Remote Work Doesn’t Have to Mean Working From Home

At times we need to separate our jobs and where we live.

The retreat to near-home workplaces has been a common experience during the pandemic, but actually performing useful cognitive work is a fragile endeavor, one in which environment matters, that has worked for years.

• Peter Benchley wrote the novel “Jaws” in a rented space in the back of a furnace factory near his home.
• Maya Angelou, an American poet, memoirist, and civil rights activist, rented sparse hotel rooms to write.
• John Steinbeck escaped his waterfront paradise in Sag Harbor to write on his fishing boat.

Sometimes working at home just doesn’t work! Our homes are filled with the familiar–like the laundry basket outside our home office (a.k.a. bedroom). Our brain shifts toward household chores even when we need to maintain focus on our work. Home is filled with noticeable interruptions like conversation across the room, which can be difficult to ignore.

It’s possible to work productively for hours at a coffee shop, but then you overhear the familiar topic of a neighboring conversation and your attention is hijacked.

The coronavirus has changed the way we work. Many workers won’t be returning to an office full-time. Yet, there is still a large amount of critical work that employees need to conduct in a “quiet space”.

There is also increasing pressure from management for workers to return to their desks, at least part-time. If an organization allows remote work, the extra cost to subsidize the ability of workers to escape household distraction will be more than recouped in both the increased quality of work produced and the improved happiness of the employees, leading to less burnout and turnover. Strictly from the perspective of dollars and cents, “working from near home” is likely a superior policy. The up-front investment promises strong returns in the long run.

When home and the coffee shop just don’t cut it, consider a third option…

Palace Business Centres

• It is the perfect workspace for remote workers that need a more satisfying and effective experience.
• Terms are flexible and the cost is not prohibitive.
• Choose a private office or place for the team to collaborate.
• HD audio-visual equipment is available.
• On-site support staff

Reserve your private office in the heart of Erie, PA. Contact (814) 451-1100 or info@palacebusinesscentres.com

Source: The New Yorker, What if Remote Work Didn’t Mean Working From Home.

By Cal Newport, May 21, 2021