Pros & Cons of Remote Work?
Tags: productivity, career
Published: 2020-04-19 15:44:21

_Image credits - https://www.ringover.com/img/blog/big/13-remote-working-2.png_

With internet coverage practically available everywhere in the world, every one of us is aware of what Coronavirus a.k.a COVID-19 is and the ripple effects it's having across the IT Industry. In most countries, the intensity of the situation demanded a mandatory need to stay home, practice social distancing along with an enforced lockdown to flatten the curve. However as SaaS has to have a **[Business Continuity Plan](https://www.ibm.com/services/business-continuity/plan)** irrespective of circumstances, the whole eco-system transitioned into remote working or rather, work from home.

Now, this led to very interesting insights into the whole work-from-home paradigm, some of which are already documented on Dev.to

{% link https://dev.to/helenanders26/being-kind-while-working-in-lockdown-5912 %}

{% link https://dev.to/ben/what-are-the-hardest-parts-about-working-from-home-3m5i %}

{% link https://dev.to/teamxenox/covid-19-self-isolation-work-from-home-and-developers-22kd %}

However, my post isn't an addition to best practices towards WFH (_have included one at the bottom, though_ :relieved:) but a little corollary based on my experience. With people gradually coming to terms with remote work being the new normal, this is also an attempt to engage with fellow developers here (_i.e: you_) to understand the mindset, rationale, and viewpoints behind it.

Let me start off by listing some advantages/disadvantages of remote work.

### **Pros**
1. It helps save a lot of time traveling to and fro from office. For e.g: The average time spent on commuting in **Mumbai** is ~2.5-3 hours.
2. You can focus your energies on your spouse/kids, parents/elderly family members which is one way to achieve a personal work-life balance.
3. There's always an extra hand to help out in household chores.
4. Organizations save on operational expenditure by not having to operate/maintain a dedicated workspace, relocate employee talent across geographies.
5. You're in charge of your own schedule and productivity.


### **Cons**
1. If a strict schedule/discipline isn't adhered to, office hours will most likely overlap into personal time thus disrupting the work-life balance outlined above.
2. Remote work requires people to communicate frequently which can be very tedious if there's a lack of high-speed internet connectivity, power outages, and software/hardware failure (_VPN issues anyone?_ :cold_sweat:)
3. Too many meetings/calls since little things that can be explained by walking over to a co-worker's desk will now need to be done virtually.
4. A possible feeling of isolation since there will be little personal interaction which doesn't occur as much when working in a dedicated office.
5. Family members, kids and/or pets can be a distraction sometimes.

**PS**: As promised, here is **[article1](https://blog.stylight.com/working-from-home)** and **[article2](https://toggl.com/out-of-office-why-go-remote)** for getting the best out of yourselves while doing work from home :grinning:

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#### **What are some of the pros & cons you've experienced in remote work?**