6 Work-from-Home Luxuries I’ll Never Take for Granted

A work desk at home
l

Written by Liz

Just your regular 27-year-old, queer, super-introverted, FIRE-chasing, frugal Singaporean, who lives a pretty good life while earning only a modest salary, but still plans to retire at age 40 with $1,000,000. Click here to read more

August 30, 2020

I started working from home permanently at the start of April 2020. At the time this blog post gets published (end-August 2020), I would have worked from home for a full 5 months.

Working in the Office

When I first started working in the corporate world, I proposed a work from home arrangement, which got shut down in, well, 2 seconds. After, I spent the next few years slogging at the office every single workday.

Things didn’t go that well for me, and I found it extremely difficult to cope with the terrible commutes, the peculiar need to sit at your desk despite having finished all your work, and more. I hated the life that I had, and desperately wanted out.

I would never have dreamt of a day when I could work from home, especially so because I was working in a traditional Asian company that valued “face time”. However, over the past 5 months, I’ve been immensely thankful to have the opportunity to work from home.

Focusing on Gratitude

As of late, I realised that I’ve been getting too used to the work-from-home arrangement, so much so that I’ve been taking it for granted.

A few months ago, I used to be thankful for everyday that I get to work from home, and I stopped hating all my workdays. Now, however, I no longer feel the same gratitude, and I’ve even started dreading the days that I have to work.

As such, I’ve decided to write this post as a reminder to myself (and to everyone who loves to work from home) to always be grateful for this amazing arrangement.

6 Work-from-Home Luxuries

1. No Soul-Sucking Commutes

Working in the Office

When I was working in the office, I would have to walk out of my house to a bus stop 15 minutes away, only to find out that my bus had left without me, and I needed to wait another 15 minutes.

After 5-10 minutes, I’d tire of waiting, and I’d hop on another bus that takes me to the train station. I would then need to change to a different train, before arriving at the correct station. Next up is another 5-minute walk to the office. All the while feeling cramped and squished like sardines.

Working at Home

These days, I get to wake up, enjoy the morning sunshine and a lovely morning routine, before sitting at my desk and powering up my computer to start work.

Rush Hour Traffic

A day where the peak-hour traffic wasn’t so bad. It’s usually worse.

2. No Uncomfortable Work Attire

Working in the Office

When I was working in the office, I had 5 dresses that I rotated throughout the work week; I would wear the same dresses week after week, without fail. This helped to reduce the amount of time I spent deciding what to wear, as well as the amount of money I spent on work clothes.

However, they’re usually not the most comfortable clothes to be in. What annoyed me the most was having to wear dress shoes (usually flats). They’re heavy, bite into my flesh, and don’t feel comfortable at all. I never could understand why people even designed such things, or why I couldn’t wear a comfortable pair of jogging shoes (especially since I wasn’t client-facing).

Working at Home

However, when I work at home, I can wear anything I want. I’m usually in a sleeveless tank top, a comfortable pair of shorts, and I don’t have to wear shoes. It makes focusing a lot easier, when you’re not constantly thinking about how uncomfortable your clothes are.

3. Fewer (useless) Meetings

Working in the Office

During meetings at the office, people would constantly digress from main topics. There was a lot of chit chat, and very little work done. The longest meeting I ever sat through lasted easily 4 hours. And I could never figure out why I was even in these meetings in the first place.

Working at Home

During my work-from-home stint, I realized that meetings became much more productive and to the point, with less casual talk.

Considering that I’m an extremely introverted person, this suited me just fine (though I know that people do miss the casual conversations with coworkers). I prefer to spend 90% of my workday on my own without any conversations, so I’m incredibly grateful for this.

4. Less Distraction

Working in the Office

Another thing that annoyed me a lot when working in the office is that people were constantly coming to my desk to talk. I felt that it was extremely distracting.

I even found myself deliberately trying to avoid bumping into people at the office. One of my superiors was particularly chatty; a few times, I ran into him during my lunch hour, and he chatted my entire lunch hour away. Again, as a highly introverted person, I’d really rather spend my lunch hour on my own. It’s the time that I need to feel refreshed to start work again in the afternoon.

Working at Home

As I don’t have young kids or elderly parents to take care of, there are much fewer distractions at home. It’s much easier for me to focus on one task at a time and get it done in a third of the time that I would have taken in the office.

I also don’t have to sit through one-hour awkward conversations with coworkers.

5. Higher Productivity

Working in the Office

To drown out the chattering of coworkers at the office, I blasted loud music in my ears at all times. Although listening to music was a little more productive than having to listen to distracting conversations, my productivity was still at all-time lows.

Working at Home

At home, however, I don’t have to focus on drowning out chattering. Instead, I can enjoy the relative peace and quiet at home during working hours, which helps me so much when it comes to productivity.

I find that I’m able to complete a task at least 2-3 times faster than I would have in the office, which is extremely eye-opening to me.

My Office Desk

The work desk of unproductivity.

6. More Freedom

Working in the Office

I love to take breaks when I’m doing work. After an hour or two, my brain starts spacing out and my eyes get real sore. Taking a break keeps me refreshed and energized.

However, when I’m in the office, it’s extremely difficult to find time for breaks. There are always nosy superiors around monitoring employee movement like hawks. As such, I always had to sneak around whenever I wanted to take a walk and enjoy the fresh air.

As such, I took breaks only about twice a day, instead of every hour or two like I prefer.

Working at Home

When working at home, I can go for a short run or a short walk whenever I need the break, without anyone eyeing me suspicious. Even if I don’t go out for a run or walk, I do pace around my room and get my blood flowing through my body. This increased level of freedom has been extremely wonderful for my mental health.

On top of that, I no longer have to sit around pretending like I still have a lot of work to do. Once I’m done with my office work, I can start working on my niche site, which boosts my levels of happiness.

Conclusion

A common thread running through these work-from-home luxuries center a lot on productivity, happiness and most importantly, freedom.

When you have the freedom to work from home at a computer, to avoid the soul-sucking commute, to wear comfortable clothes, to work on what makes you happy once you finish your office work, and to stretch your body or walk around at will, happiness will follow.  

After enjoying the benefits of working from home, I know I’ll find it difficult to return to the office permanently when that need arises. As such, I’m more determined than ever to build a profitable niche site to maintain the levels of freedom and happiness that I’m experiencing now.

How has your work-from-home experience been?

As always, thank you for reading and supporting the blog.

Become a Millionaire and Retire Early on a Modest Salary Book Cover

You May Also Like…

0 Comments