solution here is remote work. If an employee is able to work from home then it doesn’t matter whether the employee lives in the same city as the company‘s head office or if they live in the countryside or even in a different country.

Nowadays, most often the majority of work is carried out over the internet. So as long as an employee has a computer, mobile device and stable internet connection they are able to carry out their tasks. If meetings are part of daily routines then there are plenty of software to accommodate meetings online. You can even use a phone and make an old fashioned phone call to communicate!

Companies can complement this with obligatory gatherings at head office once every so often to address certain issues that may be difficult to address through other means of communication.

Positive Effects

Some positive aspects of remote work is better work-to-life balance. Picking up the kids from school, attending appointments, going to the bank, going to the gym in the morning, to the store in the middle of the day or even being home for the plumber – all of this can be done more easily if you work from home. A person is able to cope with everyday things a lot easier and achieve a better balance in life with remote work.

Another positive aspect is time saving. How long is your commute to work everyday? Imagine if you could use that time for something else, get more sleep, go to the gym or spend more quality time with your family instead of sitting in a car, cab, bus or subway.

Start working remotely

If your company is conservative when it comes to working conditions and obligatory office attendance 9-5, Monday to Friday; then maybe it is time to look for another job.

One common problem when looking for remote work is that many employers are still not embracing the concept, or rather, doesn’t have the structure and flexibility to support it. Fortunately for those interested there are plenty of job boards where remote work positions are listed, this is one popular website where positions are available frequently.

Another way to start working remote is to start your own business. There are many new IT and tech companies structuring their companies so as to allow remote work.

The people behind this website structured their company from day one to allow scaling and growth while working from home efficiently. If you ask them it’s the best decision they ever did, Arvind, the guy managing the company’s PR says: “Having our team work remotely has worked really well for us since we implemented it as an option a few years back. So much so, that aside from the additions to the team, everyone else is still on board and giving the job their full dedication. For us, it just makes sense to trust our initial judgement of when we employ the person that they are capable of doing the job, regardless of whether they’re being directly monitored by their manager or sitting at home.”

Remote work in India

Some qualities to highlight in your CV when applying for remote positions in India is:

Written communication: When you are remote, the majority of all conversations with the company and colleagues will be through written word. It is important that you are able to articulate yourself well. Remember to keep things simple, clean and concise when writing.

Discipline: When working remote you need to work autonomously so it is very important you self-motivated and stay focused because there will be no one looking over your shoulder and check up on you all the time. You need to get the work done!

Interests outside of work: One common objection to remote work is social aspects. If you are going to work from home then it is very important that you have some hobbies, meaningful relationships and things to do outside of your working hours. You need to be able to get out of your “office”, switch off, decompress and get social stimulation. If you don’t, there is a higher chance that you will get bored of remote work or end up burning out.

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About TNM NewsDesk

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The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]