7 Key Benefits of Working From Home

Working from home is hard. It takes a toll on your mental health. It can feel isolating. I agree.

But do you know what else is difficult?

Knowing how to spend a million dollars once you have won the lottery.

Yeah, it’s a problem. Yeah, it may keep you up at night. And yeah, you need to know what you are doing. But it’s a f***ing great problem.

Here are 5 reasons why.

1. You can stop commuting

How much time are you wasting each and every day?

220 million Americans average 1.5 hours per day in their cars. That’s 7.5 hours per week. 30 hours per month. 360 hours per year. 9 work weeks that nobody is paying you for. In fact, studies show that the longer the commute, the more likely you are to experience job dissatisfaction and mental health issues.

No sh*t!

When you work from home, you can finally take this time back. Here are a few ideas about what to do with it that actually make sense:

• Sleep more
• Start a side project
• Spend it with your loved ones
• Cook healthy meals
• Volunteer

Having more time is great, but you need to create a solid schedule, or you’ll end up wasting it on Instagram.

2. It saves you money

I have been working from home for almost 15 years, and I can tell you your heating bill is going to be much higher. Other than that, though, you will save a lot of money.

As you don’t have to commute, you offset your heating costs with gasoline savings. And about that car, if you and your partner both work from home, are you sure you will still need two cars? If you can sell one and keep the other, that saves you $12,000 per year according to Nerdwallet.

And it doesn’t end there.

Having more time means you don’t come home tired, ready to open your favorite food delivery app – you can now start cooking your meals. When I cut food delivery costs, I saved $150+ per month. Not to even mention the health benefits!

3. From home, or anywhere you like

Cruise ships, snowy forests, once even in the middle of the desert. Not to mention the usual suspects, like coffee shops and kitchen counters.

Over the last 12 years, I have worked from all kinds of places!

I’m not saying you should become a digital nomad, even though that would be cool. But when the only thing you need is a laptop and a Wi-Fi connection, it becomes so much easier to:

• Take a long weekend
• Escape the city for a workation
• Or simply visit a friend for lunch, knowing you can work from their sofa in the afternoon

And if you wanted to take this a step further, you could even consider relocating to a place where the cost of living is cheaper than your current location. You don’t have to commute to the office, after all!

4. It rewards results, not time

Nobody talks about it, but I’ve heard this story countless times over the years: “I have now optimized my job so much that I am usually done in 4 hours.”

This is a common problems for result-driven people. But when they work in an office, they are then forced to:

• Take on other people’s tasks for the company
• Waste the rest of the time scrolling their socials
• Chatting with friends and families

When they work from home, that changes. They can spend that time however they like. They can double dip. They can start freelancing on the side. Or they can simply enjoy life.

The truth is, for those who struggle with their day-to-day tasks, working from home only makes things worse (because they have nobody they can reach out to for help). But for high performers, it’s an absolute blessing. Especially when they pick a high-paying freelance job.

5. You can make a lot more

The way I see it, this is just a consequence. When you free up so much time, it’s only natural that some of it is invested to make more money.

If you are currently employed but you hope to start freelancing, the time you save when you stop commuting allows you to start working to find clients. You would be surprised to learn how big of a difference a single hour spent pitching can make, when you do it every day.

Not interested in starting to freelance, and you’d rather create some form of passive income?

The flexibility you get when you work from home allows you to dedicate a lot more time to start working on your passion project, whether it’s a blog, a YouTube channel or anything else.

Which is exactly what I am doing right now, working on my blog in the middle of the work day because I delivered every single project I had earlier today.

6. You can get a pet!

Maybe it’s just me, but I’ve always wanted a dog. As a child, I remember my parents telling me that wasn’t an option, as he’d spend most of the time home alone.

And they were right.

But when you work from home, you can spend time with your dog, cat, or whatever pet you choose. You can walk them 3 times per day, or as much as you want, depending on how flexible your job is.

I won’t ramble about the benefits of having a pet, the longer walks and so on, because I am sure you already know. I’ll just say if you have always wanted a pet, but never got one because it didn’t fit your lifestyle… WFH can be the solution you were looking for.

It certainly was for me!

7. You can actually get a lot more done

Science is clear – you are much more productive when you are in a state of deep work.

While you can do deep work for a number of hours at your office, you know how often and how easily you can get distracted. Calls, pointless tasks, office politics all seem to get in the way… while you are at your office.

When you work from home, all that distraction is gone.

And if you don’t care about getting a lot more done for your company (couldn’t agree more)… just think about how many things you could do outside of work if you finished your tasks in 4 hours every day.

Working from home is good… but…

While you may think working from home will solve all your problems… it won’t.

You’ll still have your boss, and even though they may find it a bit harder to get in touch at all hours, sooner or later they will. You’ll still be limited in terms of how much you can make. And if you want to take some time off, you’ll still have to ask for permission.

The solution? It’s here.