We’ve all heard about the challenges of working from home. Whether it is the toddler interrupting your important meeting with the latest gossip from Ryder and the Paw Patrol gang, or the patchy internet that just doesn’t live up to the super-speeds you’ve been spoiled with at the office.

It may be, you’re missing the companionship and camaraderie of the team or the support from your office bestie.

Working from home is a challenge but there are those hidden benefits that may give a little bit of light to your overly familiar surroundings.

1. Waiting for parcels (You’re at home for deliveries)

I’ve got to say, it was a massive perk when my husband’s company started allowing personal deliveries to be made to the office. We no longer needed to apologetically skulk over to the neighbours house to collect the impulsive midnight Amazon purchases.

Now, we can order anything we want without having to worry whether one of us will be here to collect the order. Great for my relationships with the neighbours, not so great for my bank balance.

2. Smart on top

I know I’m one of the lucky ones, I love my house and I love where I live. It’s nice to be able to work somewhere I feel so comfortable with my home comforts around me.

My husband’s favourite moment of working from home was the moment he discovered he could wear his comfy, old man slippers to work. It really is in the little things.

Being able to come to work “smart on top” and casual underneath is a huge perk to working from home…. Just remember not to stand up with the camera switched on!

3. Flexible Working

I’m very fortunate to work at somewhere like Postworks. They have always offered me flexibility in my hours to help work around the busy lives of my children. Working from home, seems to take that to another level.

All companies during the pandemic have found that an element of flexible working needed to be extended to all employees, as with schools and childcare providers closed, your team suddenly had new office buddies (and they did not help provide an environment that promoted working). Flexible working allows colleagues to give the best of themselves to both their company and their family. Sometimes the old 9 – 5 just doesn’t work out.

Trusting your team to do the job you hired them for and embracing the flexible working environment does wonders for morale.

4. Problem Solving

Working from home has improved my ability to problem solve. Often in the office, it’s too easy just to lean across and ask for help from a colleague or a line manager.

Suddenly, I wasn’t able to get hold of people so readily and it made me realise just how much I do this. Working from home has forced me to solve many of these problems myself, and has surprised me just how capable we all are in finding solutions.

As a line manager, I’d really recommend that you give the space for your team to be proactive in finding a solution.

As a team member, I’d recommend you think outside the box. It may surprise you and give you more ownership over the job you’ve been doing all along.

5. Commute

I am saving so much money on petrol!

Not to mention the hours I’m now spending not driving to and from the office. This is my favourite part of working from home. No longer am I stuck behind a tractor, travelling at a snail’s pace, whilst my blood pressure starts to rise when I realise they didn’t turn off at the near-by farm but were in fact heading all the way to the office. I’m able to walk downstairs and switch my computer on – a much more relaxed start to the day.

With all of these benefits, it certainly softens the blow of being away from the team, the banter and the support of working at the office.

Make working from home work for you, there are so many services available to help the transition between home and the office.

To find out more of our top tips from working from home, see our blog post https://www.postworks.co.uk/make-working-from-home-work-for-you/