Remote vs Office work – FeelSoftware

Hi! I`m Yara. I`m a Sales manager at FeelSoftware and have worked remotely for almost 8 months. Previously I was working in the office, so I want to tell you about my experience, personal pros, and cons. Hope it will be useful!

I want to walk you through my work journey, because it’s interesting how my experience became less and less mobile, I mean physically. My first job was a summer job. I worked as a salesperson and colorist in an automobile shop. I spent all day on my feet and did a lot of physical work.

I enjoyed it and even was a little bit nervous about office work because I thought I won`t be able to sit calmly all the time. And then I switched and started my work as a manager in the office.

So let`s collect all prons that I had:

office in the city center: it’s a big plus because if you need something extra you can always reach it. Also, you can spend the evening with your friends after work. But if you live in the big city and not in the city center then you will have problems with the amount of time to get to work. It took me 2 hours both ways every day.

people around you (of course if you aren’t introverted): sometimes communication is much more simple when you talk to each other and do not write in chats, you can understand everything for the first time.

different activities: my office work included not only laptop and paperwork, but it was also organisational moments and attendance at various events, such as conferences. It adds some mobility and dynamic to your work style, which is essential for me.

The advantages for me are clear, but it’s individual and for someone, they could be less important.

And now about the cons:

time: as I said before, you need time to get to work and home.

flexibility: in my case, I didn’t have flexible working hours, so I can do my business only before or after work and on weekends.

lunch: I didn’t have corporate lunches at my office and for me as a person who likes to eat it was sometimes problematic to have lunch in the afternoon. You can bring food from home, but it’s complicated or you can buy/make delivery, but the same cafes in the area bore you with the same choice over time.

Cons are big and even if you have corporate lunches and the office is 5 minutes from your home, it also can bring you a lot of discomfort.

As I already mentioned, I’m a remote worker now. What do I enjoy about it?

time savings and flexibility: you don’t need time to get to work and back and if you have flexible work hours it helps you to manage your time better. – тут можна двома пунктами, що ти економи час + маєш гнучний графік роботи, тому, маєш час на обід, можливість вийти кудись у власних справах посеред дня

place: firstly you can choose where to work, it could be your bed or coworking, and you can take your work trips, you need just a laptop and a good internet connection. I`m working from home now and for me working in bed is difficult, and very distractive, so I organize my working table and space around it to be more productive. Someday I should try coworking. One more plus you sit in any position you like.

comfort: I can have lunch whenever I want, my space is silent because I don`t have people around, and my dress code is as informal as possible. When I started working remotely, I realized that I don’t need as many clothes as before.

A lot of people said that remote work is only about pluses, for me it’s mostly the truth, but there are also some little minuses about it for me:

sometimes you can become deconcentrated and be less productive, because of the informal vibe

rarely, but still, communication troubles in chats, because you can’t read emotions or because the message wasn’t delivered at the moment

you can spend several days at home without walking out. I`m trying to accustom myself to 30-minute little walks every day if I don’t need any reason to go out.