Read the text about the advantages and disadvantages of working from home and do the exercises below.

Marcin Legeżyński Working From Home: a Blessing or a Curse?

If you are thinking about your future job and trying to plan your career when you finish school, you may face the choice between working from the office or home. There are numerous situations in which employers decide to assignassignassign to their employees' jobs that can be completed remotely, from home. Sometimes this choice is more economical or beneficial for the company or the remote worker. In other instances, it is forced upon them by circumstances or the law, for example during a pandemic. Many employees prefer this way of performing their professional duties. Others perceiveperceiveperceive it as a curse.

The Pros of Remote Working

The most obvious advantage of working from home is that employees enjoy more flexibilityflexibilityflexibility in their jobs. Some of them can choose their working hours or preferred days when they do their jobs and so manage their time better. Also, remote work allows for improved focusimproved focusimproved focus. This is because unless you live in a noisy or crowded place, working from home means you will have an entire room to yourself. With no distractions from other office colleaguesoffice colleagues [office colleague]office colleagues around, you can focus on work better and complete your tasks much faster. In addition to this, you can achieve better attendance and punctualityattendance and punctualityattendance and punctuality when operating from home. Not having to commutecommutecommute and get stuck in traffic jams will save you time and even when you have some personal tasks to complete, you will not completely miss work to accomplish them. Finally, remote working removes geographical boundaries and enables you to work with professional partnersprofessional partners [professional partner]professional partners from all over the world and provides better collaborationbetter collaborationbetter collaboration. If you have the right tools, you may even collaborate in real‑timecollaborate in real‑timecollaborate in real‑time despite being in different time zones!

Working from Home as a Curse

On the other hand, working from home does not come without certain disadvantages. First of all, you will need to invest money in costly equipmentcostly equipmentcostly equipment to perform your duties remotely. In some jobs, a regular computer and average internet speed may be enough, but in other jobs, these might have to be upgradedupgraded [upgrade]upgraded. Also, the equipment you use may not be shared by a few workers, as it would in a normal office setting, which increases the cost even more. Moreover, you will face the risk of lower productivitylower productivitylower productivity when working remotely. This is because if you find it hard to switch off from work mode at home, you can become too stressed and suffer from burnoutsuffer from burnoutsuffer from burnout. You can also become too relaxed in the comfort of your home that you lose motivation to work efficiently.  Numerous distractions, such as your children or even a pet that needs your attention may pull you away from work, too. Being constantly in your home environment could cause social isolationsocial isolationsocial isolation, as you will not have as much contact with your co‑workers as in an office and you may have fewer opportunities for brainstorming or exchanging ideas. Finally, you may suffer from limited access to informationlimited access to informationlimited access to information when you work away from your office. You can’t simply walk to another person’s cubiclecubiclecubicle to ask for feedback or details on a current project when you are working from home.

Many professionals choose the option of working remotely, if it is available, and take it as a blessing, listinglisting [list]listing the numerous benefits of it. Others see the need to work from home as a curse and try to avoid it as they take the disadvantages of remote working very seriously. Have you thought about which working option seems more appealingappealingappealing to you and whether you would like to work from home in the future?

1 Źródło: Marcin Legeżyński, licencja: CC BY-SA 3.0.