Remote Work Experience

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Work Remotely
The COVID-19 pandemic came with both challenges and opportunities. While many people remember the negatives based on their impact, it also presented an opportunity to explore other approaches in dealing with daily issues. Work occupies a significant component of human life because people have to work to sustain themselves most of the time. In addition, the movement to and from work characterized weekdays in any economy. However, during COVID-19, the directive that people should work at home reduced the over-reliance on physical presence at work and allowed virtual working. Based on the assessment of the advantages and disadvantages of the model, the benefits outweigh the challenges both to the organizations, individuals, and the environment.
My experiences on the work-at-home model of operation are mixed. At the onset of the pandemic, the work-at-home directive was a challenging exercise accompanied by a significant amount of stress. As noted in the Gallup Inc. article, many employees struggled with the challenges of performing their work at home. The stress levels were associated with the uncertainty of the situation and the fact that the people had to adjust to the new situation as fast as possible. They had to learn how to make video conference calls, listen to the health news continuously aired, and balance this routine with their daily operations. According to Scott, 41% of the employees who worked from home often reported being more stressed than the 25% who traveled to the workplace. The author further notes that 42% of those who worked from home reported experiencing sleep loss at night, whereas only 29% of the office workers had a similar problem. Therefore, more people had issues working at home compared to those who went to offices.
The high stress levels earlier reported compelled researchers to conduct more studies on the potential mental impacts of working at home. For example, Brower highlights a study that found 75% of people working from home experienced social isolation. Furthermore, the more these people continue to work from home, the more they feel socially isolated. These findings had significant links to mental health challenges, as noted in the survey by Oracle and Workplace Intelligence. According to the study’s findings, 78% of the 12,000 people surveyed across 11 countries experienced a negative impact of working from home on their mental health. The study further reported that 42% of the participants said that their productivity had plummeted. Therefore, the long-term impact of working from home is also associated with mental health challenges.
On the contrary, working from home also comes with many other benefits. The immediate benefit is that the process has helped reduce the money peopl...