What if I tell you that remote work has been around for over a century now, hope you won't be surprised?. Well, it has been around for that long and some of the earliest examples include writers who would send their manuscripts via mail, and business people who would communicate by telegram etc.
As technology improved, so did the possibilities for remote work. The invention of the fax machine, email, and internet facilities all helped to make remote work more feasible. People started becoming interested in it as they found it a better alternative to office jobs since they can work from anywhere of choice.
What Remote Work Is
Remote work also known as telecommuting, teleworking or work-from-home jobs, are jobs that allow one to work from anywhere they choose in the world, as long as there is a reliable internet connection, a good smartphone or computer.
With remote job, you can be working from your home office, a coffee shop, a park just anywhere. And you can work on a full-time or part-time basis, a freelance or on contract.
Remote jobs can be found in almost any industry, from customer service to marketing, graphic designing and to software development.
Technology has made it easier to find remote work anywhere. Companies like Upwork, Elance, Fiverr, Udemy, have all played great roles in helping people get remote jobs.
Just like we know that there's always a two sides to a coin, there are both opportunities and challenges related to remote work. Let's see some of them;
Opportunities That Abound In Remote Work.
- Flexibility Of Work
As mentioned earlier, working remotely comes with a lot of flexibility. Being able to work from anywhere gives people the freedom to live where they want, without being tied to a specific location.
The flexibility of remote work can be a huge plus, especially if you have other responsibilities outside of work. Finally it can also be a great way to achieve a better work-life balance.
- Customized Workspace
With remote work, one can customize their work environment thereby creating a workspace that is optimized for your productivity and comfort.
Not only that, you can set your own work time as it best suites you.
- Ability To Travel While Working
I love this one especially but it's a pity that I do not work remotely. hehehe.
Remote work gives people the opportunity to travel around while they work, something like digital nomads, lol.
They travel and explore new places, experience different cultures, meet new people while still earning a living. They can also create content from all their travels and publish on social media, that's a huge plus for them.
- Handling Multiple Jobs
With remote work, you can take up more than oké jobs and still be able to handle them efficiently. That means extra income from the extra jobs. Not only that, you can still have another business you do aside working remotely.
Challenges Related To Remote Work
Inability To Maintain A Healthy Work Life Balance
There is a possibility that while working remotely, one can push and stretch himself into working longer hours which can lead to burnout while which can have negative effect on both their physical and mental health.
- Risk Of Distraction
As a remote worker, it can be hard to stay on task and avoid distractions. There are likely to be other things competing for your attention especially if you work from home and this will make you abandon the work to attend to them thereby leading to loss of work time.
- Feelings Of Isolation
Another challenge of remote work is that it can lead to feelings of isolation. Not being around the office environment can easily make a remote worker to feel disconnected from their team and colleagues.
I have been opportune to work remotely years ago. I worked as logistics personnel in one of the manufacturing companies outside my work state where we buy goods from, Basically my duty involved confirming that my company's order to lift goods have been received and processed and then contracting haulage vehicles that will carry the goods to our customers in various parts of the country.
I enjoyed the flexibility, and freedom it offered because I can stay home and with just phone calls a greater part of the work is done as regards hiring trucks. Once the goods are loaded, all I will then do is go give them waybill and the money agreed.
I was also able to make new friends, even from non Nigerians.
Another experience I had with remote work was during the lockdown as a result of Covid 19 where everywhere was everyone was advised to stay indoors, I had to switch to working from home.
The benefits I got then were customized workspace, setting work time and combining it with another side business,
I've actually had an online training on remote remote work, registered in Upwork but didn't go ahead with it. Well I did it to have the knowledge not that I was really interested in doing it. I know a couple of people who work remotely and they are really getting good gigs and doing great there.
Despite the benefits, there were also challenges.
When I was at that company there were times I pushed myself too hard and worked longer hours. Whenever we have many supply orders, I usually leave the company very late in order to meet the target, sometimes I get home around midnight.
Being outside my office environment, I didn't have the opportunity to have face to face interaction with some of my colleague, Infact there were some I didn't meet until I left the job. I was reporting to the director directly which some of the heads weren't too comfortable with.
On the compulsory remote work imposed by the Covid 19, I really felt bored and kind of isolated and I wished for everything to end so I can return to my field work. I'm sure most of you can relate to this.
Remote work is very good no doubt, but if I have to opt for a remote work again, I would prefer the one that I can travel around the country and possibly , the world. 😂
Thank you for reading
Still the #threadsaddict 😂
