Just how productive can a person be with their 55-inch flat screen TV and their bed that got a major style makeover thanks to inspo from the latest season of The Block in full view, plus unexpected drop-ins from friends on days off? As it turns out, plenty productive! The Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed in September 2016 that 30 per cent of Australia’s entire labour force works from home! And it was a ten per cent jump over the previous fifteen years. Nearly half of these 3.5 million people cite the need to “catch up on heavy workloads” as the reason.

Think working from home is a dream come true?

It could be! You get paid to not get out of your jim-jams, to not do battle with peak hour traffic or smelly commuters on buses and trains, to not put up with office politics and to not deal with the noise pollution that is workplace gossip, workmates in close quarters and the irritating clickety-clack of other people’s typing.

But what’s the downside? Well let’s see; you have to crank up your discipline to military strength. You can’t bunk down for a nap just because you scarfed down a carb-fest for lunch. Also, you have to put on your meanie pants and say no to all those offers of “a quick coffee down the road” and requests to “mind the baby for a few minutes” while your neighbour pops to the shops.

Telecommuting – nineties buzz word, anyone? – or working remotely, is booming in popularity in Australia. According to a study conducted by Deloitte and London Business School, by 2020, at least half the workforce will be working remotely!

Telco infrastructure and countless cloud-based systems have made it a cinch to work from home, and both employers and employees are lovin’ it! Sitting in your home office means fewer distractions, better focus and higher productivity (as long as your neighbour doesn’t know you’re home). Hardware is cheap-as these days and all you need is a handy dandy laptop, mobile phone and internet connection.

Who’s working from home?

IT help desk operators, sales managers, market research interviewers, accounts managers, graphic designers and copywriters can all get their work on in a corner of their living room. So can tender writers, business development managers, systems engineers and payroll managers.

What about you? D’you reckon working from home is where it’s at for you? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

Written by Jackie Rahilly.