For the most part, being productive has always been associated with being in the office. After all, being in the workplace allows you to do work and accomplish necessary tasks for the day.
Two separate studies, however, show that working away from the workplace is actually beneficial, improving not just productivity levels but even the health of workers.
In the first study, Stanford University researchers worked with 255 employees from a Chinese travel agency, assigning half to work from home and the other half as the control group that worked inside the office. Both groups worked at the same time and duration for nine months.
According to results, the work-from-home group improved their performance by 13 percent as measured by customer interaction and sales rates. The group was also more productive for every minute they were working, citing fewer distractions, breaks and sick days as contributing to the boost in their productivity.
Researchers pointed out, however, that there was no change in performance in the control group: staying in the workplace has no negative effect in general. With many from the work-from-home group opting to go back to the office when given the choice, researchers advise that the option to work from home should at least be opened to employees. This will allow workers to discover the kind of setup they will be most productive in.
For the second study, researchers found that flexible work schedules gave employees the opportunity to enjoy better sleep quality and quantity. Working can be stressful but getting enough sleep is seen by researchers as a simple way of mitigating the ill effects brought about by work.
By being given the freedom to choose when and where they would work, for as long as they log in the same hours as the control group, subjects were able to sleep nearly an hour more every week. Getting sufficient sleep is important because researchers argued that, in its absence, people are not as alert or attentive, processing information more slowly, which leads to impaired decision-making.
This impacts not just a person's physical health but overall well-being, too.
While working remotely has its benefits, companies must understand that it is not for all. Working from home is suited to a particular personality. Those who are conscientious and honest are likelier to be more productive working from home compared to their counterparts who have a habit of procrastinating.
