How Working From Home Is Actually A Bonafide No-Brainer For You & Ya Boss

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Remember the ancient dialup internet connection you had as a kid? It was only ever good for watching those hilarious flash animations and nudging the shit outta ya mates on MSN Messenger. It certainly wouldn’t have accommodated working from home for most people. 

But as technology has advanced faster than Sonic the Hedgehog on caffeine binge, the ability to work from home and on the go has become so convenient, it’s actually, in many regards, become a more viable option than trekking it into the office every day. 

So why aren’t more of us doing it? Thanks to Telstra‘s latest Work-Life Index report, we have some insights into why you’re slogging away at a desk when you could be slogging away in the comfort of your own home. Here’s why working from home is actually a fricken great idea supported with statistics. Bosses love statistics. 

Contrary to what you might think, your boss is probably happy for you to work from home. According to the report, only 28 percent of employees say they work from home, yet 48 percent of employers consider it feasible for their staff to work at home. That’s a 20 percent gap that’s purely due to bung perception. 

Furthermore, 47 percent of employees reckon their work has flexible working arrangements, but 84 percent of employers say they actually do. That’s another big fat perception gap of 28 percent. 

There’s killer incentives for them, too, with 44 percent of employers reporting reduced taxes and 67 percent say they have less overheads. This makes sense because bosses enjoy increased currency.  

Of the employers surveyed, 67 percent of them are mad stoked about flexi-work, believing it promotes better work-life balance for their workers. They’re right, it does, which is exactly our next point.  

That’s right, m8. Those that work from home report feeling more relaxed, creative and calm when working from home compared to their office-dwelling counterparts. Just look at these happy little faces:

Giving staff the freedom to structure their own work day allows them to function more efficiently, which really is a big bloody win for both parties. 

Unless you walk or cycle to work everyday, chances are your commute takes a decent slice of your weekly time and income. Working from the comfort of your abode, even just a couple of days a week, will definitely cut these into these measures.

Not only that, you won’t have to deal the perils of public transport or unrelenting traffic, which is a big deal for the 67 percent of respondents who put their commute as the top reason for ditching the office.  

Slower speeds, work meetings and access to particular software or documents used to be your boss’ favourite excuses for keeping you in the office, but not any-fricken-more. Speeds have improved (especially if you have access to some sweet NBN), you can attend meetings via video call and collaborative software like Google Drive allows you to share and work on what you need to from wherever you can get an internet connection. 

And this is only going to get easier with technologies like virtual reality. Games like Altspace VR are already embracing virtual meetings and presentations, inviting guest speakers into VR to present to people who are sitting comfortably in their homes with a headset. I even played Cards Against Humanity with a bunch of virtual strangers once. What a time to be alive.

Housing affordability is a dang mess, especially if you live in Sydney. As more people begin to work from home and more workplaces adopt flexible working arrangements, this could actually change.

And because you won’t actually have to commute, it will become increasingly easy for you to buy affordable property further away from city centres.

As a pleasant side-effect of such shifts, there will be less cars on the road, which is rad for reducing both shitty traffic and CO2 emissions.