Remote workers work more hours: what do we do?

The pandemic has changed our life, work, business. Increasingly, companies are transferring their employees to remote work.

When you are an office worker, these changes look like you are being handed the keys to Eden. Wake up a little later, work in your favorite pajamas and socks without getting out of bed. Sounds good, right?

But this beautiful picture also has a downside. It turned out that remote employees spend significantly more time on work than their in-house counterparts.

Dessert for the first

In recent years, there have been a lot of researches, all the results prove one thing - people who work remotely feel happier. The ability to work from home provides people with some benefits. The most significant are:

• Work at your own pace. Most remote workers are free to schedule their own time and work at a pace that suits them. If you are tired or have to take your dog for a walk, you can take a break. If you have back pain, you can do yoga or quick exercises.
• Saving time and money. You don't need speed time on travels to the office. Travel costs money, whether it's your own car or public transport. And even more, money is spent on lunches and coffee - at home, after all, all this is available in your favorite kitchen. As a result, the savings can be substantial.
• Social connections and communication with family. If you spend all your time on work, there is simply no energy left for it. And this is one of the main advantages of remote work - the ability to freely plan your schedule and devote more time to communicate with people close and dear to you.
• Freedom of geography. Remote work allows you to live in one country and work for a company anywhere in the world. Internet, laptop and necessary skills - all that is required in the modern world.

But lately, more and more people are talking about a fly in the ointment - you pay for comfort and freedom with your time.

Remote workers spend more hours working

Working from home entails the illusion of greater freedom of action because now you are working on the principle of "organize as you like, just do everything efficiently and on time." So what prevents you, in this case, from turning on the YouTube in the background or scrolling down your social media feeds for hours? The danger is exacerbated by the fact that the boundaries of the working day at home are blurring, and the control of superiors is reduced. It seems that you spend as much time on work as in the office, but in fact, you are doing less. And more often than not, employees have to spend nights or even weekends completing a task.

On the other hand, even if you, on the contrary, plunge into work, just wake up (check your email, start communicating with colleagues, and already think over your tasks for today), you have every chance of facing another danger - professional burnout. The point is that when working outside the office, it can be more difficult for employees to distinguish between work and home. Consciousness ceases to perceive the living room as the place where you rest with the whole family and the bedroom as the room in which you sleep and take a rest. All this entails entirely predictable consequences: you lose the ability to relax after hours and think about work 24 hours a day. It becomes normal to start watching a chat with colleagues, work on the unfinished report even if you finished your working day. As a result, work and home are the same for you from now on.

Tips on reducing the number of hours remote work

Schedule

Set precise times when you must start your workday and when you end. For more effect, you can add a ritual that replaces the way home from the office. For example, take a shower to relieve all fatigue and "close" the working day.

Tools

Since remote work is connected with your devices, you can customize them for your benefit. Use various tools to help you be more productive while you work, and turn off notifications while you relax. You don't have to be online 24/7 if you work from home.

Rest

Let go of the thought that you will miss an important message if you go to the refrigerator. In the office, you can safely leave for a drink of coffee, go out to breathe, talk with colleagues. Why should the rules of the game be changed to work remotely? Be sure to take breaks of 10-15 minutes. This way, you won't burn out, and you won't have to spend extra time on tasks.

And most importantly, weekends are only for your own time. It is possible to work on these two days only if the fate of humanity depends on it. If this is not the case, then everything else may well wait until Monday.

To wrap up

Remote work is our new reality. Despite the significant benefits, ensuring that it does not intertwine and consume your entire life is vital. Work should remain work, no matter where it takes place - office or home.

Previously published at maddevs.io/blog.