When home turned into office

The traditional office work practice meant that those in employment spent most of their day, typically 8am-5pm, in the office, away from home. That was, until Covid-19 happened.

As most of us old enough to vividly remember, the pandemic resulted in endless lockdowns that forced the world over to device new ways of getting things done. Learning, working as well as conducting business took a new twist. The virtual space took an unprecedented new role in the lives of many and before long, the concept of ‘working from home’ gained new ground. Interestingly, even long after life slowly got back to normalcy, many people have continued to work from home — resulting in the now popular ‘hybrid’ working arrangements.

But what has turning the home into a partial office meant? There are some obvious benefits to the practice. For one, reduced commute means that less time is wasted in ‘rush hour’ traffic snarl-ups. Indeed, many hours lost in traffic can be made more productive by working from home. Likewise, many parents with young children, for instance, are happy to spend more time in the house where they can both work and also monitor the children’s activities.

But the home/office arrangement also comes at a cost. For instance, while there are those who can claim to have a conducive ‘office space’ at home, many had to find ways of creating some working space, squeezing a work station into the corner of an already crowded house. Other household members have also had to change their day-to-day behaviours to accommodate the working member’s new space. Those around have to keep their voices low to avoid distracting the ‘office’.

So while working from home has become quite popular to many people, it is obvious that it has also eaten into the freedoms of other members of the household. Indeed, it is an interesting scenario of trying to strike the home- office balance, in this era of ‘hybrid’ working. What is your take?

Margaret Mwenda. Email: [email protected]