Annoying Challenges Of Working From Home

It’s been about a year now since I started working from home. It has been awesome but there’s been a few annoying challenges that I encountered and still encounters from time to time. Gone are the illusions that everything will be perfect if I’m able to just work and earn in the comfort of our home.

I’m thankful that I’m given an opportunity to still work and earn from home despite the current pandemic but let me just share with you a few work from home challenges that you might also experience if ever you do decide to take on this path.

1. Having access to cellphones

You’re probably thinking “Who the heck would complain about that?” The temptation is too strong on this one. I used to work in the BPO industry where even bringing a cellphone on the production floor is already a critical violation of the company policy. Right now, my Manager wouldn’t even know if I’m browsing on Facebook or Instagram. It is cool that we have soo much freedom as long as we’re able to complete our tasks but this one can be a big distraction from time to time.

2. Internet and Electricity 

Normally in the office, if there’s no Internet or Electricity everyone will be cheering since we still get paid even if there’s no work being done. We pray and pray that it would last until the end of our shift but that never really happens since there are generators in the office. It’s a different story though if you’re working from home. I get paid by the hour so not having internet or electricity is a nightmare. One reason why I haven’t given up on my postpaid plan yet cause it has unlimited internet access. I barely use it at home but it’s a lifesaver when our ISP fails. I have a laptop which is convenient for such situations. I can’t say the same though for my wife who uses a desktop.

3. Working with your wife from home

It does sound sweet and some of you may be thinking about how you’ll be able to spend more time together even while working. The truth is it can be annoying. I personally like to focus on one thing at a time. Probably because that’s how guys normally are. I literally can’t focus on anything else while playing games or working. Then comes my wife wanting to have a chat while she’s also working. Women are basically born a multitasker which is cool but I just can’t keep up while I’m in the zone. It then leads to an argument on how I’m not listening and how I should have at least said that I wasn’t listening or doing something so that she wouldn’t have kept talking. And then there was silence. Haha!

4. I’m always hungry!

I mean at least I think I am. I’m stuck at home in front of my laptop for not even 15 minutes and I’m already thinking about what to eat next. Talk about being healthy, as if sitting in the chair for more than 8 hours a day isn’t bad enough. It’s a very tempting distraction since I’m just a few steps away from the fridge or the snack drawers. Eating chips is one good way to delay work. I hate how when I’m eating pringles. I get one, wipe my fingers, close the lid then continue working on the keyboard only to just continue eating chips a few seconds later. Oh Pringles, why are you so damn good? Good thing there are lots of options now for food and grocery deliveries so running out of snacks isn’t really a problem.

5. Kids

Hey, don’t judge me but having kids around while trying to work from home can be a challenge especially for me. I don’t know how my wife does it but there are times when she’s cooking, checking on the kids, or basically doing other stuff while still being able to work. Mom’s brain? I mentioned how I’d like to focus on one thing at a time and when you have kids around, there really aren’t much focusing going on. 

6. Working too much

Ever heard of the word Honda in the office? It stands for: on the dot to go home. That’s me but I can’t say the same for my wife. I don’t know what exactly is going on but there are times when she would extend an hour or two on her job. It’s definitely ok to make small sacrifices from time to time but you should always know when to stop. I always praise how hardworking she is but at times I worry how she’s overworking unnecessarily. We really value the fact that we earn from home, get to stay with our family, and don’t have to commute to work and we’re definitely thankful for our jobs. The thing is it’s easy to overwork with this kind of setup. I make sure to always remind my wife to take it easy from time to time and go herself a well deserve vacation leave.

 7. Social Life

Let me end this with the one challenge I never thought I would have but doesn’t really get to me that much. If you’re an introvert there this isn’t really a biggie. Working from home means most of the social life we get is through social media. We definitely have a lot of free time to do other things like meet up with friends before working but most of those friends don’t have the same schedule and available time to do so. I also don’t know if it’s because we’re growing old but at some point, it gets really hard to convince ourselves to go out instead of simply relaxing and enjoying the comfort of our home. 

Do you think these challenges aren’t that much? You may want to start finding work from home jobs.

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