With the onset of the “Pandemic times”, working from home office has become a new norm for everyone. A full-fledged office, as we have all experienced, comes with that white-collar air, giving the office an unadulterated work-friendly vibe.

When I tried bringing in the same kind of atmosphere in my home office a few months ago, I found myself loving the challenge!

Well, from my past experience of working from home for an E-commerce company, during normal times, I had my list of learnings ready for this time.

To create a non-chaotic, non-distracting, work-friendly and happy home office, this is all I needed back then- a small room with space big enough to place a laptop and a printer on a table, some minimal stationery, and a phone.

 I started working remotely, for this start-up based in California set up by my cousin in 2013. Working from home was an opportunity as well as a compulsion as I could not take up a full-time career due to my kids who were solely dependent on me back then.

The idea of working from home was fun. I was all excited and set. Now all I had to do was to install Java, Oracle, and Adobe Acrobat software on my laptop and get going, all within the comfort of home!

In the beginning, I was spending only 2 to 3 hours in my make-do home office. Over the months, I was able to happily take it to 6 hours a day!

It worked wonderfully for me. And why wouldn’t it? One, I was at home around my family, and two, working remotely with a bare-minimum investment, I made some good dough for myself!

Having understood that this trend of a home office is not going anywhere anytime soon, I have now upgraded my study room into a proper office space for a hassle-free work environment. I have done up the space such that it supports long working hours.

I love my home office. It has no distractions, no disruptions, and zero nuisance value. Trust me, it has quite a professional atmosphere.

That said, you do encounter fly in the ointment sometimes!

Here are my two honest cents on the pros and cons of working from home:

What I love about remote working-

• Comfort of home
• Flexibility of schedule
• Liberty to attend to children even during work hour
• Freedom from following any in-person protocol
• A regulated routine

A few things that I could have easily done without-

• Tendency to get into procrastination mode when you have the liberty to choose work hours
• Inability to stay focused all through, if you have many things to take care of, at home
• Seepage of monotony due to lack of in-person interactions with fellow workers
• Demanding bosses expecting higher output

All said and done, I can safely infer that when you trust your capabilities, and make the best of resources at hand, creating and working from the home office could be a fun challenge to take on!

Here’s wishing you a Happy workday at home!

Sarika Verma

The writer, Sarika Verma is a computer professional and teacher. She has built her work life around her two adorable children and a supportive & loving husband. She believes that having a balance between work and family is the key to a satisfying life.

When she is not busy playing her various gratifying roles, you will find her indulging in reading social fiction and management best sellers.