Compulsory attendance? Indulge at last in working from home

Answering the first emails while still in bed, brewing a coffee in your pyjamas, emptying the washing machine and making a bowl of muesli. Back to the couch, laptop on your knee, music on and the working day is underway. No stress, no traffic jams, no dress code. Your day could start like this too – if you chose to work from home. But if you think that working from home involves doing all the neglected chores or filling in tax forms, then you haven’t understood the principle. Instead, it’s really about a change of perspective, about ways of tackling problems and sudden challenges, and it’s about quiet, focussed work – outside of the OTTO universe. Forced small talk, seemingly endless meetings, social rituals? When you work at home, you can give all of these a miss.

So, is working from home for everyone? Not entirely. The number of people working from home in Germany is below the European average and considerably lower than in other countries such as France, the UK and the Scandinavian countries. The good news is that, according to Digitalverband Bitkom, the number of companies that permit home working has increased in recent years. In 2014, only 22 per cent of the companies asked responded that individual employees work either in part or entirely from home, but in 2018 that figure had already risen to 39 per cent. As a result of the change in mindset among businesses, the attitude of employees is evolving too. A study performed by the German Institute for Economic Research indicates that one in four Germans would like to work within their own four walls at least occasionally.

Can absolutely anyone work from home?

Anyone who can work in a focused way at home has a high level of self-discipline that takes some people years to develop. It takes time to acquire the discipline not to be distracted by unfinished tasks, such as household chores, and to know when to take breaks and when to stop work for the day.

Self control and good time management are vital requirements for working from home. After all, a bad conscience quickly nags away at you if you do a round of laundry before lunch, accept a neighbour’s package or even go shopping. Working at home can also lead to stress and frustration, since researchers at the University of Basel have proved that home workers often work longer hours than their office-based colleagues – specifically up to 2.5 hours more per week.

When might it be better to work in the office?

That’s simple: the office is important when there are regular meetings to attend, when there are routine reviews within the team or when projects must be discussed on the campus. There are also patently some jobs in which there is no question of being able to work at home – you are most likely to encounter a roofer on a construction site, a nurse in a hospital and a sales assistant will usually be found behind a shop counter. But anyone who can do their job just as well from home should discuss it with their manager.

Positive feedback about working from home

Those who work at home usually sit for longer in front of their computer and work on projects, are less distracted and work with more focus. A study carried out by Stanford University in 2015 proved that productivity increases. So how does a productive day in your home office come to a close? The last emails are answered from the kitchen table, perhaps while still wearing your pyjamas, then you cook some dinner and eat with your family, have a last look on the computer, send some documents to your colleagues, switch the music off and relax for the evening. No stress, no traffic jams, no dress code.