Work from home and reduce stress

According to a study of 800 commuters by Dr David Lewis carried out in 2004, the average daily commute in the UK is 45 – 60 minutes. That’s a whole day a week wasted on overcrowded trains, snarled up motorways and uncomfortable buses. A whole day when you’re not with your family or doing something constructive and interesting with your life. And to add insult to injury, Dr Lewis also found that commuting is positively (or should that be negatively) stressful: in extreme cases he measured stress levels in commuters higher than those in fighter pilots and riot policemen going into battle!

Of course, that’s what commuting often feels like; going into battle, leaving us frustrated, exhausted and unhappy before we even begin a day’s work. So it’s little wonder that 71% of UK workers would work from home if they could and that the number of people taking this life-enhancing step is increasing every year. It’s not quite a revolution yet (the total number of people working “mainly” from home, i.e. rather than the odd day here and there, is still only 2.5% of the total UK workforce), but with organisations such as the CBI backing the concept of flexible working through the Work Wise UK, working smarter living better initiative, and new technology making remote working both cheap and easy, the tide is definitely turning. Just as importantly, the attitude of UK business towards those who work from home is also changing, with most now quite used to working with outsourced, self-employed consultants and specialists.

The benefits of homeworking are manifest, especially if you are setting up your own business. For a start, it’s much cheaper than buying or leasing premises and you gain productive income-generating time by not having to travel to work. It also means you can more easily fit work around family and personal commitments and interests: if you take the afternoon off to go to the kids’ sports day, it’s much easier to work a few hours in the evening to make up the time if your office is in the house. Of course, separating work and homelife is also one of the challenges homeworkers face, as is the problem of isolation and motivation. Not having a boss can be liberating, but not having colleagues around you can be lonely and if you’re used to working in a creative environment, you might find this isolation impacts on both your morale and your ability to stay up to date with developments in your industry. At Auditel, we’ve given a lot of thought over more than a decade to all the advantages and potential drawbacks of homeworking and have developed our business system and support programme to maximise the former and minimise the latter. If you’re thinking about becoming a remote worker in your current job or setting up a new business from home, it’s important to do your research first. To hear about the pros and cons of home working and self-employment from those really in the know, Enterprise Nation is an excellent first port of call for lots of interesting and useful articles (and a podcast) on both the business and lifestyle issues to consider.