3 Reasons Why Working from Home May Be More Productive

10.28.2015

Nowadays a lot of work is happening outside of the office. More companies are letting individuals work from home, and some are moving to a completely virtual environment; however, some still believe that working in an office is the ideal environment for work related productivity, but is that really true?

Jason Fried, a software entrepreneur, conducted a TED Talk called “Why work doesn't happen at work“, which is a great piece that explores some fantastic points of how the office can be more distracting for workers, and ultimately less productive.

“Where do you go when you need to get something done?” He said, explaining that he had been asking this to people for years. “ I'll hear things like, the porch, the deck, the kitchen. I'll hear things like an extra room in the house, the basement, the coffee shop, the library. And then you'll hear things like the train, a plane, a car … You almost never hear someone say, the office.” He argues that the office is not the most productive place for people to work.

Watch his TED Talk Below:


On that note, here are some reasons why working from home can be just as, or more, productive than working in an office environment:

1) No Random Interruptions From Your Coworkers

Working from gives people long stretches of uninterrupted time to be creative and productive. No one is stopping by your desk, no one is throwing a Nerf dart at you, or being overly loud one cubical over. The biggest distraction is an email, or Skype ping, which, if you're really in your work-groove ("flow"), you can turn on and off notifications and respond on your own time.

2) Flexibility to Step Away and De-stress

Sometimes we get stuck on a particularly difficult task, and the best thing we can do is step away from it a moment and come back with a clear and focused mind. Working from home gives you the opportunity to do just that without worrying about disturbing others around you, or becoming a distraction yourself. Also taking mini-breaks when you need to will make your overall work much more productive.

3) No “Michael Scott” Meetings
Almost everyone is familiar with the character Michael Scott from The office, and his famous impromptu meetings that pull the whole office away from their actual work. Surprisingly these types of meetings are coming in many companies. When you work from him, If you're needed in a meeting you're able to call in and take care of business pretty quickly. You don't have to worry about getting pulled into whole-office meetings that really have nothing to do with you, and only waste your time that could be better used otherwise.

When you work from home you typically have less interruptions, which can lead to higher productivity. Distractions are present in a home office environment (T.V., Social Media websites, etc.); however, these are voluntary distractions (e.g. distractions that you can choose to engage in or not), while many of office distractions often come without warning.

So is working from home more productive? It might be. There are many factors that play into someone's productivity (personal habits, level of tiredness, interest in the work at hand, etc.), and working from home can't be the solution to all of them. However, it certainly is a way to maximize productivity by getting rid of many typical office distractions.