Working from home sounds like a dream-come-true for many people who have become burnt out from the 9-5 office scene over the years. However, working out of your own house comes with its own set of challenges, many of which you might never even think about until you wake up to find your office strangely close to your bedroom.
This article will address the most common work from home problems and present alternatives to help you be happier and more productive at your job. Fortunately, there are coworking space alternatives and virtual office solutions that can provide better options than a full-time home office or taking your laptop to a coffee shop every day.
Working from Home Issues
Working from home certainly isn’t for everyone, and some people are far more successful at it than others. But that’s totally fine because we all have our own personal work styles, and that’s what makes workplace collaborations so exciting and innovative. Yet even the most focused and self-motivated individuals on the planet struggle with remote working from time to time. Here are some of the most common working from home issues that you may identify with.
Not Enough Space
One of the biggest working from home problems that people face is a simple one: not having enough space. Especially in New York City where so many people live in small apartments, finding enough room to place a desk, technology devices, and office supplies can be a real challenge. It’s always a good idea to carve out an area of the home for work purposes to maintain a healthy separation between your work and personal lives. But this isn’t always possible, and the overlap can lead to obsessive working at all hours of the day and burnout at an alarmingly rapid rate.
Lack of Access to Technology
People who work in office environments often have an experienced technical team to set up all of the necessary devices and troubleshoot tech issues when they arise. But when you work from home, you’re often your own technical team, and that’s whether you actually know anything about technology or not. People who work from home often do not have access to the latest and greatest technology, which can set them back in terms of work progress and make them disadvantaged when compared to their peers.
Loud and Distracting Environment
In a traditional office, outside distractions are kept at a minimum and limited to perhaps a few annoying coworkers or some construction noise outside your office window. But at home, there are so many more distractions that can really stand in the way of getting your job done. For example, the television is right there and tempting you to flip on your favorite programs in the background. The refrigerator and pantry are also dangerously close by, and if you have kids, pets, or roommates, your at-home distractions probably just got a whole lot more challenging.
Continuous Isolation
Many people struggle with working from home because they feel isolated from the rest of their teams and disconnected from potential clients and customers. This is more of an issue in some industries and for some people than others, but technology software and tools can help fill in the social gaps. For example, software and apps like Slack, Trello, and TeamLab can help teams stay on the same page during collaborative assignments. Meanwhile, video conferencing can facilitate face-to-face conversations even while individuals are physically located many miles away from each other. While these tools can certainly help, many people still struggle with feelings of loneliness and a lack of motivation when they don’t have others around them each day in an office setting.
Not Being Taken Seriously
Many startup entrepreneurs began their businesses in their basements or garages, but there is still a certain stigma associated with working from home. While this arrangement is becoming more acceptable and common in the modern business world, at-home work is still sometimes viewed as a hobby or a side hustle that isn’t a serious business. These perceptions can tarnish your reputation and make your credibility suffer in certain industries. Fortunately, there are some easy and affordable ways to boost your professional image no matter where you work from. We’ll get into these types of virtual office solutions in just a bit.
The Alternative of Coworking Spaces
Many people who are work-at-home employees and experience some of these working from home problems on a regular basis turn to coworking spaces to find their focus and establish a sense of community. As more people have begun to work from home, the popularity and prevalence of coworking spaces has increased dramatically across the country.
Coworking spaces can help foster collaboration and networking, and they can provide a professional setting to meet with clients. One downside of coworking spaces is that they can still be noisy and distracting, which can make it difficult to get work done in an undisturbed way. Depending on where you live, there may not be a good fit for a coworking space for many miles away, and that commute time can cut into your overall productivity.
The Benefits of Virtual Office Space
Another great option to overcome these common working from home issues is to set up a virtual office for your business. A virtual office eliminates the need for high overhead costs and technology investments associated with leasing out space in a traditional office. But they are great for increasing productivity, professionalism, and self-motivation.
If you’re running your own business out of your home, one of the greatest benefits of virtual office space is establishing a professional corporate image that is respectable and impressive. This can be done by simply setting up a dedicated local phone number, having a live receptionist answer your calls, using customized voicemail boxes, and establishing a business mailing address that isn’t your home address.
Virtual offices are typically even more cost-effective options than coworking spaces, and they can provide distraction-free environments that are more professional for meetings. With some virtual office package memberships, like those offered by NYC Office Suites, you can use private offices and meeting rooms for your business needs at impressive locations in New York City like the Rockefeller Center, Citicorp Center, and the Graybar Building.
Virtual Office Solutions in New York City
If you’re interested in learning more about virtual office solutions and how a virtual office can help you be a better remote worker, then look no further than NYC Office Suites. We’re veterans in this industry and are celebrating our 30th anniversary of helping people like you work better, smarter, and more productively.
We offer virtual office packages with General, Business, Executive, and VIP membership levels to enable you to only pay the services you want and need. Whether you’re looking for a prestigious mailing address for your at-home business, a professional phone answering service to help control your call volume, or access to a private office or meeting room when you need it, NYC Office Suites can help.
Stop struggling all alone with your working from home problems and do something to solve them! We’d love to tell you more about the benefits of virtual office space for at-home workers, so contact us today.